Ensuring Safe Disposal of Coal Ash Act
Bill: H.R.2396 | Sponsor: Rep. Cohen, Steve (D-TN)
Policy area: Environmental Protection

Summary:
Ensuring Safe Disposal of Coal Ash Act
This bill updates the requirements related to state permit programs for the regulation of coal combustion residuals units, as administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Specifically, the EPA must revise its regulations related to approved state programs for regulating coal combustion residuals units to include any criteria necessary to protect human health and the environment, including the health of vulnerable or disproportionately exposed subpopulations. The regulation revisions must include specified requirements, for example, requiring meaningful public participation in the issuance and renewal of all permits or other prior approvals.
The EPA must promulgate regulations that (1) set forth minimum requirements for state and federal coal combustion residuals permit programs, and (2) require owners of closed coal combustion residuals disposal sites to identify the locations of such sites and record the information in the public record to ensure that the locations are known and can be located in the future.
Under the bill, the EPA must also

To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to ensure the safe disposal of 
                       coal combustion residuals.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Ensuring Safe Disposal of Coal Ash 
Act''.

SEC. 2. ENSURING SAFE DISPOSAL OF COAL ASH.

    Section 4005(d) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6945(d)) 
is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A), in the matter preceding 
                clause (i), by striking ``in lieu of regulation of coal 
                combustion residuals units'' and inserting ``as a 
                program of regulation of coal combustion residuals 
                units pursuant to this subsection'';
                    (B) in subparagraph (B)--
                            (i) in the matter preceding clause (i), by 
                        striking ``after public notice and an 
                        opportunity for public comment'' and inserting 
                        ``after public notice, an opportunity for 
                        public comment, and an opportunity for a public 
                        hearing''; and
                            (ii) in clause (i), by inserting ``as 
                        revised pursuant to paragraph (8) of this 
                        subsection'' after ``Code of Federal 
                        Regulations'';
                    (C) in subparagraph (D)--
                            (i) in clause (i)(I), by striking ``12'' 
                        and inserting ``5'';
                            (ii) in clause (i)(II), by striking ``not 
                        later than 3 years'' and inserting ``not later 
                        than 1 year'';
                            (iii) in clause (ii)(II), by inserting 
                        ``clauses (i) and (ii) of'' before 
                        ``subparagraph (B)''; and
                            (iv) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(iii) Period for correction of 
                        deficiencies.--The Administrator shall include 
                        in a notice under clause (ii) a reasonable 
                        period for the State to correct the 
                        deficiencies identified under such clause, 
                        which shall not exceed 180 days.''; and
                    (D) in subparagraph (E)--
                            (i) in clause (i), by inserting ``by the 
                        end of the period included in the notice under 
                        subparagraph (D)(iii)'' after ``identified by 
                        the Administrator under subparagraph (D)(ii)''; 
                        and
                            (ii) in clause (ii), by inserting ``by the 
                        end of the period included in the notice under 
                        subparagraph (D)(iii)'' after ``identified by 
                        the Administrator under subparagraph (D)(ii)'';
            (2) in paragraph (2)(B), by inserting ``as revised pursuant 
        to paragraph (8) of this subsection'' after ``Code of Federal 
        Regulations'';
            (3) in paragraph (3), by inserting ``as revised pursuant to 
        paragraph (8) of this subsection'' after ``Code of Federal 
        Regulations''; and
            (4) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(8) Revision of regulations and review of approved state 
        programs.--Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 
        of this paragraph, the Administrator shall--
                    ``(A) finalize revisions to the criteria for coal 
                combustion residuals units under part 257 of title 40, 
                Code of Federal Regulations, to include any criteria 
                necessary to protect human health and the environment, 
                including the health of vulnerable or 
                disproportionately exposed subpopulations, as well as 
                the following minimum requirements:
                            ``(i) Require meaningful public 
                        participation in the issuance and renewal of 
                        all permits or other prior approvals, including 
                        notice, opportunity to comment, and public 
                        hearings to ensure that--
                                    ``(I) potentially affected 
                                residents of a community have an 
                                appropriate opportunity to participate 
                                in decisions regarding a proposed 
                                activity that may affect the 
                                environment or public health of the 
                                community;
                                    ``(II) the public contribution can 
                                influence the determination by the 
                                Federal or State permitting agency;
                                    ``(III) the concerns of all 
                                participants involved are taken into 
                                consideration in the decision-making 
                                process; and
                                    ``(IV) the Federal or State 
                                permitting agency provides to 
                                potentially affected members of the 
                                public accurate information and 
                                facilitates the involvement of 
                                potentially affected members of the 
                                public.
