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Starwood Digital Ventures is scheduled to present an appeal to the Coastal Zone Industrial Control Board on Tuesday, challenging a ruling by Delaware environmental regulators. The regulators had previously denied a portion of Starwood's hyper-scale data center plan, known as Project Washington in Delaware City, citing its proposal to use 516 diesel generators for backup power as non-compliant with the state's Coastal Zone Act. The developer is disputing this denial, initiating a legal process that could span months or even years. This hearing follows New Castle County's recent enactment of comprehensive regulations for data centers, which include requirements for buffer zones and energy-efficient backup generators. However, a provision within these new regulations specifies that they only apply to newly proposed projects, not those already in the development pipeline. Therefore, if Starwood's appeal is successful, its Project Washington would not be subject to these new county-level rules. The Coastal Zone Industrial Control Board's decision on this appeal will be its first in nearly five years.