NGWA recently convened a regulatory review group to prepare comments on proposed regulations of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to make changes to controlling contaminants from coal combustion residuals (ash) disposed in impoundments and landfills used by coal-fired power plants.
- The first rule dealing with Coal Combustion Residuals Disposal, addressed a range of changes to regulations under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) including alternative groundwater standards, alternative points of compliance, and site closure review and certification. NGWA commented that alternative standards and points of compliance should be set to be protective of adjacent groundwater users and reviewed by states. Closure plans should be reviewed and certified by a qualified groundwater scientist or engineer.
- Drawing on the input of the review group, NGWA’s comments also addressed the Coal Combustion Residuals Permitting program, including new facilities maintaining ample separation of the CCR unit from the upper aquifer, functional composite liner and controls, and adequate groundwater monitoring to protect groundwater as well as maintaining the regulations for corrective action. These comments also pointed to the previous comments on coal ash disposal considerations to be addressed in the permit program.
- The third set of comments dealt with the regulation of the leachate from coal ash disposal in landfills and impoundments regulated under the Clean Water Act (CWA). This leachate must receive a CWA National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit in accordance with the Supreme Court’s 2020 decision that pollutant releases to groundwater that reach a U.S. jurisdictional water must be regulated as a ‘functional equivalent’ to a direct discharge to surface water. NGWA’s comments pointed to its guide on evaluating such pollutant releases to groundwater.
Click here to read NGWA’s comments.
Click here to read the proposed rule.