Rahall Introduces Coal Ash Dump Bill

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick J. Rahall (D-WV) today introduced legislation requiring federal regulation of coal ash dumps.

There are currently no federal standards for coal ash impoundments as exist under SMCRA for coal slurry. Instead, such impoundments are constructed and maintained under a patchwork of state requirements, or on a voluntary basis.

"The disaster witnessed at the Kingston, Tennessee facility - which could have been avoided had TVA exercised appropriate engineering and monitoring regimes - was a clarion call for action," Rahall said. "Now is the time to take that action, before any lives are lost to a similar disaster, which is why I am introducing legislation to provide a basic level of safety for our communities and the environment from the hazards of coal ash waste."

The Coal Ash Reclamation and Environmental Safety Act of 2009 (H.R. 493) would impose uniform federal design, engineering, and performance standards on coal ash impoundments to avoid a repeat of the damage done in Kingston. The legislation, which requires minimum design and stability standards for all surface impoundments constructed to hold coal ash, draws on the regulatory model for impoundments that is used for coal slurry management under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA).

The majority of coal ash, a byproduct of the combustion of coal at electric utility power plants, is deposited in impoundments, landfills, or mines. By comparison, coal slurry is one of the main refuse streams from the treatment of raw coal when it is mined.

"It is impossible to write off the disaster in Tennessee as a freak accident," Rahll said. "The absence of national standards for coal ash has resulted in environmental damage and threats to human health throughout the country - not just last month, or last year, but for decades, and as far as we know this may be just the tip of the iceberg."

Requirements for coal slurry impoundments under SMCRA that would be made applicable to coal ash impoundments under H.R. 493 cover aspects of design, construction, operation, and closure, including:

* Regulations detailing the engineering and stability of the embankment.

* Regulations requiring all applications for an impoundment to have a foundation investigation to determine design requirements for stability.

* Each design plan must include a geotechnical investigation of the embankment foundation area.

* Each impoundment plan must include a survey describing the potential effect on the structure from subsidence of the subsurface strata resulting from past mining operations in the area.

* Plans for impoundments must be reviewed by a geologist or an engineer.

* Regulations requiring that a qualified engineer, with experience in construction of impoundments, inspect each impoundment regularly during construction, upon completion of construction, and periodically thereafter.

"For those states that do not already have careful standards for coal ash disposal, my legislation will require immediate attention to the shocking gaps in coal ash management," Rahall said. "The American public and our environment simply cannot afford to wait any longer to rein in the hazards posed by the shoddy and irresponsible coal ash disposal practices that currently exist."

A 2006 National Academy of Sciences study, along with a 2007 Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources oversight hearing, pointed to the pressing need for a federal regulatory regime governing the disposal of coal ash.

A coal ash spill covering more than 300 acres occurred at a Tennessee Valley Authority facility about three weeks ago.