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February 11, 2008

Notice of Data Availability on the Disposal of Coal Combustion\
Wastes in Landfills and Surface Impoundments

Environmental Protection Agency

Mail Code: 5305T

1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

Washington, DC 20460

**[Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-RCRA-2006-0796]{.underline}**

Dear Sir or Madam,

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) submits
these comments on EPA's Notice of Data Availability on the Disposal of
Coal Combustion Wastes in Landfills and Surface Impoundments ("NODA"),
**72 Fed. Reg. 49714** (Aug. 29, 2007). In the NODA, EPA asks how the
information referenced in the NODA should affect the way EPA follows up
on the 2000 Bevill Regulatory Determination, (**65 Fed. Reg. 32214**
(May 22, 2000)).

NRECA is a member of the Utility Solid Waste Activities Group (USWAG).
USWAG will be submitting comments on the NODA, and NRECA agrees with
USWAG's general comment that "the significant improvement in industry
management and state regulatory oversight of CCW disposal demonstrate
that the conditions that once led EPA to determine that federal Subtitle
D regulations were warranted no longer exist" and that therefore
"further development of Subtitle D regulations is no longer necessary."
(Comments of The Utility Solid Waste Activities Group, [et.]{.underline}
[al.]{.underline} on Notice of Data Availability on the Disposal of Coal
Combustion Wastes in Landfills and Surface Impoundments, *February 18,
2008*). Our reasons for supporting this position are outlined below.

**The findings of the EPA/DOE Report show that without additional
federal regulations, state regulatory oversight and ash management
practices from 1994 to 2004 have significantly improved.** (*Coal
Combustion Waste Management at Landfills and Surface Impoundments,
1994-2004* "DOE/EPA Report") In general, the report concludes that "the
amount and quality of environmental controls used at CCW management
units appear to have increased. A trend toward management in landfills
(dry ash handling) and away from surface impoundments (wet handling) is
also evident." (EPA/DOE report S-5). Other significant findings include:

-   "One hundred percent of ... landfills and surface impoundments were
    authorized by one or more permits". ([ibid]{.underline} S-3)

-   "The use of liners has become essentially ubiquitous"
    ([ibid]{.underline} S-3) and "The protective qualities of the liner
    materials have improved over the past decade for both landfills and
    surface impoundments. ([ibid]{.underline} S-6).

-   "The vast majority (91%) of ... units (landfills and surface
    impoundments) built or expanded between 1994 and 2004 have
    groundwater monitoring." ([ibid]{.underline} S-6)

These advancements have occurred under state oversight and without
additional federal regulation.

**Utilities endorse specific practices** for continuing improvement in
CCW management. USWAG represents the vast majority of power generating
organizations throughout the U.S. As EPA may know, USWAG's members,
including NRECA, have been searching for a meaningful way to demonstrate
a commitment to continued improvement in the environmental protection
afforded by CCW landfills and surface impoundments. That effort has
resulted in USWAG's "Action Plan" for management of coal combustion
products.

The plan contains detailed guidance for implementing and upgrading
management practices. The plan calls for groundwater performance
monitoring, and it contains remediation requirements if problems are
detected. The plan requires companies to consider dry ash handling
before expanding existing facilities or building new ones.\
A number of NRECA's members have formally signed on to the plan and
others are considering joining. Recently, more and more companies are
making a formal commitment to implement the plan.

**EPA's** **Risk Assessments are flawed.** Both the human health risk
assessment and the ecological risk assessment are incomplete and flawed.
In their current form they provide virtually no useful information about
risks posed by ash management activities, and attempts should not be
made to try to use the studies to inform the regulation development
process.

Certain parts of the analyses may be valid, however it is hard to tell
because the methods are poorly explained and insufficient supporting
data is provided. The analysis starts with invalid predictions of the
chemical composition of ash leachate, does not attempt to analyze actual
exposure pathways between ash facilities and drinking water wells, it
used incorrect toxicological information for key parameters and mis-used
the Monte Carlo probabilistic model for the human health risk
assessment. It did not use a probabilistic model for the ecological
assessment at all. (*Comments on EPA's Draft Human and Ecological Risk
Assessment of Coal Combustion Wastes...,* p.ES-1, ENSR Corporation,
November, 2007)

**EPA Should Reject the Regulatory Proposals Submitted by Various
Environmental Activist Organizations as Contrary to the Bevill
Regulatory Determination and Contrary to Sound Public Policy.**

The NODA refers to a proposed regulatory framework for regulation of
CCWs submitted by 27 environmental stakeholder groups led by
Earthjustice and the Clean Air Task Force (**72 Fed. Reg. at 40819**).
The proposed regulatory framework would be impractical and would
supplant state regulation of CCW's with federal controls, an action that
is inconsistent with the 2000 Bevill determination. Their proposal would
ban both the construction of new surface impoundments and the expansion
of existing impoundments and would also require that all existing
surface impoundments to be closed within two years. (See proposed
§§ 253.31-.32.) It is difficult to imagine any action more disruptive to
energy generation and delivery than the sudden removal of a major
percentage of the industry's CCW storage and disposal capacity.

Thank you for this opportunity to comment. If you wish to discuss this
further please contact Jim Stine at <james.stine@nreca.coop>, or
703-907-5739.

Sincerely yours,

/s/

James F. Stine