Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV

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July 30, 2010

Coal ash regulation: Boucher opposes EPA plan

BILL ARCHER Bluefield Daily Telegraph

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A bipartisan group comprised of 30 members of the Committee on Energy and Commerce in the House of Representatives co-signed a letter U.S. Rep Frederick C. “Rick” Boucher, D-Va., sent to Lisa Jackson, administrator of federal Environmental Protection Agency expressing their collective opposition of EPA’s proposed ruling chance to regulate coal ash as a  hazardous material.

“First of all, fly ash must remain classified as a non-hazardous material,” Boucher said in telephone interview on Thursday afternoon. “In fact, it is a non-hazardous material. If it is declared to be hazardous by the EPA, the cost of its disposal would add a substantial amount of expense to the production of electricity.”

In addition to the immediate impact to the cost of producing electricity at coal-fired generation plants, Boucher said the impact on the construction industry would be significant as well. “About 40 percent of the coal ash now produced at power plants is recycled into useful building materials like cement and wall board,” Boucher said.

“If coal ash is declared hazardous, no building contractors could use that material to build with. All of that would add to the cost of producing energy,” Boucher said. “I am concerned and I have been working with my colleagues in the Energy and Commerce Committee to voice our opposition to the proposed rule change.”

The EPA announced the proposed rule related to coal combustion residuals on June 21, and announced the public hearing schedule on July 15. “Coal combustion residuals ... are currently considered exempt wastes,” according to information posted on the EPA web site. The EPA is considering classifying coal ash as “special wastes” or “non-hazardous wastes.”

“We, as a bipartisan group of members from the Democratic and Republican parties, have expressed our opposition to this rule change,” Boucher said. “We are prepared to take this another step if the EPA persists in listing coal ash as hazardous. The EPA should not take this step. Coal ash is not hazardous.”

Boucher stated in his letter Jackson: “As our economy struggles to rebound, we have grave concerns that this proposal could destroy jobs and increase electricity rates,” he wrote. “Subjecting these materials to Resource Conservation and Recovery Act’s hazardous waste program and the subsequent reduction of beneficial use would actually serve to increase the amount of material that would be diverted to disposal as waste,” Boucher wrote.

— Contact Bill Archer at barcher@bdtonline.com

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