Resolution Number 08-14 

Approved September 22, 2008 

Branson, Missouri 

Revised March 23, 2010 

Sausalito, California 

As certified by 

R. Steven Brown 

Executive Director

THE REGULATION OF COAL COMBUSTION PRODUCTS 

WHEREAS, The 1980 Bevill Amendment to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act 

(RCRA) requires the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) to "conduct a detailed 

and comprehensive study and submit a report" to U.S. 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 and “to consider actions of state and other federal agencies with a view to avoiding 

duplication of effort;” and 

WHEREAS, U.S. EPA conducted the comprehensive study required by the Bevill Amendment 

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

Reports that recommended that coal combustion wastes (CCW) not be regulated as hazardous 

waste under RCRA Subtitle C; and 

WHEREAS, on August 9, 1993, U.S. EPA published a regulatory determination that regulation of 

the four large volume coal combustion wastes (fly ash, bottom ash, boiler slag, and flue gas 

emission control waste) as hazardous waste under RCRA Subtitle C is "unwarranted;" and 

WHEREAS, on May 22, 2000, U.S. EPA published a final regulatory determination that fossil 

fuel combustion wastes, including coal combustion wastes, “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;” and 

WHEREAS, U.S. EPA is under no statutory obligation to promulgate federal regulations 

applicable to CCW disposal following the regulatory determination that hazardous waste 

regulation of CCW disposal is not warranted, and throughout the entire Bevill regulatory process, 

CCW disposal has remained a state regulatory responsibility and the states have developed and 

implemented robust regulatory programs tailored to the wide-ranging circumstances of CCW 

management throughout the country; and 

WHEREAS, in 2005, U.S. EPA and the U.S. Department of Energy published a study of CCW 

disposal facilities constructed or expanded since 1994 and evolving state regulatory programs that 

found: state CCW regulatory requirements have become more stringent in recent years, the vast 

majority of new and expanded CCW disposal facilities have state-of-the-art environmental 

controls, and deviations from state regulatory requirements were being granted only on the basis 

of sound technical criteria; and 
WHEREAS, the states have demonstrated a continuing commitment to ensure proper 

management of CCWs and several states have announced proposals for revising and upgrading 

their state CCW regulatory programs. 

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL OF 

THE STATES: 

Agrees with U.S. EPA’s repeated assessments in 1988, 1993, 1999, 2000, and 2005 that CCW 

disposal does not warrant regulation as hazardous wastes under RCRA Subtitle C; 

Agrees with U.S. EPA’s finding in the 2005 study previously cited that “the regulatory 

infrastructure is generally in place at the state level to ensure adequate management of these 

wastes” and believes that states should continue to be the principal regulatory authority for 

regulating CCW as they are best suited to develop and implement CCW regulatory programs 

tailored to specific climate and geological conditions designed to protect human health and the 

environment; 

Supports safe, beneficial reuse of CCW, including for geotechnical and civil engineering 

purposes; 

Believes that the adoption and implementation of a federal CCW regulatory program would 

create an additional level of oversight that is not warranted, duplicate existing state regulatory 

programs, and require additional resources to revise or amend existing state programs to conform 

to new federal regulatory programs and to seek U.S. EPA program approval; 

Believes that if U.S. EPA promulgates a federal regulatory program for state CCW waste 

management programs, the regulations must be developed under RCRA Subtitle D rather than 

RCRA Subtitle C; 

Believes that designating CCW a hazardous waste under RCRA Subtitle C could create stigma 

and liability concerns that could impact the beneficial use of CCW; and 

Therefore calls upon U.S. EPA to conclude that additional federal CCW regulations would be 

duplicative of most state programs, are unnecessary, and should not be adopted, but if adopted 

must be developed under RCRA Subtitle D rather than RCRA Subtitle C, and in addition, urges 

U.S. EPA to make a timely decision, and calls upon U.S. EPA to begin a collaborative dialogue 

with the states to develop and promote a national framework for beneficial use of CCW including 

use principles and guidelines, and to accelerate the development of markets for this material.