Just days after signing a consent decree in a federal lawsuit agreeing to take “final action” on coal ash waste disposal rules by Dec. 19, 2014, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this month released a report presenting its evaluation of the two largest beneficial uses of encapsulated coal combustion residuals (CCRs): use in concrete as a substitute for portland cement, and as a substitute for mined gypsum in wallboard.
EPA’s evaluation concluded that the beneficial use of encapsulated CCRs in concrete and wallboard is appropriate because they are comparable to virgin materials or below the agency’s health and environmental benchmarks. EPA says that the evaluation was reached using a newly developed methodology. In releasing the report the assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response said, “The protective reuse of coal ash advances sustainability by saving valuable resources, reducing costs, and lessening environmental impacts, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”
The release of the report was viewed as a very positive development giving some insight into how EPA will be evaluating coal ash (including fly-ash) use in the December regulations. Several environmental groups are urging EPA to regulate coal ash as a hazardous substance, which would have significant negative impacts on its use in construction applications and could create new liabilities for its past use. After several years of backing away from a policy promoting the beneficial use of coal ash, EPA is finally saying again that at least some uses of fly ash in construction are appropriate.
Support for the beneficial use of coal ash has waned during the years that EPA has been considering how best to regulate the disposal of the waste. EPA released a proposed rule in 2010 that laid forth options to regulate coal combustion residuals (e.g., coal ash) as hazardous or non-hazardous waste. EPA has maintained that some beneficial uses would still be available to industry even if the wastes are determined hazardous. Although, states that currently support beneficial use may not allow the beneficial use of hazardous waste. As long as EPA is considering a hazardous designation of the waste, the continuance of allowing for beneficial use is in doubt.
AGC has been advocating with EPA and with Congress the need to clarify and preserve the beneficial use of coal ash—if needed, through a regulatory regime that treats the waste as non-hazardous. AGC submitted detailed comments to EPA urging that it weigh the potential impacts of its regulatory options on the beneficial use of these materials and take into consideration the real environmental benefits of reusing these materials and the lack of negative reports (i.e., alleged or proven damage cases) associated with the beneficial use of fly ash in many construction applications including concrete and wallboard. AGC urged EPA to either rely on state requirements or establish non-hazardous waste requirements that protect the beneficial use of fly ash in construction.
It is anticipated that the final rule will more fully address all forms of beneficial use in addition to its determination of whether coal ash is to be disposed of as hazardous or non-hazardous waste.
To read EPA’s report, go to http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/imr/ccps/benfuse.htm. Click here to read AGC’s 2011 comment letter to EPA on beneficial use; and here to read AGC’s 2010 comment letter to EPA on the proposed rule for the disposal of the wastes.
For more information on beneficial use, please contact AGC’s Melinda Tomaino at tomainom@agc.org or (703) 837-5415.
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