EPA withdraws July coal-ash changes, reopens rulemaking

The EPA, or Environmental Protection Agency, has withdrawn the proposed coal-ash changes for the sector and reopened the sector to potential rulemaking changes that the EPA is hoping to wrap up as quickly as possible. In 2015, the EPA published its findings from an extensive study into CCRs(coal combustion residuals), commonly known as coal ash, from coal-fired power plants. Those findings enabled the EPA to establish new rules for the disposal of coal ash from coal-powered plants across the United States. However, the EPA is following a new directive championed by the Trump administration’s new approach to the energy sector in America.

The Environmental Protection Agency has made several changes to the rules around CCRs

When the EPA published its new direct final rules, the proposal was met with the warm embrace of the companies and individuals operating in the coal sector in the United States. It states that the rule is a direct result of the extensive study done into the effects of coal ash on the environment and public health. The direct final rule establishes technical requirements for CCR landfills and surface impoundments under subtitle D of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA.

That RCRA is the primary rule set for operators in the coal sector in the United States. However, following a new ruling by the EPA, that direct rule is now going to feature some significant changes, thanks in no small part to the efforts of the Trump administration. The new policies and executive orders implemented by Donald Trump aim at increasing the standing of the energy sector in the United States by easing regulations and providing more flexibility for owners and operators in the energy sector.

The EPA proposes a significant change to the two-part Facility Evaluation Report

The two-part Facility Evaluation Report is essential to establish certain requirements for coal mine operators in the United States. Under the Biden administration, the Facility Evaluation Report, or FER, was split into two phases. Which took up valuable time and resources that cost the operators and eventually the public vast amounts of taxpayer dollars.

The proposed change comes in the two-phase FER process that companies and operators are forced to endure. Under the new EPA guidelines, championed by the Trump administration, the FER process can be completed simultaneously, instead of the traditional two-part process it currently uses. FER part 1 requires the operator to conduct a ” review of readily and reasonably available records regarding where CCR was either routinely and systematically placed on land, or where facility activities otherwise resulted in measurable accumulations of CCR on land.

FER part 2 requires on-the-ground testing. And under the old rules, those two reports were to be submitted separately. The proposed rule change would allow companies to merge FER Part 1 and FER Part 2 into a single submission, due on February 8, 2027. It is not the first action taken by the EPA to align with the new administration’s approach to the energy sector.

The EPA administrator has welcomed the new approach to the energy sector in the United States

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin released a statement that states he believes the move by the EPA is a milestone in the energy sector deregulatory efforts. The Trump administration has enacted the “emergency powers” that the federal government holds. Those emergency powers enable the EPA to fast-track any deregulation efforts that the current administration wants implemented. In the statement released to the press, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin stated that “the changes “provide much-needed regulatory relief for the power sector and help deliver on the commitments outlined on the greatest day in deregulatory history to unleash American energy, lower costs for Americans, and work hand-in-hand with our state partners to advance our shared mission.”