Coal Combustion Waste Management at - DOE - Fossil Energy ...

3
In August 1993, the EPA issued an RD in which it determined that the first category
(large-volume CCWs generated at electric utility and independent power-producing facilities)
did not warrant regulation as hazardous when managed alone. In that determination, the EPA
concluded that regulation of these large-volume wastes under Subtitle C of RCRA is
inappropriate “because of the limited risks posed by them and the existence of generally
adequate State and Federal regulatory programs” (EPA 1993).
In March 1999, the EPA issued an RTC (EPA 1999a) on the remaining wastes, in which
it tentatively concluded that disposal of these wastes should remain exempt from RCRA
Subtitle C. In its May 22, 2000, RD (EPA 2000), the EPA concluded that the remaining wastes
“do not warrant regulation under Subtitle C of RCRA and [that it] is retaining the hazardous
waste exemption under RCRA Section 3001(b) (3) (C).” However, the EPA also determined that
“national regulations under Subtitle D of RCRA are warranted for CCWs when they are disposed
of in landfills or surface impoundments, and that regulations under Subtitle D of RCRA (and/or
possibly modifications to existing regulations established under authority of the Surface Mining
Control and Reclamation Act [SMCRA]) are warranted when these wastes are used to fill surface
or underground mines.” The EPA stated that to ensure that CCWs are “consistently regulated
across all waste management scenarios,” it also planned to “make these national regulations for
disposal in surface impoundments and landfills and minefilling applicable to CCWs generated at
electric utility and independent power-producing facilities that are not co-managed with
low-volume wastes” (EPA 2000).
The EPA based its decision to write Subtitle D regulations on information in the
1999 RTC, which contained the most comprehensive and current information available at the
time. However, much of the information pertained to management practices and State regulations
that were in effect prior to 1995. For example, the EPA stated that it based its decision to write
Subtitle D regulations for CCWs, in part, on its findings that in 1995, CCWs “were being
managed in 40 percent to 70 percent of landfills and surface impoundments without reasonable
controls in place, particularly in the area of groundwater monitoring; and while there have been
substantive improvements in State regulatory programs, we have also identified gaps in State
oversight” (EPA 2000).
1.3 CCW GENERATION, USE, AND DISPOSITION
In 2004, according to U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Information
Administration (EIA) data, approximately 129 million tons of CCWs were produced
(EIA 2004a; 2006a,b). 2 More than half of these CCWs (56%) were fly ash, 24% were FGD
2 The EIA data reported that 7,016 thousand tons of CCWs were generated in Connecticut (EIA 2004a). In a
comparison between coal-fired generating capacity and CCW generation, this amount seemed high. Similarly,
there appeared to be an error in reporting of CCWs for a plant in Kentucky. We asked the EIA for a clarification
of these issues, and the EIA responded that the data for Connecticut and Kentucky were in fact misreported.
Also, the amount of CCWs reported for Delaware, 3,662 thousand tons (EIA 2004a), appeared to be high, and
communications between the EPA and EIA revealed that one Delaware plant had misreported its data to the
EIA, thereby producing the high number for the State. The numbers in the text and in Table 1 reflect the
corrected Connecticut and Kentucky values (EIA 2006a) and the corrected Delaware values (EIA 2006b).