EPA Issues Final 'Part A' Ash Disposal Rule, Drawing Lawsuit Threats

摘要

EPA has finalized its rule requiring coal ash disposal sites that lack protective "composite" liners to shut down but also adding a slew of new opportunities for facilities to extend their closure deadlines, drawing immediate legal threats from environmental groups who say the extensions undercut public-health protections. The final rule, which EPA released July 29 ahead of its upcoming publication in the Federal Register, is the latest in the Trump administration's lengthy series of revisions to Obama-era Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA) coal ash disposal standards that were first enacted in 2015. As mandated by the 2018 U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit decision Utility Solid Waste Activities Group (USWAG), et al., v. EPA, et al., the rule - which EPA proposed on Nov. 4 as "Part A" of its "Holistic Approach to Closure" policy - requires facilities that either lack any liner or are lined with clay rather than more-protective composite material to begin closure by April 11 rather than continuing to operate until they are shown to leak.