EPA Proposes Rule To Regulate Coal Combustion Waste
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EPA Proposes Rule To Regulate Coal Combustion Waste Posted: May 4, 2010
Below is a press release from the EPA concerning a proposed rulemaking on national standards for regulating coal ash from utilities.
Among the issues of immediate concern to KRC in reviewing the proposed rulemaking are that the proposed rule does not extend to regulation of coal ash from non-utility boilers combusting coal, and that the rule proposes as an option the underprotective approach of using Subtitle D of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act even though EPA acknowledges that it cannot enforce compliance by generators of coal combustion wastes with national standards adopted under that section of RCRA, nor can it mandate that states adopt the national standards or require that the ash disposal be permitted.
Additionally, EPA unfortunately deferred to the Office of Surface Mining to develop regulations for disposal and use of coal combustion wastes as minefill at surface coal mining operations. At the end of the last Administration, OSM had drafted and sent to OMB a weak national rulemaking on that issue which failed to heed the advice or to incorporate the recommendations of the National Academies of Science concerning such ash disposal, and deference to OSM to take the lead in managing the environmental risks of disposing of metal-laden ash in coal mines is unwarranted given the lack of institutional experience and understanding at OSM regarding the proper characterization and management of coal combustion wastes.
The other approach proposed by EPA and preferred by KRC would regulate disposal under Subtitle C (i.e. as a hazardous waste) while continuing to allow legitimate beneficial reuse.
KRC will be developing and posting comments on the proposed rule. To read the pre-publication version of the proposed rule, and to view a comparison of the key provisions of each approach, scroll down to the foot of the press release.
To read KRC's presentation to the Centers for Disease Control on management of coal combustion wastes, which addresses a number of the issues raised in the new rulemaking, scroll down or go to
http://www.kyrc.org/webnewspro/125752582733564.shtml
EPA Announces Plans to Regulate Coal Ash
Agency proposals would address risks of unsafe coal ash disposal, while supporting safe forms of beneficial use
WASHINGTON ? The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today is proposing the first-ever national rules to ensure the safe disposal and management of coal ash from coal-fired power plants.
Coal combustion residuals, commonly known as coal ash, are byproducts of the combustion of coal at power plants and are disposed of in liquid form at large surface impoundments and in solid form at landfills. The residuals contain contaminants like mercury, cadmium and arsenic, which are associated with cancer and various other serious health effects. EPAs risk assessment and damage cases demonstrate that, without proper protections, these contaminants can leach into groundwater and can migrate to drinking water sources, posing significant health public concerns.
Todays action will ensure for the first time that protective controls, such as liners and groundwater monitoring, are in place at new landfills to protect groundwater and human health. Existing surface impoundments will also require liners, with strong incentives to close the impoundments and transition to safer landfills, which store coal ash in dry form. The proposed regulations will ensure stronger oversight of the structural integrity of impoundments in order to prevent accidents like the one at Kingston, Tennessee. Todays action also will promote environmentally safe and desirable forms of recycling coal ash, known as beneficial uses.
The dangers associated with structurally unsafe coal ash impoundments came to national attention in 2008 when an impoundment holding disposed waste ash generated by the Tennessee Valley Authority broke open, creating a massive spill in Kingston that covered millions of cubic yards of land and river. The spill displaced residents, required hundreds of millions of dollars in cleanup costs and caused widespread environmental damage. Shortly afterwards, EPA began overseeing the cleanup, as well as investigating the structural integrity of impoundments where ash waste is stored.
The time has come for common-sense national protections to ensure the safe disposal of coal ash, said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. Were proposing strong steps to address the serious risk of groundwater contamination and threats to drinking water and were also putting in place stronger safeguards against structural failures of coal ash impoundments. The health and the environment of all communities must be protected.
