Senate bill would block EPA regulation of coal ash

[The Straight Story]

Senate bill would block EPA regulation of coal ash

Five Republican and five Democratic senators, mostly from coal-rich states, introduced a bill that largely mirrors recently passed House legislation to block the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating disposal of coal ash for the first time.

The bill, whose main sponsor is Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., would block the EPA rule and instead let the states regulate the ash like municipal solid waste. Last week the House passed a highly similar bill fronted by Rep. David McKinley, R-W.Va.

The EPA has proposed to classify coal ash under federal hazardous-waste management law, or let states regulate it as a non-hazardous waste. The proposed rule comes in the wake of coal-ash facility spills, including one in Kingston, Tenn., in 2008 in which 1 billion gallons of ash-containing liquid flooded the nearby area.

The bill’s sponsors are concerned about the possibility EPA could classify coal ash as hazardous waste, which they say would cause electricity rates to spike and increase costs for companies that reuse the ash in applications such as concrete. Their concerns reflect those raised by 12 Democrats and 34 Republicans who asked the EPA earlier this year to choose the non-hazardous waste option. The EPA has said it probably won’t issue a final rule this year.

http://fuelfix.com/blog/2011/10/21/coal-ash/

[Tesha]

1. Ahh! Democrats doing Republican work again! (NT)