I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2396 

To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to ensure the safe disposal of 

coal combustion residuals. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 8, 2021 

Mr. COHEN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to ensure the safe 

disposal of coal combustion residuals. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ensuring Safe Dis5 posal of Coal Ash Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ENSURING SAFE DISPOSAL OF COAL ASH. 

7 Section 4005(d) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 

8 U.S.C. 6945(d)) is amended— 

9 (1) in paragraph (1)— 


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1 (A) in subparagraph (A), in the matter 

2 preceding clause (i), by striking ‘‘in lieu of reg3 ulation of coal combustion residuals units’’ and 

4 inserting ‘‘as a program of regulation of coal 

5 combustion residuals units pursuant to this 

6 subsection’’; 

7 (B) in subparagraph (B)— 

8 (i) in the matter preceding clause (i), 

9 by striking ‘‘after public notice and an op10 portunity for public comment’’ and insert11 ing ‘‘after public notice, an opportunity for 

12 public comment, and an opportunity for a 

13 public hearing’’; and 

14 (ii) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘as re15 vised pursuant to paragraph (8) of this 

16 subsection’’ after ‘‘Code of Federal Regula17 tions’’; 

18 (C) in subparagraph (D)— 

19 (i) in clause (i)(I), by striking ‘‘12’’ 

20 and inserting ‘‘5’’; 

21 (ii) in clause (i)(II), by striking ‘‘not 

22 later than 3 years’’ and inserting ‘‘not 

23 later than 1 year’’; 


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1 (iii) in clause (ii)(II), by inserting 

2 ‘‘clauses (i) and (ii) of’’ before ‘‘subpara3 graph (B)’’; and 

4 (iv) by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(iii) PERIOD FOR CORRECTION OF

7 DEFICIENCIES.—The Administrator shall 

8 include in a notice under clause (ii) a rea9 sonable period for the State to correct the 

10 deficiencies identified under such clause, 

11 which shall not exceed 180 days.’’; and 

12 (D) in subparagraph (E)— 

13 (i) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘by the 

14 end of the period included in the notice 

15 under subparagraph (D)(iii)’’ after ‘‘identi16 fied by the Administrator under subpara17 graph (D)(ii)’’; and 

18 (ii) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘by the 

19 end of the period included in the notice 

20 under subparagraph (D)(iii)’’ after ‘‘identi21 fied by the Administrator under subpara22 graph (D)(ii)’’; 

23 (2) in paragraph (2)(B), by inserting ‘‘as re24 vised pursuant to paragraph (8) of this subsection’’ 

25 after ‘‘Code of Federal Regulations’’; 


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1 (3) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘as revised 

2 pursuant to paragraph (8) of this subsection’’ after 

3 ‘‘Code of Federal Regulations’’; and 

4 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(8) REVISION OF REGULATIONS AND REVIEW

6 OF APPROVED STATE PROGRAMS.—Not later than 2 

7 years after the date of enactment of this paragraph, 

8 the Administrator shall— 

9 ‘‘(A) finalize revisions to the criteria for 

10 coal combustion residuals units under part 257 

11 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, to in12 clude any criteria necessary to protect human 

13 health and the environment, including the 

14 health of vulnerable or disproportionately ex15 posed subpopulations, as well as the following 

16 minimum requirements: 

17 ‘‘(i) Require meaningful public partici18 pation in the issuance and renewal of all 

19 permits or other prior approvals, including 

20 notice, opportunity to comment, and public 

21 hearings to ensure that— 

22 ‘‘(I) potentially affected residents 

23 of a community have an appropriate 

24 opportunity to participate in decisions 

25 regarding a proposed activity that 


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1 may affect the environment or public 

2 health of the community; 

3 ‘‘(II) the public contribution can 

4 influence the determination by the 

5 Federal or State permitting agency; 

6 ‘‘(III) the concerns of all partici7 pants involved are taken into consid8 eration in the decision-making proc9 ess; and 

10 ‘‘(IV) the Federal or State per11 mitting agency provides to potentially 

12 affected members of the public accu13 rate information and facilitates the in14 volvement of potentially affected mem15 bers of the public. 

16 ‘‘(ii) Require financial assurance for 

17 all coal combustion residuals units suffi18 cient to cover closure, post-closure care, 

19 and corrective actions, and responsibility 

20 for bodily injury and property damage to 

21 third parties caused by sudden accidental 

22 occurrences arising from operations of the 

23 facility, in the form of a surety bond or ir24 revocable letter of credit, with no allowance 

25 for insurance or for financial tests, corVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 Jun 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2396.IH H2396

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1 porate guarantees, or other forms of self2 bonding. 

