House Bill to Regulate Coal Ash Incorporates Senate Compromise

Date: September 17, 2012

Source: News Room

A recent House bill seeks to bridge the gap with a recent Senate bill to curb EPA regulation of coal ash disposal. H.R. 3409 combines several bills that have already cleared the House including H.R. 2401 which would require a cumulative impacts assessment of several key EPA rules and block rules until that analysis is complete. The new bill also includes language that adopts a similar Senate bill (S. 3512) rather than that of the House approved bill H.R. 2273, to block EPA coal ash rules. The Senate bill, S. 3512 seeks to address industry concerns that EPA may choose to regulate coal ash as a hazardous waste subject to strict RCRA subtitle C rules. Utilities fear that would drastically raise their costs of producing power from coal while the reuse industry argues that a hazardous designation would discourage any future recycling which now accounts for 40 percent of the generated waste stream. Since subtitle C rules would give oversight to the EPA, state officials favor subtitle D rules that would give them oversight which they say they can do more effectively.

See also: "Senate Offers Compromise Coal Ash Bill," (www.wasteinfo.com/news/wbj20120814C.htm), August 10, 2012.

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