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Open Up The Coal Ash Debate: The New York Times weighed in yesterday with an editorial about the dispute within the Obama administration over proposed EPA regulations governing the handling and disposal of coal ash.

The power industry contends that the EPA´s proposal to reclassify coal ash as a hazardous material subject to federal regulation would devastate the recycling market and "could trigger burdensome new investments." The NYT editors disagree with that line of reasoning.

"These arguments do not hold up. The recycling market will not disappear. Materials that are responsibly recycled are not, typically, designated as hazardous. The real problem is the 60% or so of the coal ash that winds up in porous landfills. Evidence suggests that tough but carefully tailored rules could encourage even more recycling, protecting the environment while yielding income to help pay for more secure landfills."

The Times says the administration should open the debate up so the public can see what´s going on and participate:

"This debate is being conducted behind closed doors, mainly at the Office of Management and Budget, where industry usually takes its complaints and horror stories. A better course would be to let the EPA draft a proposal, get it out in the open and offer it for comment from all sides. The Obama administration promised that transparency and good science would govern decisions like these."

Lame Duck´s Parting Shot: New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, who leaves office in four months, recently extended the city´s garbage collection contracts by three years. But there is confusion about whether the companies involved, Metro Disposal Inc. and Richard´s Disposal Inc., are accepting a 10% pay cut in return for the extension, which makes the contracts valid through 2016. The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports:

"The three pages of amendments to the Metro and Richard´s contracts tie the change directly to the city´s decision to reduce the companies´ 2010 compensation by 10% as a money-saving measure. Ross confirmed that, saying the extensions were ´necessary to reflect the 10% reduction requested during the budget process.´ However, Chief Administrative Officer Brenda Hatfield told the City Council in November that the three trash vendors had agreed to the 10% cut for 2010 without being promised anything in return, such as additional payments or contract extensions. ´At this point, there is no quid pro quo,´ Hatfield told the council on Nov. 13. Company officials denied at the time that they had agreed to absorb the cut."

Fond Farewell, Not: An attorney in Knoxville, Tenn., wants to memorialize the short, stormy tenure of recently departed University of Tennessee football coach Lane Kiffin by renaming the city´s wastewater treatment plant the Lane Kiffin Sewage Center.

Kiffin miffed UT fans last week when he, um, volunteered to become head coach at the University of Southern California after having coached at Tennessee for just one season.

Drew McElroy, the attorney who filled out and paid for the application requesting the name change, told USA Today, "It dawned on me -- Lane Kiffin told us that he hoped the fans would understand. I thought, ´Well, naming the wastewater plant for him would let him know, I think very clearly, we do understand.´ "

Pete Fehrenbach is managing editor of Waste & Recycling News. Past installments of this column are collected in the Inbox archive.

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