This month, U.S. EPA has proposed approval of both the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources coal combustion residuals (CCR) permit program applications. If finalized, the actions would shift authority from the federal government to the states. Indiana – home to the most CCR units in the nation – would issue permits for CCR disposal in landfills and surface impoundments. In Wisconsin, EPA would continue to regulate surface impoundments, as the state only sought approval for permitting CCR disposal in landfills.
EPA anticipates proposing CCR permit program decisions for at least two additional states soon.
The proposed approvals follow proposed or final EPA approvals for Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia, and Wyoming. EPA has committed to take swift action on CCR, including state permit program reviews and updates to CCR regulations. Approved states cannot have CCR regulations and policies that are less protective of human health and the environment than the federal regulations.
EPA will hold 60-day public comment periods on both proposals, as well as public hearings on the Indiana CCR Permit Program approval on November 12 and Wisconsin CCR permit program approval on November 9.
