Late Tuesday, May 4, 2010, the EPA announced it was ready to propose rules to govern the handling of coal-ash waste from coal-fired power plants. The proposals are a result of a spill from an impoundment in Tennessee in 2008 that resulted in major damage to the area.

Coal-ash impoundments are found across the country. The material is generally stored wet or dry. The ash product can contain cancer-causing heavy metals such as mercury, arsenic and cadmium.

The proposal would require protective measures such as liners and groundwater monitoring for new facilities. Existing facilities will also have to add increased monitoring and liners. The agency plans to provide incentives to have existing facilities complete closure actions. The EPA also prefers that such residual materials be stored in the dry form in the future.

There are two options proposed. One option is under the authority of Subtitle C, which creates a comprehensive program of federally enforceable requirements for waste management and disposal. The other option is under the authority of Subtitle D, which gives EPA authority to set performance standards for waste management facilities and would be enforced primarily through citizen suits.

Under both approaches proposed by EPA, the agency would leave in place the Bevill exemption for beneficial uses of coal ash in which coal combustion residuals are recycled as components of products instead of placed in impoundments or landfills. Large quantities of coal ash are used today in concrete, cement, wallboard and other contained applications that should not involve any exposure by the public to unsafe contaminants. These uses would not be impacted by today's proposal.

"EPA supports the legitimate beneficial use of coal combustion residuals," said Mathy Stanislaus, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. In an e-mail sent by EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, it was stated that the agency was creating a "special waste" classification within the hazardous waste regulations, "to help remove the stigma that some believe attaches when a waste is called hazardous."

The agency is seeking public comment on the proposed rule. Comments will be accepted for 90 days from publication in the Fedeal Register. Click here to read more on the rule from the EPA's website.