Yesterday (April 25, 2024) EPA announced final changes to the CCR regulations for inactive surface impoundments at inactive electric utilities, referred to as “legacy CCR surface impoundments.” Within tailored compliance deadlines, owners and operators of legacy CCR surface impoundments must comply with all existing requirements applicable to inactive CCR surface impoundments at active facilities, except for the location restrictions and liner design criteria.
Link to EPA website with Rule Summary and Rule History:
https://www.epa.gov/coalash/final-rule-legacy-coal-combustion-residuals-surface-impoundments-and-ccr-management-units
Texas has 79 coal ash dumpsites – we are the nation’s top coal ash-generating state. See below article/information which includes a map of Coal plants generating coal ash in Texas:
https://earthjustice.org/feature/coal-ash-states/texas
What this means: previously non-regulated coal ash dump site (associated with coal fired power plants) are no longer exempted and cannot be grandfathered from the new regulations. In this final rule, EPA established groundwater monitoring, corrective action, closure, and post closure care requirements for all CCR management units (regardless of how or when that CCR was placed) at regulated CCR facilities.
