NRECA and EEI applaud Senate essential coal ash provision approval
The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) and the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) welcomed the clear enforcement authority provided by the Senate’s approval of coal ash management provisions on Thursday.
U.S. electricity co-ops have sought such coal ash management provisions since April 2015 in order to obtain much-needed specificity following the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) decision to classify coal combustion residuals – coal ash – as non-hazardous waste.
“These provisions inject some greatly needed certainty into the regulation of coal ash, much of which is recycled to provide tremendous economic and environmental benefits,” NRECA CEO Jim Matheson said. “By giving state agencies the authority to enforce federal coal ash regulations, the bill provides increased certainty surrounding the application of the regulations and also limits litigation, which is important to their safe management and continued beneficial use.”
The provisions approved last week used language from U.S. Sens. John Hoeven (R-ND) and Joe Manchin’s (D-WV) earlier coal ash bill, and establish the details of the EPA’s federal requirements for the management of coal ash.
“EEI thanks Chairman Inhofe and Ranking Member Boxer for their leadership in advancing this important legislation,” EEI President Tom Kuhn said. “We hope the House will advance its version of WRDA so the House and Senate can move quickly to conference.”
