House votes against coal ash rules

摘要

The US House of Representatives today approved a bill that would prevent coal ash from being regulated as a hazardous material. A total of 267 members voted in favor of the bill, with 37 Democrats joining 230 Republicans in passing HR 2273, the Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act, which prevents the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from classifying coal combustion residuals (CCRs) as hazardous waste under subtitle C of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The bill also empowers individual states to set up their own CCR permit programs and regulate the management of CCRs. The EPA would have to step in if a state does not implement a permit program or if its program is not stringent enough.