EPA sends long-awaited proposed coal ash storage and disposal regulations to White House

The Environmental Protection Agency's long-awaited proposed regulations for coal ash storage and disposal have been sent to the White House for final review, Laura Barron-Lopez reports for The Hill. "Regulations propose classifying coal ash as 'special wastes' rather than 'hazardous,' but that is subject to change pending the final rule."

Coal ash regulations were originally proposed in 2011, but the House voted to block the standards," Barron-Lopex writes. "Republicans argue the rules would hurt jobs and raise compliance costs for utilities and plant operators. Law firm Earthjustice filed a lawsuit on behalf of 11 environmental and public health groups in 2013 to push the EPA to finalize the protections." EPA repeatedly put off setting a deadline for proposed rules, despite orders from a federal judge, before finally announcing it would finalize rules by Dec. 19.