Republican Representative David McKinley presented his coal ash legislation, the Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act, to the House of Representatives on Tuesday.
It would set a minimum federal standard for coal ash but give states the power for regulation and permitting.
Permits would be required for facilities that manage and dispose of coal ash while groundwater would be regularly monitored and available for public review.
McKinley introduced a similar bill in 2011 which passed the House but never got out of committee in the Senate.
“The new legislation makes additional clarifications and key improvements such as setting deadlines for issuing permits, creating an interim compliance period for many of the requirements and identifying criteria to assess whether a state permit program is meeting the minimum requirements,” McKinley said in a statement.
“The legislation also includes new provisions to ensure structural stability, including a consultation with state dam safety officials, a periodic evaluation to identify structural weakness and potentially hazardous conditions and the creation of an emergency action plan for high hazard structures.
Coal ash is widely reused in construction products such as cement, concrete, wallboard and roofing materials.
McKinley said the bill would preserve the beneficial reuse as a workable alternative to EPA’s 2010 proposal to regulate coal ash as a hazardous waste.
“Currently, coal-fired power plants in 48 states create coal ash every day but there are no federal standards for safe disposal of the material,” McKinley said.
“One approach would designate coal ash as a hazardous material, which would prevent its use in everyday products and ultimately cost 316,000 jobs.
“Our approach sets minimum standards and gives the states flexibility to implement a disposal program that protects the environment and jobs.
“This is a common-sense solution with bipartisan support whose time has come.”
The Environment and the Economy subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, of which McKinley is a member, will mark up the legislation this week.
