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Oct 24, 2018

Increased Regulation Coming for Coal Ash

Coal Ash

The decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on August 21 in Utility Solid Waste Activities Group (USWAG), et al v. EPA, No. 15-1219, likely will lead to more stringent regulation of coal ash disposal at both active and inactive power plants.  In a per curiam opinion, the D.C. Circuit agreed with challenges asserted by environmental plaintiffs that the Obama-era coal ash rule did not establish stringent enough controls on coal ash disposal and management.  The Court ruled that EPA’s failure to require protective measures for coal ash disposal sites without composite liners, and… Read more


Sep 26, 2018

Federal Appellate Court Rules That Coal Ash Ponds Not Subject to CWA

Clean Water Act: Coal Ash Pond

On September 12, 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (which covers federal courts in South Carolina, North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia) issued a decision concluding that the migration of arsenic from coal ash stored in settling ponds and a landfill was not subject to the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) because the ponds and landfill were not “point sources” under the CWA. In Sierra Club v. Virginia Electric & Power Company, the defendant operated a coal-fired power plant in Chesapeake, Virginia for over 60 years and stored the coal ash waste on site in… Read more