Green Groups Push for Coal Ash Rules

Unhappy with the speed of EPA regulation of coal combustion by-products, a number of environmental organizations late last week filed a lawsuit to force EPA to finalize regulation of coal ash. Nearly a dozen groups were party to the lawsuit, including the Sierra Club, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, and the Environmental Integrity Project. The lawsuit comes just days after the EPA announced plans to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from the energy sector, which some believe will prevent the construction of new coal-fired power generation.

In its lawsuit, the groups claim that EPA is violating the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) by not including coal ash among the substances it regulates. The organizations are demanding that EPA regulate coal ash under Subtitle C of the RCRA, the title that deals with hazardous waste. PACE supports an alternative option being explored by EPA that would regulate coal ash under Subtitle D of the RCRA, allowing states to adopt rules at their own discretion.

“It is no surprise that groups with a stated mission of shutting down our nation’s use of coal for electricity would file such a lawsuit, because they understand that coal ash regulations present huge financial and logistical burdens for utilities,” explains PACE Executive Director Lance Brown. “The problem is these organizations have no real solutions for keeping the lights on and power bills affordable.”

PACE has written extensively about coal ash regulation, citing a study published in June 2011 that found EPA’s regulatory proposals on coal ash could cause as many as 316,000 job losses and cost $110 billion over a 20-year period. PACE’s recent mini-documentary, Unplugged, also covers the heavy toll that EPA regulation of coal ash as a hazardous waste could pose, citing concerns from energy insiders.

“The public needs to understand that half of the 130 million tons of coal ash being generated each year ends up in places like our roads and our carpet. The rest is being stored safely under close supervision,” says Brown. “There is a way to handle coal ash that protects the public while not taking almost half of America’s power generation off the grid. Let’s hope the courts and policymakers have the wisdom to acknowledge that fact.”