# ®Washington State

vrffl Department of Transortati

Paula ,1 . Hammond, P®E, Secretary of Transportation November 8, 2010 n 

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# NOV 15 2010 Transportation Building 310 Maple Park Avenue S.E. P.O . Box 47300 Olympia, WA 98504-7300 360-705-7000 TTY : 1-800-833-6388 www .wsdot .wa .gov Hazardous Waste Management System Identification and Listing of Special Wastes Disposal of Coal Combustion Residuals from Electric Utilities Docket Environmental Protection Agency 

### Mail code: 5305T 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington, DC 20460 Attention: Docket ID No. EPA-HQ RCRA-2009-0640 RE- :, Comments Relative tcx"I-Iazardous and. Solid Was~e~,,Managernent System ;, :, . ~ :U .-atifcation and Listing of Special Wastes- Disposal of C®al :Eombustioin, Residuals- fromElectric-U- tilities,"~FederatRegister; Monday, 3uaie~21, 20W Dear,EPA Adrnanistratorg : Thank you for the opportunity to review and comment on the EPA's proposal to-regulate coal combustion residuals (C .CRs) under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) . The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) has a long history oftaking waste products-such as CCRs destined for landfill and putting those waste products to beneficial use. WSDOT's program uses large quantities of Type F Flyash to mitigate against Alkali Silica Reactivity (ASR), a devastating reaction in concrete which- greatly:reduces theuseful- life of the product. Use of CCRs as pozzolanic cements has benefited, not harmed, the environment. The incidents that prompted this proposed regulation were both due to improperly constructed impoundments of CCRs. The nature ofthe impoundments (dams) caused the failure and the subsequent damage, not the nature ofthe material . Existing regulations for these impoundmerits already exist and their success is based on enforcement of the regulations, not through adding new regulations. CCR1s should, not be labeled or regulated as either special wastes or hazardous wastes: they-are not hazardoas. .Two National Cooperative .Highway>>Research ;Pragrain (NC~igP) reports= N£HRP Report ;4 :43=,°.."Primer Environ~nentai-'I~pact : :qf Gonstri~cotion and Repair Materials on Surface and.Ground Waters'z and NCHRPReport 448, ` "Environmental . Impact ofConstruction,and Repair Materials o 'n .S~urface arid Ground Waters" concluded that there was "no impact" of leaching of construction and repair materials onsurface and-ground waters fromCCRs. EPA's two

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re~gulations for; CCRs are . both .flawed~ ~TThefirst would regulate CCRs,ng-special :waste wl?ew~destined for disposal at surface'dinpoundir.ents or landfills; this- is,not acceplable.-,-Under .this-Proposal ;- CCRs :would be re - " d~ r!j ~er'S6j6tle Cof 

## ~Environmental Protection Agency November 8, 2010 Page 2 RCRA, but the labeling of CCRs as special wastes under hazardous waste regulations would be inaccurate and damaging to their beneficial use . The second option would not classify CCRs as special waste ; however, new

regulation would be used to regulate CCRs by issuing national minimum criteria. Under this option, EPAwould regulate CCRs under subtitle Dof RCRA . This is still unnecessary as regulations on impoundments handle the true need, but this is less damaging to the transportation industry arid to the public. Under this new regulation the beneficial use of what was once a waste product (CCRs) could continue, diverting millions of tons of waste fromneedlessly being sent to landfills. WSDOT uses CCRs to replace portland cements in concrete, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving the performance of our concrete. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is critically important, but this proposed regulation would increase greenhouse gas emissions, negatively impacting the environment . Millions oftons of CCRs currently put to beneficial use would instead end up in landfills, destroying useable land and wasting money, resulting in a net loss for the environment. If a formal listing of beneficial uses is developed, it should be easily updatable so that new beneficial uses may be included. Such a list should not exclude uses that are not included on the list, but merely serve as practices that exemplify acceptable beneficial uses. No new regulation of CCRs is necessary. Existing regulations of impoundments are more than adequate to protect the environment, if adequate enforcement is applied to achieve compliance. WSDOT recommends that no new regulation be established. Ofthe 

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regulations, the subtitle Doption is the less onerous option. A lengthy comment period should also be allowed before any proposed regulations related to beneficial use are adopted. Sincerely,

. C . . Lenzi, P°. E., Chief Engineer JCL:tb cc: Tom

Baker, WSDOT State Materials Engineer