The EPA's publication of a coal ash rule on April 17, 2015, did little to resolve the debate about the proper management of the material (EPA Coal Ash Page). Members of Congress have continued to push for legislation which would change significant parts of the rule, and EPA is now being criticized by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights for not providing sufficient protection to minority communities potentially affected by the issue.
Members of Congress have, for several years, attempted to regulate coal ash by statute even as EPA was proceeding with the very protracted process of ...
The coal industry has experienced substantial economic turmoil over the recent past, including bankruptcies - most recently by Peabody Energy Corporation - but also by Arch Coal, Inc., Walter Energy, Inc., and Patriot Coal Corp.
Generally, the industry and associated users of coal, have attributed these problems to the designated "War on Coal," the fashionable pejorative characterization of policies of the Obama Administration. Popular as it is among these groups to blame all the industry's woes on the Administration, this may well distract from the real cause. Business and ...
On August 3, 2015, President Obama announced the finalization of the long-awaited Clean Power Plan, a policy primarily intended to further the commitment to combatting global warming. The Plan focuses on the electric power generating sector of the nation's economy, which is responsible for approximately 31% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions (primarily carbon dioxide, fluorinated gases, and nitrous oxide). The Plan intends to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 to levels below those generated in 2005. A fact sheet provided by U.S. EPA to accompany the President's ...
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court halted further implementation of a U.S. EPA's regulation limiting mercury and other hazardous air toxic emissions from coal- and oil-fired electric power plants. In a 5-4 decision, the majority held that EPA failed to take costs into account when deciding to regulate power plants under this rule, thereby imposing substantial and costly emissions limits and control requirements on them. However, the Court did not strike down the rule, instead remanding the case for further proceedings. The Opinion can be viewed here. Members of Congress and ...
Last December, EPA announced its final rule regarding the management of coal combustion residuals ("CCR" a/k/a "coal ash"). This came several years after initial alternative proposals were offered for public comment, and the Agency's subsequent review of over 450,000 written comments. The announcement reflected a decision to regulate CCR as a non-hazardous waste under Subtitle D of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act ("RCRA"). Such a classification had been supported by the power industry and industry groups and businesses that use coal ash in manufacturing and ...
December 19, 2014 marked the deadline for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to announce its final decision regarding a new regulatory scheme for coal ash disposal (Coal Combustion Residuals or CCR). The new regulations are to focus on the disposal of coal ash. The pressure for new regulations began mounting after the rupture of a Tennessee power plant in 2008 which sent over 1 billion gallons of coal ash into nearby Tennessee rivers. Subsequently, on February 2, 2014, a Duke Energy plant released approximately 39,000 tons of coal ash into the Dan River in North Carolina. During ...
December 18, 2014, marked the release of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) annual environmental enforcement and compliance results. See News Release, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Announces 2014 Annual Environmental Enforcement Results (Dec. 18, 2014). According to the EPA, its enforcement actions in 2014 required businesses across the country to invest more than $9.7 billion in regulatory compliance and equipment. Additionally, EPA collected a total of $163 million in combined federal administrative, civil judicial penalties, and criminal ...
The U.S. EPA's efforts to develop a new regulatory path for coal ash ("Coal Combustion Residuals" or "CCR") by regulating the material either as a hazardous waste or as a solid but non-hazardous waste, are nearing a conclusion. The deadline for EPA to announce a final decision is December 19. As we noted in February, this date was fixed by a consent decree filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on January 29 of this year, and a press release at that time by the American Coal Ash Association provides a link to the consent decree. Statements by EPA Headquarters staff in a ...
Updating an ongoing issue related to options for new ash regulations, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act (H.R. 2218) on July 25, 2013. The legislation would regulate the ash from coal-fired power plants by classifying it as a solid waste under Subtitle D of the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The prospect of some form of enhanced regulation of coal ash has been a contentious issue for several years. Following a 2008 breach of a coal ash impoundment operated by TVA in Kingston, Tennessee, the Environmental Protection ...
The Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy of the Energy and Commerce Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation on June 6, to direct the regulation and management of coal combustion ash residuals. As previously noted here, the issue of the proper regulation of residuals from the combustion of coal for the generation of electric power has perplexed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for several years. The Agency is currently evaluating over 450,000 public comments received in response to competing regulatory proposals it initially proposed ...
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