House rejects EPA plans for tougher coal ash rules

November 04, 2011

The Environmental Protections Agency’s efforts to consider coal ash as a hazardous waste were dealt a setback when the U.S. House passed a bill giving the responsibility for that decision to state regulators.

By a vote of 267 to 144, the House said that it was up to individual states to determine the best way to handle the waste products resulting from coal combustion. If they chose, states could classify coal ash as a form of municipal waste, meaning it could be handled the same as household trash or construction debris. Ponds and landfills where coal ash is placed would be required to follow the same rules for construction and groundwater testing as municipal landfills. The EPA would become involved only if it determined that a state wasn’t properly disposing of ash.

The EPA sought to reverse its earlier determinations that coal ash is not a hazardous waste after a 2008 incident in which five million cubic yards of coal ash spilled into a Tennessee River, leading to a billion-dollar cleanup.

Opponents of the House bill called for federal standards. Democratic Representative Henry Waxman warned, “The result will inevitably be uneven and inconsistent rules by the states.” But House Republicans argued that tougher EPA rules would hurt the fragile economy. “In exchange for no benefits, we’re going to give up more jobs in states and in a country that can’t afford more setbacks,” said Indiana Representative Larry Bucshon.