CRS Suggests New Law to Help EPA Regulate Coal Ash

Date: September 3, 2010

Source: News Room

As the EPA considers various controversial alternatives to regulating coal combustion waste (CCW) from power plants, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) is suggesting that Congress add a new subtitle to federal waste law to give EPA enforcement authority over CCW without declaring it hazardous and to regulate its beneficial reuse. The Aug. 9 report, "Regulating Coal Combustion Waste Disposal: Issues For Congress," suggests that lawmakers consider amending the Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA) to create a new subtitle K "that would specifically address issues unique to the management" of CCW.

On June 21, EPA issued its proposal to establish first-time disposal rules for CCW that seeks public comment on either regulating the material as hazardous under RCRA subtitle C or as nonhazardous under RCRA subtitle D. CRS' suggestion could serve as a compromise avoiding the stringent hazardous waste regulation that industry opposes while providing EPA with the enforcement authority it would lack under less-strict solid waste rules. EPA has identified that lack of enforcement power as a major concern over issuing subtitle D rules. The approach could also resolve questions over the extent to which EPA should regulate beneficial reuses of coal waste in products such as cement. Currently, an estimated 40 percent of coal waste is recycled. Industry claims that its designation as hazardous, even under limited conditions, would decimate the reuse industry as fear of litigation would drive buyers away.

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