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ARTICLE · 22 FEBRUARY 2023

Coal Ash Rule Update

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Legacy ponds and legacy landfills (collectively "legacy sites") are types of inactive Coal Combustion Residual (CCR or "coal ash") impoundments at closed power plants...

United StatesEnvironment
Anthony G. Hopp
Anthony G. Hopp

Anthony G. Hopp, Mark Rokoff (Burns and McDonnell)

Introduction

Legacy ponds and legacy landfills (collectively "legacy sites") are types of inactive Coal Combustion Residual (CCR or "coal ash") impoundments at closed power plants (those not active after October 19, 2015). By some estimates, there are over 150 such impoundments around the US., which collectively contain hundreds of millions of tons of CCR. But while EPA rolled out an extensive series of CCR regulations in 2015 (commonly referred to as the Coal Ash Rule), EPA so far has declined to regulate legacy sites, despite numerous lawsuits and widespread criticism from environmental groups.

The wait may soon be over. On February 6, 2023, EPA announced a proposed consent decree in a pending lawsuit which, if finalized, would require EPA to publish its proposed legacy lite regulations on or before May 5, 2023, and to take final action no later than May 6, 2024. (88 Fed. Reg. 7444). The proposed legacy

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