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  4. Industry Fights EPA's Hybrid Approach to Regulate Coal Ash

Industry Fights EPA's Hybrid Approach to Regulate Coal Ash

Date: October 19, 2009

Source: News Room

Industry groups that reuse coal waste as an ingredient in products are lobbying the White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) to overrule EPA's expected plan to regulate coal ash as hazardous if discarded but non-hazardous if recycled under a novel "hybrid" approach. They complain that it would be disastrous to their business since even its potential designation as a hazardous waste would create a stigma and fear in the eyes of potential buyers. They say it would undermine its beneficial reuse, for example in cement or road building products.

EPA is under pressure from some Democrats and activists to strictly regulate coal waste following a massive ash spill last December at a Tennessee Valley Authority sludge pond that will cost more than $1 billion to clean up. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson appeared on 60 Minutes Oct. 4 to discuss the issue and said, "We're here now because coal ash at this time isn't a regulated material by the federal government."

Matt Hale, director of the Office of Resource Conservation & Recovery, told the Environmental Council of the States' annual meeting Sept. 22, that the agency is legally barred from using RCRA subtitle D to develop a federal solid waste program for coal waste. He said that while he believes subtitle D solid waste rules would be sufficiently protective of safety and the environment, the agency's lawyers have warned that EPA would have no authority under federal law to enforce such requirements.

Meanwhile, environmentalists remain wary of the legality of a hybrid approach, but say it could work if EPA commits to extensive research on the potential risks and methods of reusing coal waste.

To learn more, visit EPA's Office of Solid Waste: www.epa.gov/osw.

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