The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday announced a new proposed rollback to an Obama-era regulation dealing with waste from coal-fired power plants known as coal ash," Rachel Frazin reports for The Hill. "The proposed changes are the Trump administration's second set of changes to protections on waste laden with arsenic."
The proposal would also expand the use of coal ash in closing landfills under some circumstances, and ease regulations for the liners that coat the bottom of coal-ash pits, which are meant to keep toxins from leeching into groundwater or nearby waterways, Frazin reports. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said in a statement that the changes will give coal-fired power plant operators much-needed flexibility to address site-specific conditions, but critics believe the changes will weaken environmental protections.
The proposal is the administration's second recent effort to roll back coal-ash disposal regulations. In January the EPA proposed a rule amendment that would effectively shield all but the most high-hazard coal-fired plants from the old regulations.
The EPA is seeking public comments on the proposal for 45 days, and will hold a public hearing within that time.
The proposal would also expand the use of coal ash in closing landfills under some circumstances, and ease regulations for the liners that coat the bottom of coal-ash pits, which are meant to keep toxins from leeching into groundwater or nearby waterways, Frazin reports. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said in a statement that the changes will give coal-fired power plant operators much-needed flexibility to address site-specific conditions, but critics believe the changes will weaken environmental protections.
The proposal is the administration's second recent effort to roll back coal-ash disposal regulations. In January the EPA proposed a rule amendment that would effectively shield all but the most high-hazard coal-fired plants from the old regulations.
The EPA is seeking public comments on the proposal for 45 days, and will hold a public hearing within that time.
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