EPA seeks expanded waste program as greens pursue litigation

摘要

As part of its proposed budget for next year, the Trump administration wants to expand an EPA program that gives states regulatory authority for coal ash disposal. Environmental groups meanwhile want a federal judge to revoke the sole state permit that the agency has issued so far. The tension is displayed in documents released by the two sides in recent days. Almost four years after EPA published first-ever federal rules for disposal of the waste produced by coal-fired power plants, it underscores the uncertainties that continue to envelop those regulations. "There are a lot of unanswered questions and a lot that needs to be resolved," Earthjustice attorney Jennifer Cassel said in an interview this morning. Cassel is helping to represent a coalition of environmental groups that filed a court challenge last year to EPA's approval of Oklahoma's coal ash permitting program. The lawsuit was filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia last fall by the Waterkeeper Alliance and two other groups.