With names like “boiler slag” and “bottom ash,” it’s no wonder that anyone who has ever heard of coal ash, or the coal combustion residuals (CCRs) produced from burning coal, assumes they are the basest forms of pollution....more
Several environmental organizations have sued the U.S. EPA in an attempt to force the agency to revise its coal ash rules to include inactive, coal ash landfills. Currently inactive, coal ash landfills are exempt from the...more
Texas is now the third state with an approved CCR permit program. On June 28, 2021, the Environmental Protection Agency published the approval of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s partial State Coal Combustion...more
China's New Coal Projects Make Up 90% of Global Total for First Half of 2020: Study - "Global coal-fired generation capacity saw a net decline of 2.9 gigawatts from January to June, the first drop on record for a six-month...more
On April 17, 2015, EPA issued the final coal combustion residuals (CCR) Rule (the 2015 CCR Rule), providing the first federal regulatory scheme for the disposal of CCR materials. The 2015 CCR Rule regulates only facilities in...more
Cancelled Teck Oil Sands Project Underscores Global Climate-Energy Policy Tension - "The Frontier project became the latest casualty in oil-producing countries with robust environmental movements agitating to cut...more
Earthjustice on behalf of a number of environmental organizations sent a February 7th letter to United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) Administrator Andrew Wheeler styled...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) approved the Georgia Environmental Protection Division’s partial Coal Combustion Residuals (“CCR”) state permit program on January 10th. EPA approved the Georgia...more
The Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR) Rule, first issued in April 2015, regulates the disposal of coal ash in landfills and surface impoundments under Subtitle D of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. It provides...more
Some companies subjected to environmental enforcement or cleanup actions may believe others should take the blame or share in the costs. When environmental consultants have been involved, the finger can point in their...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued a prepublication notice of proposed revisions to the National Minimum Criteria for Existing and New Coal Combustion Residuals (“CCR”) Landfills and Surface...more
On September 24, 2018, in two separate decisions, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals found that coal ash wastewater that enters groundwater and eventually travels to navigable waters through the groundwater is not regulated...more
EPA has announced a new compliance policy that some will view as providing welcome relief to industry and others may view as providing unwarranted concessions. The subject line of the EPA memo announcing the new policy is...more
In the evolving Sierra Club v. Virginia Electric & Power Company case, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has just reversed a Virginia-based federal district court on the key issue of whether a coal ash...more
As Storm Looms, 4th Circuit Reverses Ruling Against Dominion on Coal Ash Pollution at Chesapeake Site - "Water pollution from a coal ash landfill and settling ponds at a closed power plant in Chesapeake is not a violation of...more
LyondellBasell Looking to Control Braskem; Could Help WV Cracker - "A deal could breathe life into the ethane cracker Braskem proposed for a site near Parkersburg, W.Va., roughly five years ago." Why this is important:...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) Administrator E. Scott Pruitt granted in a September 13th letter petitions for reconsideration from the Utility Solid Waste Activities Group (“USWAG”) and AES Puerto...more
The huge unknown about President-Elect Donald Trump's energy plans is in electric power. Whatever he decides, with a unified Republican Congress behind him, he has the ability to shape federal electric policy in the coming...more
The EPA’s publication of a coal ash rule on April 17, 2015, did little to resolve the debate about the proper management of the material. Members of Congress have continued to push for legislation which would change...more
On January 10, 2015, Governor Snyder signed SB 891 into law, enacting revisions to Part 201 of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act ("Part 201), Michigan’s environmental remediation law. The revisions cover...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on December 19, 2014, issued a much anticipated and certain to be controversial final rule under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) on the RCRA regulatory status...more
On Friday, EPA finally released its final rule regulating coal combustion residuals. Facility owners breathed a sigh of relief, as EPA chose to regulate under Subtitle D of RCRA, rather than under the cradle-to-grave...more
December 19, 2014 marked the deadline for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to announce its final decision regarding a new regulatory scheme for coal ash disposal (Coal Combustion Residuals or CCR). The new...more
The U.S. EPA’s efforts to develop a new regulatory path for coal ash (“Coal Combustion Residuals” or “CCR”) by regulating the material either as a hazardous waste or as a solid but non-hazardous waste, are nearing a...more
On May 2, 2014 the United States District Court for the District of Columbia approved a consent decree in Appalachian Voices et. al. v McCarthy, 12 cv-00254 (RBW), setting December 19, 2014 as the date by which the United...more