On April 17, 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) promulgated national minimum criteria for existing and new coal combustion residuals (CCR) landfills and existing and new CCR surface impoundments. On August 21, 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued its opinion in the case of Utility Solid Waste Activities Group v. EPA, 901 F.3d 414 (per curiam) (USWAG). This rule finalizes regulations, proposed on December 2, 2019, to implement the court’s vacatur of the 2015 provisions. The court vacated provisions that allowed unlined impoundments to continue receiving coal ash unless they leak, and classified “clay-lined” impoundments as lined, thereby allowing such units to operate indefinitely. In addition, EPA is establishing a revised date by which unlined surface impoundments must cease receiving waste and initiate closure, following its reconsideration of those dates in light of the USWAG decision. Lastly, EPA is finalizing amendments proposed on August 14, 2019, to the requirements for the annual groundwater monitoring and corrective action report and the requirements for the publicly accessible CCR internet sites.

Read more >> https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/08/28/2020-16872/hazardous-and-solid-waste-management-system-disposal-of-coal-combustion-residuals-from-electric