Western Governors' Association 

Policy Resolution 10-1

The Regulation of Coal Combustion Byproducts 

A. BACKGROUND

1. Some manufacturing industries located in the West rely on coal combustion byproducts 

(CCB) and these industries provide critical economical viability to those states. 

2. The 1980 Bevill Amendment to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) 

prohibited the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) from regulating CCB as 

a hazardous waste under RCRA Subtitle C until after it "conduct[s] a detailed and 

comprehensive study and submit[s] a report" to Congress on the "adverse effects on 

human health and the environment, if any, of the disposal and utilization" of fly ash, 

bottom ash, slag, flue gas emission control wastes, and other byproducts from the 

combustion of coal and other fossil fuels to determine whether such regulation is 

warranted, including "consider[ing] actions of state and other federal agencies with a 

view to avoiding duplication of effort”. 

3. US EPA conducted the comprehensive studies required by the Bevill Amendment and 

reported its findings to Congress on March 8, 1988, and March 31, 1999, and in both 

Reports recommended that CCB not be regulated as hazardous waste under RCRA 

Subtitle C. 

4. Based on its reports to Congress, US EPA published its final regulatory determinations 

required by the Bevill Amendment for CCB and concluded on both occasions, first on 

August 9, 1993, and again on May 22, 2000, that fossil fuel combustion wastes, including 

CCB, “do not warrant regulation [as hazardous waste] under Subtitle C of RCRA” and 

that “the regulatory infrastructure is generally in place at the state level to ensure 

adequate management of these wastes” under state non-hazardous waste programs. 

Despite these earlier reports and findings, last year US EPA started internal discussions 

regarding reversing course and looking at regulating coal combustion byproducts as 

hazardous waste. 

5. CCB disposal has remained a state regulatory responsibility throughout the regulatory 

process and states have developed and implemented regulatory programs to safely and 

effectively manage CCB under solid waste management, groundwater protection or coal 

mine reclamation programs. 

B. GOVERNORS’ POLICY STATEMENT

1. Regulation of CCB as hazardous waste has the potential to needlessly impact businesses 

and jobs associated with putting CCB to beneficial use. 
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2. A portion of the coal-fired electric generation in the WGA states could be negatively 

affected if acceptable beneficial use of CCB is disallowed. Ratepayers and small 

businesses already coping with a down economy could see higher electric bills as a result. 

3. Many western states rely upon CCB for road construction and other beneficial uses. The 

designation of CCB as hazardous waste may eliminate the beneficial use of CCB in road 

construction and other applications, increasing costs to state DOTs and ultimately to our 

citizens. 

4. The federal regulation of CCB as hazardous waste would undercut existing and effective 

state regulatory authority resulting in additional and unwarranted regulatory programs 

and would add costly burdens to states’ budgets that are already significantly strained. 

States should review their existing regulations of CCB and make any changes necessary 

in light of the 2008 TVA impoundment pond failure. 

5. Western Governors agree with US EPA’s 1993 and 2000 regulatory determinations that 

CCB do not warrant regulation as hazardous wastes and that the western states have an 

effective regulatory infrastructure in place to continue as the principal regulatory 

authorities to ensure protection of human health and the environment through the safe 

and secure management of CCB under state solid waste, groundwater protection and coal 

mine regulatory programs. 

C. GOVERNORS’ MANAGEMENT DIRECTIVE

1. This resolution is to be transmitted to the President of the United States and the 

Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 

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The Western Governors' Association is an independent, nonprofit organization representing 

 the governors of 19 states and three U.S.-Flag islands in the Pacific. Through their Association, 

Western governors identify and address key policy and governance issues in natural resources, 

 the environment, human services, economic development, international relations and public management.