3 ‘‘(iii) Prohibit the continued operation 

4 of unlined impoundments, which shall in5 clude all coal combustion residuals units 

6 that fail to meet the design criteria for new 

7 impoundments pursuant to part 257 of 

8 title 40, Code of Federal Regulations. 

9 ‘‘(iv) Limit fugitive dust emissions at 

10 coal combustion residuals units and, in11 cluding during closure and corrective ac12 tion, to no more than 35 micrograms per 

13 square meter, or another standard estab14 lished by the Administrator that will pro15 tect human health, including the health of 

16 vulnerable or disproportionately exposed 

17 subpopulations, and require air monitoring 

18 and public reporting to ensure such stand19 ard is met. 

20 ‘‘(v) Require permit or other prior ap21 proval terms that do not exceed 5 years. 

22 ‘‘(vi) Require permits for operation, 

23 closure, and corrective action that ensure 

24 compliance with all applicable require25 ments, and deny any permit for closure 


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1 that would allow coal combustion residuals 

2 to be— 

3 ‘‘(I) in contact with ground 

4 water, including on an intermittent or 

5 seasonal basis; or 

6 ‘‘(II) in a location that does not 

7 meet the requirements for new coal 

8 combustion residuals units under part 

9 257 of title 40, Code of Federal Regu10 lations, including but not limited to 

11 floodplains. 

12 ‘‘(vii) Prohibit, as open dumping, the 

13 unencapsulated use of coal combustion re14 siduals when placed on land, unless, in the 

15 case of soil amendment for agricultural 

16 use, the placement meets limits established 

17 by Environmental Protection Agency to 

18 protect health and the environment. 

19 ‘‘(viii) Require compliance with the 

20 criteria in part 257 of title 40, Code of 

21 Federal Regulations, for any coal combus22 tion residuals unit, without regard to when 

23 the unit ceased accepting coal combustion 

24 residuals. 


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1 ‘‘(ix) Require groundwater monitoring 

2 methods that are sufficient to detect con3 taminants at levels defined in applicable 

4 groundwater protection standards. 

5 ‘‘(x) Add boron, hexavalent chromium, 

6 manganese, and sulfate to the constituents 

7 listed in Appendix IV to part 257 of title 

8 40, Code of Federal Regulations. 

9 ‘‘(xi) Require corrective action beyond 

10 facility boundaries, as needed to protect 

11 human health and the environment, includ12 ing the health of vulnerable or dispropor13 tionately exposed subpopulations. 

14 ‘‘(xii) Require owners and operators 

15 to complete remedial activities to prevent 

16 further releases, to remediate any releases 

17 and to restore the affected area to original 

18 conditions as soon as feasible and to pub19 lish semi-annual progress reports on pub20 licly accessible websites from the date of 

21 remedy selection until completion of the 

22 remedy. 

23 ‘‘(xiii) Require owners and operators 

24 to determine whether releases of coal com25 bustion residuals constituents from coal 


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1 combustion residuals units threaten drink2 ing water wells and to supply alternative 

3 sources of safe drinking water as soon as 

4 feasible to well users, if water is adversely 

5 impacted; 

6 ‘‘(B) promulgate regulations that set forth 

7 minimum requirements for State and Federal 

8 coal combustion residuals permit programs, in9 cluding but not limited to public participation 

10 requirements in accordance with paragraph 

11 (8)(A)(i), enforcement capabilities, transparency 

12 of compliance documents, and equity in applica13 tion to low-income communities, communities of 

14 color, and other disproportionately impacted 

15 populations; 

16 ‘‘(C) promulgate regulations to require 

17 owners of closed coal combustion residuals dis18 posal sites to identify the locations of such sites 

19 through surveying, platting, or other measures, 

20 together with recordation of such information 

21 on the public record, to ensure that the loca22 tions where such wastes are disposed of are 

23 known and can be located in the future; and 

24 ‘‘(D) review under paragraph (1)(D) any 

25 State program that has been approved under 


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1 paragraph (1)(B) to ensure compliance with the 

2 revised criteria promulgated under subpara3 graph (A) and the regulations promulgated 

4 under subparagraphs (B) and (C).’’. 

Æ 


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