Senate Asked to Pursue Legislation To Address Coal Ash Rule Deficiencies

摘要

The Senate should pursue legislation to address concerns over enforcement and the potential the Environmental Protection Agency could one day change its mind and regulate coal ash as a hazardous waste, witnesses told a Senate committee June 17. Representatives of rural electric cooperatives, state environmental agencies and coal ash recyclers told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee the EPA's April final rule (80 Fed. Reg. 21,302) on coal ash disposal and management could leave regulated entities subject to dueling state and federal regulatory requirements. The rule also could place state environmental agencies "on the sidelines" and harm beneficial reuse of the material by leaving open the possibility the agency could one day change how it regulates the material under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the witnesses said.