10/21/1976

12/18/1978

10/12/1980

11/19/1980

EPA promulgates interim final amendments to the hazardous waste regulations (PDF) (45 FR 76618)(200 pp, 491 MB, About PDF)

10/31/1982

02/1988

08/31/1988

EPA misses the statutory deadline for making a regulatory determination on the wastes described in February 1988 report

06/1991

The Bull Run Coalition in Oregon files a suit against EPA for failure to complete the regulatory determinations on the 1988 report on the wastes studied and not studied

06/30/1992

EPA enters into a consent decree that establishes a schedule to complete all regulatory determinations

The EPA divides fossil fuel combustion wastes into two categories: (1) fly ash, bottom ash, boiler slag, and flue gas emission control waste from coal burning utilities, and (2) all the remaining wastes identified

08/09/1993

EPA determines that fly ash, bottom ash, boiler slag, and flue gas emission control dust from coal burning utilities do not apply to Subtitle C and are excluded from the definition of hazardous waste under RCRA

03/31/1999

This report addressed the remaining wastes not addressed in the 1988 report

05/22/2000

EPA concludes that national non-hazardous waste regulations under Subtitle D are needed for coal combustion wastes disposed of in landfills and surface impoundments and used as minefill. EPA retains the hazardous waste exemption for the remaining wastes. EPA also determines that beneficial uses of these wastes pose no significant risk (other than for minefilling) and no additional national regulation is needed.

The Interstate Mining Compact Commission conducts four Mine Placement of Coal Combustion Waste Meetings

The purpose of these meetings was to collect and analyze technical and regulatory information related to minefilling of coal combustion waste

10/12/2011

The proposal:

1. Addresses provisions of the final rule that were remanded back to the Agency on June 14, 2016 by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit;
2. Provides states with approved CCR permit programs (or EPA where it is the permitting authority) under the WIIN Act the ability to set certain alternative performance standards; and
3. Addresses one additional issue that has arisen since the April 2015 publication of the final rule. 

EPA is proposing six provisions that would allow states or EPA the ability to incorporate flexibilities into their coal ash permit programs. These flexibilities would also be available to facilities with U.S. EPA-issued CCR permits.

Additionally, the proposal:

• Clarifies the type and magnitude of non-groundwater releases that would require a facility to comply with some or all of the corrective action procedures set forth in 40 CFR sections 257.96 through 257.98 in meeting their obligation to clean up the release.
• Adds boron to the list of constituents in Appendix IV of 40 CFR part 257 that trigger corrective action.
• Determines the requirement for proper height of woody and grassy vegetation for slope protection.
• Revises the current regulations to allow the use of CCR in the construction of final cover systems for CCR units closing pursuant to 40 CFR section 257.101 that are closing with waste-in-place.
• Adds a new paragraph to 40 CFR section 257.103 to allow facilities to qualify for the alternative closure provisions based on the continued need to manage non-CCR wastestreams in the unit. 

Changes included:

• Adopting two alternative performance standards that either Participating State Directors in states with approved CCR permit programs (participating states) or EPA where EPA is the permitting authority may apply to owners and operators of CCR units.
• Revising groundwater protection standards (GWPS) for four constituents which do not have an established Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL).
• Extending the deadline by which facilities must cease the placement of waste in CCR units closing for cause in two situations: where the facility has detected a statistically significant increase above a GWPS from an unlined surface impoundment; and where the unit is unable to comply with the aquifer location restriction.

EPA proposed changes to enhance public access to information and for reconsideration of the beneficial use criteria and piles.

The following changes were proposed:

• Replacing the 12,400-ton threshold that triggers an environmental demonstration with specific location-based criteria (e.g., placement in an unstable area, wetland, floodplain or seismic zone) derived from existing criteria for CCR disposal units.
• Establishing a single approach which would apply to all temporary placement of unencapsulated CCR on the land, regardless of whether the pile is on-site or off-site, or destined for beneficial use or disposal.
• Revising the annual groundwater monitoring and corrective action report requirements to make the data easier to understand and evaluate, including a requirement to summarize the results in an executive summary.
• Establishing an alternative groundwater protection standard for boron using the same methodology used for other CCR constituents, which would be finalized if boron is added to the list of constituents for assessment monitoring.
• Revising the CCR website requirements to ensure that relevant facility information required by the regulations is immediately available to the public.