The proposal opens a national dialogue by calling for public comment on two approaches for addressing the risks of coal ash management under the nations primary law for regulating solid waste, the Resource Recovery and Conservation Act (RCRA). One option is drawn from authorities available under Subtitle C, which creates a comprehensive program of federally enforceable requirements for waste management and disposal. The other option includes remedies under Subtitle D, which gives EPA authority to set performance standards for waste management facilities and would be enforced primarily through citizen suits. A chart comparing and contrasting the two approaches is available on EPAs Web site.
Under both approaches proposed by EPA, the agency would leave in place the Bevill exemption for beneficial uses of coal ash in which coal combustion residuals are recycled as components of products instead of placed in impoundments or landfills. Large quantities of coal ash are used today in concrete, cement, wallboard and other contained applications that should not involve any exposure by the public to unsafe contaminants. These uses would not be impacted by todays proposal.
EPA supports the legitimate beneficial use of coal combustion residuals, said Mathy Stanislaus, assistant administrator for EPAs Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, the agency office that will be responsible for implementing the proposals. Environmentally sound beneficial uses of ash conserve resources, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, lessen the need for waste disposal units, and provide significant domestic economic benefits. This proposal will clearly differentiate these uses from coal ash disposal and assure that safe beneficial uses are not restricted and in fact are encouraged.
EPA is seeking public comment on how to frame the continued exemption of beneficial uses from regulation and is focusing in particular on whether that exemption should exclude certain non-contained applications where contaminants in coal ash could pose risks to human health. The public comment period is 90 days from the date the rule is published in the Federal Register.
Coal combustion residual impoundments can be found in almost all states across America, most often on the properties of power plants. There are almost 900 landfills and surface impoundments nationwide. Since the spill at Kingston, EPA has been evaluating hundreds of coal ash impoundments throughout the country to ensure their structural integrity and to require improvements where necessary. The results of the assessments are on EPAs Web site.
More information about the proposed regulation:
http://www.epa.gov/coalashrule
To view the chart comparing the two approaches:
http://www.epa.gov/coalashrule/ccr-table.htm
To view results of the impoundment assessments:
http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/nonhaz/industrial/special/fossil/surveys2/index.htm
Below is a press release from the EPA concerning a proposed rulemaking on national standards for regulating coal ash from utilities.
Among the issues of immediate concern to KRC in reviewing the proposed rulemaking are that the proposed rule does not extend to regulation of coal ash from non-utility boilers combusting coal, and that the rule proposes as an option the underprotective approach of using Subtitle D of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act even though EPA acknowledges that it cannot enforce compliance by generators of coal combustion wastes with national standards adopted under that section of RCRA, nor can it mandate that states adopt the national standards or require that the ash disposal be permitted.
Additionally, EPA unfortunately deferred to the Office of Surface Mining to develop regulations for disposal and use of coal combustion wastes as minefill at surface coal mining operations. At the end of the last Administration, OSM had drafted and sent to OMB a weak national rulemaking on that issue which failed to heed the advice or to incorporate the recommendations of the National Academies of Science concerning such ash disposal, and deference to OSM to take the lead in managing the environmental risks of disposing of metal-laden ash in coal mines is unwarranted given the lack of institutional experience and understanding at OSM regarding the proper characterization and management of coal combustion wastes.
The other approach proposed by EPA and preferred by KRC would regulate disposal under Subtitle C (i.e. as a hazardous waste) while continuing to allow legitimate beneficial reuse.
KRC will be developing and posting comments on the proposed rule. To read the pre-publication version of the proposed rule, and to view a comparison of the key provisions of each approach, scroll down to the foot of the press release.
To read KRC's presentation to the Centers for Disease Control on management of coal combustion wastes, which addresses a number of the issues raised in the new rulemaking, scroll down or go to
http://www.kyrc.org/webnewspro/125752582733564.shtml
EPA Announces Plans to Regulate Coal Ash
Agency proposals would address risks of unsafe coal ash disposal, while supporting safe forms of beneficial use
WASHINGTON ? The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today is proposing the first-ever national rules to ensure the safe disposal and management of coal ash from coal-fired power plants.
