U.S. EPA Expecting Coal Ash Regulation Rule

03/09/2009

The US EPA expects to develop a proposed rule by the end of 2009 that will more closely regulate coal ash and is also asking electric utilities for information about the impoundments where they store and dispose of coal-combustion byproducts. In letters sent to more than 50 companies and 150 facilities, U.S. EPA requested information within 10 days about the age, composition, and structural integrity of their surface impoundments or similar structures, as well as information about inspections and unpermitted spills. Coal-combustion byproducts have been regulated by the states as nonhazardous waste under subtitle D of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act since 2000, when the EPA determined that the waste did not meet the criteria to be considered a hazardous waste. US EPA has not said whether the new regulations would re-classify coal ash as a hazardous waste.