Top
image credit: Freepik

EPA Moves to Deny Coal Ash Disposal at Six Massive Coal Power Plants 

January 26, 2023

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed barring six coal-fired power plants in various states—a combined 11 GW—from disposing coal ash into unlined surface impoundments. The agency, however, also proposed to provide disposal extensions if the coal plants are needed to maintain grid reliability.

The EPA’s proposed determinations, issued on Jan. 25, fall under its Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR) Part B final rule, which it published in November 2020 as a revision to its CCR regulations under Part 257, Subpart D. The rule essentially finalized a two-step process for coal facilities with clay-lined surface impoundments to demonstrate to the agency that “based on groundwater data and the design of a particular surface impoundment, the operation of the unit has and will continue to ensure there is no reasonable probability of adverse effects to human health and the environment,” the EPA said.

Read More on Power Magazine