EPA Proposes Rollback on Coal Plant Wastewater Rules
A draft plan weakens federal requirements for treating toxic leachate seeping from coal ash dumps into US waterways.
Federal regulators released a draft plan that would remove a federal requirement for coal-fired power plants to treat contaminated groundwater seeping from coal ash disposal sites before it discharges to rivers, lakes and streams.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposal would change 2024 Effluent Limitation Guidelines that required treatment of “unmanaged” leachate — water that has filtered through coal ash and can carry metals such as mercury and arsenic. Under the proposal, facilities would be required to treat contaminated groundwater only if they pump it to the surface as part of a cleanup; groundwater that seeps directly into surface waters would be exempt from that federal treatment requirement.
The EPA estimated that the earlier treatment requirements would have prevented between 113 million and 601 million pounds of pollutants from entering the environment annually across 61 to 113 facilities. The agency said the revised rule could relax standards at as many as 104 plants, the majority of the facilities it had identified.
Industry groups and utilities have lobbied for changes to the rule. The White House Office of Management and Budget met this spring with the Edison Electric Institute and several utilities to discuss concerns about the leachate requirements, according to meeting records. Energy companies and state environmental agencies also submitted written comments to the agency.
Public health and water utility groups raised objections to the proposed change. The American Water Works Association — which represents utilities that provide much of North America’s drinking water — submitted comments to the EPA jointly with Clean Water Action, and the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments has warned about potential effects on drinking water.
Environmental groups including Earthjustice criticized the proposal; Earthjustice attorney Thom Cmar said the change would “eliminate safeguards” and allow facilities to avoid cleaning up contamination that can affect drinking water sources.
The 2024 guidelines tightened wastewater controls at coal-fired plants and for the first time included standards for leachate from coal ash disposal sites, following litigation and prior rulemakings. EPA officials said the administration may pursue additional rulemakings later this year to reconsider standards for other categories of coal plant wastewater, including discharges from air pollution control systems and bottom-ash handling.
Power plants have been a major industrial source of toxic pollutants in U.S. waterways. The Clean Water Act requires regulated facilities to use modern pollution-control technologies, and the EPA has updated effluent guidelines for power plants over the past decade to impose numeric limits and monitoring requirements.
About the Author
Jesse Jacobs is Assistant Editor of EPOnline.com.
