Analysis - The Institute for Southern Studies

3B. Types of CCR Disposal Units
Estimated Plant Counts by Type of CCR Disposal Unit
The scope of CCR disposal units covered by this RIA is active units (i.e., operational units which were receiving CCR as of year 2005).
Inactive or abandoned units (i.e., non-operating units) are excluded from the scope of this RIA. The data source used to identify baseline CCR
management practices and active units is the 2005 U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Information Administration (EIA) Form EIA-767
“Steam-Electric Plant Operation and Design Report” database. 34 The EIA-767 database is the primary data source for reporting annual CCR
disposition for plants generating greater than 100 MW (megawatts) of electricity. Plants smaller than 100 MW are not required to report CCR
tonnage and disposition (i.e., type of disposal and beneficial use) data to the EIA-767 database. Schedule 3 of the EIA-767 database contains
the annual disposition of CCR in one or more of the following five forms of CCR management categories, according to annual tons disposed
for each plant. EIA-767 does not contain counts of CCR disposal units for each plant:
1. Company-owned landfill
2. Company-owned disposal ponds (i.e., surface impoundments)
3. Onsite use and storage (this RIA assumes all of this quantity eventually goes to beneficial use, not disposal)
4. Sold (for beneficial use)
5. Disposed off site
The 2005 EIA-767 database contained annual CCR disposal data for 363 of the 495 plants identified in the 2007 EIA-860 database. The 363
plants are over 100 MW in size and thus are covered by the EIA-767 database. For the 132 plants which did not report CCR disposal practices
in the 2005 EIA-767 database because they are less than 100 MW in size, disposal of CCR is assumed to take place in on-site or off-site
landfills (whichever is the lowest-cost method as assigned by the CCR disposal engineering control cost model used for this RIA). For each of
the 495 coal-fired utility plants identified in the prior section of this RIA using the 2007 EIA-860 database, baseline CCR disposal practices
were assigned using the methodology and data sources presented below. Based on this analysis, 467 of the 495 plants dispose CCR using the
following methods. The 28 remainder of the 495 plants do not dispose because they solely supply their CCR for beneficial uses. A total of 272
of the 495 plants supply CCR for beneficial uses. The total count of disposal methods exceeds the 467 total count of disposing plants because
some plants use more than one disposal method. The EIA-767 database does not contain counts of disposal units for each plant so only plant
counts are summarized below according to disposal method, not CCR disposal unit counts. Because some plants use more than one disposal
unit, the total count of CCR disposal units – although unknown for purpose of this RIA -- exceeds the 467 total count of disposing plants.
34 Source: The EIA-767 database includes annual data from organic-fueled or combustible renewable steam-electric plants with a generator nameplate rating of 10 or more
megawatts (MW) regardless of current ownership and/or operation. However, it contains annual tonnage CCR generation, CCR disposal, and CCR beneficial use data only
for plants over 100MW in size. The EIA terminated the EIA-767 database after year 2005. Beginning with calendar year 2007 data, two other surveys, the Form EIA-860
and the Form EIA-923, will collect most of the data formerly collected by Form EIA-767. No data will be collected for 2006. The following weblink provides a crosswalk
of the data elements previously collected on the Form EIA-767 for 2005 with the corresponding data elements to be collected beginning with calendar year 2007 on the
Form EIA-860 or the Form EIA-923: http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/2008forms/consolidate.html
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