EPA Considers Rules for Coal Combustion Waste; AGC Looks at Impact to Construction

New safety concerns regarding the management of coal combustion wastes may spark first-time federal rules that could jeopardize the future use of fly ash in the construction of roads and buildings.  Last December, a containment failure at a Tennessee-based waste impoundment released approximately 1 billion gallons of coal ash sludge into the adjoining rivers and neighborhood, resulting in more than $1 billion in clean up costs.  The accident has brought the public's attention to the hundreds of similar impoundments nationwide and triggered an evaluation of how effectively states and the federal government are addressing the storage and disposal of coal combustion waste. AGC has expressed to EPA its concern that a hazardous determination for coal combustion wastes would undermine the decades of its successful beneficial use by the construction industry.  AGC's Environmental Network Steering Committee Members also will address this issue at a meeting with EPA staff in October.  AGC will continue to monitor and report on EPA action and will provide expert comments to EPA at the appropriate time.  Members should look for alerts from AGC about the potential regulations and opportunities for member comment to EPA once the Agency proposes a rulemaking and opens the public comment period.  For more on coal combustion waste, EPA action, the future impact on the construction industry, and AGC's action, please read the entire article from AGC's Environmental Observer here. For more information, please contact Melinda Tomaino at (703) 837-5415 or tomainom@agc.org.