Let each state decide how to handle coal ash?
A new coal ash recycling bill that establishes minimum disposal standards that apply to more than 1000 coal ash dumps throughout the United States has been introduced by Senators John Hoeven (R-ND) and Joe Manchin (D-WV). The bill is companion legislation to Congressmen John Shimkus (R-IL) and David McKinley's (R-WV) bill in the House, mirroring the previous legislation.
 |
|
Coal-fired power plant and ash disposal area. Credit: Alexey Baskakov |
Senators Hoeven and Manchin say the legislation will create a "states-first approach to regulating coal ash that provides both certainty for the safe and efficient recycling of coal ash and an enforceable state permit program for the disposal of coal ash."
"Coal ash is a byproduct of coal-based electricity generation that has been safely recycled for buildings, roads, bridges and other infrastructure for years," Hoeven said. "North Dakota serves as a good example of how states can properly manage the disposal of coal residuals with good environmental stewardship, and at the same time, allow for its beneficial use in buildings, roads, bridges and other infrastructure."
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its final coal ash rule last December, which the Senators say "correctly regulates coal ash as a non-hazardous material, but does not provide non-hazardous designation certainty to coal ash recyclers or create an effective enforcement mechanism for the disposal of coal ash."
The Hoeven-Manchin bill addresses this by providing the certainty needed to ensure coal ash can continue being recycled by permanently designating it as non-hazardous; incorporating standards in EPA's coal ash rule for disposal in enforceable, mandatory state permit programs; and providing state regulators the same flexibility for implementing the groundwater monitoring and corrective action standards that is currently provided under existing Municipal Solid Waste regulations.
The new bill will establish a state permitting program for coal ash under a section of the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and ensure coal ash storage sites have requirements for timely and effective groundwater monitoring, protective lining, and properly engineered structures needed to protect communities and the environment. States that prefer to do so could grant oversight to the EPA.
"The overregulation of coal ash by the EPA would threaten vital industries and needlessly cost West Virginia and the nation more jobs, neither of which we can afford," Manchin said. "This legislation gives us a commonsense fix: let each state use existing EPA health and environment regulations to set up their own permitting program that allows them to recycle and reuse coal ash. This approach will protect jobs and our economy, while giving families and businesses the certainty they need to help restore confidence."
Environmental group Earthjustice isn't buying it. They claim the bill seeks to "eliminate, weaken and delay protections in the long-awaited first-ever national coal ash rule, before it's even implemented," referring to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule, which it says includes safeguards addressing toxic dust; structural stability of dams impounding coal ash; design standards to prevent, detect and cleanup toxic leaks from coal ash dumps; and reporting of monitoring data and spills on a publicly available website. The rule also encourages closure within three years of inactive coal ash ponds.
"Instead of trying to keep our waters drinkable and air breathable, Senators Hoeven and Manchin are trying to keep our families vulnerable to more coal ash contamination," said Andrea Delgado, senior legislative representative for Earthjustice. "This bill is a gratuitous attack on basic health and safety requirements, which are especially important for states that have been operating without any for decades."
For more:
- see this background
article
© 2015 FierceMarkets, a division of Questex, LLC. All rights reserved.