                            ``(ii) Require financial assurance for all 
                        coal combustion residuals units sufficient to 
                        cover closure, post-closure care, and 
                        corrective actions, and responsibility for 
                        bodily injury and property damage to third 
                        parties caused by sudden accidental occurrences 
                        arising from operations of the facility, in the 
                        form of a surety bond or irrevocable letter of 
                        credit, with no allowance for insurance or for 
                        financial tests, corporate guarantees, or other 
                        forms of self-bonding.
                            ``(iii) Prohibit the continued operation of 
                        unlined impoundments, which shall include all 
                        coal combustion residuals units that fail to 
                        meet the design criteria for new impoundments 
                        pursuant to part 257 of title 40, Code of 
                        Federal Regulations.
                            ``(iv) Limit fugitive dust emissions at 
                        coal combustion residuals units and, including 
                        during closure and corrective action, to no 
                        more than 35 micrograms per square meter, or 
                        another standard established by the 
                        Administrator that will protect human health, 
                        including the health of vulnerable or 
                        disproportionately exposed subpopulations, and 
                        require air monitoring and public reporting to 
                        ensure such standard is met.
                            ``(v) Require permit or other prior 
                        approval terms that do not exceed 5 years.
                            ``(vi) Require permits for operation, 
                        closure, and corrective action that ensure 
                        compliance with all applicable requirements, 
                        and deny any permit for closure that would 
                        allow coal combustion residuals to be--
                                    ``(I) in contact with ground water, 
                                including on an intermittent or 
                                seasonal basis; or
                                    ``(II) in a location that does not 
                                meet the requirements for new coal 
                                combustion residuals units under part 
                                257 of title 40, Code of Federal 
                                Regulations, including but not limited 
                                to floodplains.
                            ``(vii) Prohibit, as open dumping, the 
                        unencapsulated use of coal combustion residuals 
                        when placed on land, unless, in the case of 
                        soil amendment for agricultural use, the 
                        placement meets limits established by 
                        Environmental Protection Agency to protect 
                        health and the environment.
                            ``(viii) Require compliance with the 
                        criteria in part 257 of title 40, Code of 
                        Federal Regulations, for any coal combustion 
                        residuals unit, without regard to when the unit 
                        ceased accepting coal combustion residuals.
                            ``(ix) Require groundwater monitoring 
                        methods that are sufficient to detect 
                        contaminants at levels defined in applicable 
                        groundwater protection standards.
                            ``(x) Add boron, hexavalent chromium, 
                        manganese, and sulfate to the constituents 
                        listed in Appendix IV to part 257 of title 40, 
                        Code of Federal Regulations.
                            ``(xi) Require corrective action beyond 
                        facility boundaries, as needed to protect human 
                        health and the environment, including the 
                        health of vulnerable or disproportionately 
                        exposed subpopulations.
                            ``(xii) Require owners and operators to 
                        complete remedial activities to prevent further 
                        releases, to remediate any releases and to 
                        restore the affected area to original 
                        conditions as soon as feasible and to publish 
                        semi-annual progress reports on publicly 
                        accessible websites from the date of remedy 
                        selection until completion of the remedy.
                            ``(xiii) Require owners and operators to 
                        determine whether releases of coal combustion 
                        residuals constituents from coal combustion 
                        residuals units threaten drinking water wells 
                        and to supply alternative sources of safe 
                        drinking water as soon as feasible to well 
                        users, if water is adversely impacted;
                    ``(B) promulgate regulations that set forth minimum 
                requirements for State and Federal coal combustion 
                residuals permit programs, including but not limited to 
                public participation requirements in accordance with 
                paragraph (8)(A)(i), enforcement capabilities, 
                transparency of compliance documents, and equity in 
                application to low-income communities, communities of 
                color, and other disproportionately impacted 
                populations;
                    ``(C) promulgate regulations to require owners of 
                closed coal combustion residuals disposal sites to 
                identify the locations of such sites through surveying, 
                platting, or other measures, together with recordation 
                of such information on the public record, to ensure 
                that the locations where such wastes are disposed of 
                are known and can be located in the future; and
                    ``(D) review under paragraph (1)(D) any State 
                program that has been approved under paragraph (1)(B) 
                to ensure compliance with the revised criteria 
                promulgated under subparagraph (A) and the regulations 
                promulgated under subparagraphs (B) and (C).''.
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