On August 21, 2018, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued its opinion in the case of Utility Solid Waste Activities Group, et al. v. EPA (USWAG). This action proposes regulations to implement the court's vacatur of the provisions that allow unlined impoundments to continue receiving coal ash unless they leak, and that classify “clay-lined” impoundments as lined, thereby allowing such units to operate indefinitely. In addition, EPA also proposed to establish 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.

EPA proposed a streamlined, efficient, federal permitting program for the disposal of CCR in surface impoundments and landfills, which will also include electronic permitting. EPA has used the lessons learned from many years of implementing hazardous waste and other permitting programs to design an efficient, federal CCR permitting process. This proposal includes requirements for federal CCR permit applications, content and modification, as well as procedural requirements. EPA would implement this permit program directly in Indian Country, as it does other Resource Conservation and Recovery Act programs, and at CCR units located in states that have not submitted their own CCR permit program for approval.

Specifically, EPA is proposing the following revisions:

• Procedures to allow facilities to request approval to use an alternate liner for CCR surface impoundments;
• Two co-proposed options to allow the use of CCR during unit closure;
• An additional closure option for CCR units being closed by removal of CCR; and
• Requirements for annual closure progress reports.

Changes included:

• changes to implement the court’s vacatur of the provisions that allow unlined surface impoundments to continue receiving coal ash unless they leak, and that classify “clay-lined” surface impoundments as lined.
• establishment of a revised date of April 11, 2021 by which unlined surface impoundments and units that failed the aquifer location restriction must cease receiving waste and initiate closure or retrofit.
• revisions to the alternative closure provisions that would grant certain facilities additional time to develop alternative capacity to manage their waste streams (including additional waste - primarily non-CCR wastewater - generated at the facility) before they must stop receiving waste and initiate closure of their surface impoundments.
• amendments to the annual groundwater monitoring and corrective action report and the requirements for the publicly accessible internet sites that were proposed on August 14, 2019.

Changes included:

• changes to implement the court’s vacatur of the provisions that allow unlined surface impoundments to continue receiving coal ash unless they leak, and that classify “clay-lined” surface impoundments as lined.
• establishment of a revised date of April 11, 2021 by which unlined surface impoundments and units that failed the aquifer location restriction must cease receiving waste and initiate closure or retrofit.
• revisions to the alternative closure provisions that would grant certain facilities additional time to develop alternative capacity to manage their waste streams (including additional waste - primarily non-CCR wastewater - generated at the facility) before they must stop receiving waste and initiate closure of their surface impoundments.
• amendments to the annual groundwater monitoring and corrective action report and the requirements for the publicly accessible internet sites that were proposed on August 14, 2019.

EPA is seeking comments in this advanced notice of proposed rulemaking and data on inactive surface impoundments at inactive facilities to assist in the development of future regulations for these CCR units.

EPA sought comments and data on inactive surface impoundments at inactive electric utilities, referred to as "legacy CCR surface impoundments" or "legacy units", to assist in the development of future regulations for these coal combustion residuals units. This action is in response to the August 21, 2018 opinion by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (Utility Solid Waste Activities Group, et al v. EPA) that vacated and remanded the provision that exempted inactive impoundments at inactive facilities from the April 17, 2015 CCR rule.

EPA is seeking input on a potential definition of a legacy CCR surface impoundment and is specifically soliciting information on the types of inactive surface impoundments at inactive facilities that might be considered legacy surface impoundments. Specifically, EPA is requesting information on:

• the number of legacy units,
• their current status (i.e., capped, dry, closed according to state requirements, still holding water), and
• names and locations of former power plants that may have these units and when the plants closed.

Finally, the Agency is taking comment on EPA's regulatory authority, the appropriate regulatory approach for these units and the timeframes to come into compliance with those regulations.

EPA finalized procedures to allow a limited number of facilities to demonstrate to EPA or a Participating State Director that, based on groundwater data and the design of a particular surface impoundment, the unit has and will continue to ensure there is no reasonable probability of adverse effects to human health and the environment. Therefore, these CCR surface impoundments should be allowed to continue to operate.

EPA announced the availability of new information and data pertaining to the agency's August 14, 2019 proposed rule Federal Register publication. EPA is seeking public comment on whether this additional information may inform the Agency's reconsideration of the beneficial use definition and provisions for coal combustion residuals accumulations. Moreover, the Agency will accept additional information and data from the public that may further help inform the Agency's reconsideration of these two issues.