Representative Steve Cohen introduced the
Ensuring Safe Disposal of Coal Ash Act, building upon Energy and Commerce leaders’ CLEAN Future Act coal ash language to tackle the second largest source of industrial waste in the United States and its disproportionate impact on underserved communities.
The bill, which would amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act, would direct the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to strengthen requirements necessary to protect human health and the environment from this toxic ash. It reverses the rollbacks made to coal ash protections by the Trump EPA in several ways, such as requiring power plants to ensure they can foot the bill for cleanup costs in the event of disasters or hazardous spills, prohibiting the continued operation of unlined impoundments, and requiring full regulatory oversight of any EPA-approved state coal ash programs.