Coal combustion residuals, commonly known as coal ash, are byproducts of the combustion of coal at power plants and are disposed of in liquid form at large surface impoundments and in solid form at landfills. The residuals contain contaminants like mercury, cadmium and arsenic, which are associated with cancer and various other serious health effects. EPAs risk assessment and damage cases demonstrate that, without proper protections, these contaminants can leach into groundwater and can migrate to drinking water sources, posing significant health public concerns.
Todays action will ensure for the first time that protective controls, such as liners and groundwater monitoring, are in place at new landfills to protect groundwater and human health. Existing surface impoundments will also require liners, with strong incentives to close the impoundments and transition to safer landfills, which store coal ash in dry form. The proposed regulations will ensure stronger oversight of the structural integrity of impoundments in order to prevent accidents like the one at Kingston, Tennessee. Todays action also will promote environmentally safe and desirable forms of recycling coal ash, known as beneficial uses.
The dangers associated with structurally unsafe coal ash impoundments came to national attention in 2008 when an impoundment holding disposed waste ash generated by the Tennessee Valley Authority broke open, creating a massive spill in Kingston that covered millions of cubic yards of land and river. The spill displaced residents, required hundreds of millions of dollars in cleanup costs and caused widespread environmental damage. Shortly afterwards, EPA began overseeing the cleanup, as well as investigating the structural integrity of impoundments where ash waste is stored.
The time has come for common-sense national protections to ensure the safe disposal of coal ash, said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. Were proposing strong steps to address the serious risk of groundwater contamination and threats to drinking water and were also putting in place stronger safeguards against structural failures of coal ash impoundments. The health and the environment of all communities must be protected.
The proposal opens a national dialogue by calling for public comment on two approaches for addressing the risks of coal ash management under the nations primary law for regulating solid waste, the Resource Recovery and Conservation Act (RCRA). One option is drawn from authorities available under Subtitle C, which creates a comprehensive program of federally enforceable requirements for waste management and disposal. The other option includes remedies under Subtitle D, which gives EPA authority to set performance standards for waste management facilities and would be enforced primarily through citizen suits. A chart comparing and contrasting the two approaches is available on EPAs Web site.
Under both approaches proposed by EPA, the agency would leave in place the Bevill exemption for beneficial uses of coal ash in which coal combustion residuals are recycled as components of products instead of placed in impoundments or landfills. Large quantities of coal ash are used today in concrete, cement, wallboard and other contained applications that should not involve any exposure by the public to unsafe contaminants. These uses would not be impacted by todays proposal.
EPA supports the legitimate beneficial use of coal combustion residuals, said Mathy Stanislaus, assistant administrator for EPAs Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, the agency office that will be responsible for implementing the proposals. Environmentally sound beneficial uses of ash conserve resources, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, lessen the need for waste disposal units, and provide significant domestic economic benefits. This proposal will clearly differentiate these uses from coal ash disposal and assure that safe beneficial uses are not restricted and in fact are encouraged.
EPA is seeking public comment on how to frame the continued exemption of beneficial uses from regulation and is focusing in particular on whether that exemption should exclude certain non-contained applications where contaminants in coal ash could pose risks to human health. The public comment period is 90 days from the date the rule is published in the Federal Register.
Coal combustion residual impoundments can be found in almost all states across America, most often on the properties of power plants. There are almost 900 landfills and surface impoundments nationwide. Since the spill at Kingston, EPA has been evaluating hundreds of coal ash impoundments throughout the country to ensure their structural integrity and to require improvements where necessary. The results of the assessments are on EPAs Web site.
More information about the proposed regulation:
http://www.epa.gov/coalashrule
To view the chart comparing the two approaches:
http://www.epa.gov/coalashrule/ccr-table.htm
To view results of the impoundment assessments:
http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/nonhaz/industrial/special/fossil/surveys2/index.htm
By Kentucky Resources Council
on 05/04/2010 5:32 PM
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The Kentucky Resources Council is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to the conservation and prudent use of Kentucky’s natural resources. Since 1984, we have dedicated ourselves to protecting Kentucky’s land, air, water, and communities.