Ensuring Safe Disposal of Coal Ash Act
Latest action · Apr 13, 2021 Referred to the Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedApr 8, 2021
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Ensuring Safe Disposal of Coal Ash Act
This bill updates the requirements related to state permit programs for the regulation of coal combustion residuals units, as administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Specifically, the EPA must revise its regulations related to approved state programs for regulating coal combustion residuals units to include any criteria necessary to protect human health and the environment, including the health of vulnerable or disproportionately exposed subpopulations. The regulation revisions must include specified requirements, for example, requiring meaningful public participation in the issuance and renewal of all permits or other prior approvals.
The EPA must promulgate regulations that (1) set forth minimum requirements for state and federal coal combustion residuals permit programs, and (2) require owners of closed coal combustion residuals disposal sites to identify the locations of such sites and record the information in the public record to ensure that the locations are known and can be located in the future.
Under the bill, the EPA must also
- implement a requirement for a public hearing in the approval process for establishing a state permit program;
- review state permit programs at least once every 5 years (the current requirement is once every 12 years);
- review such programs not later than one year after it revises applicable criteria for federal regulations related to coal combustion residuals units; and
- include a reasonable period of time, not to exceed 180 days, for a state to correct deficiencies with respect to its permit program.
Cosponsors 19
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from May 17, 2021 to Jul 1, 2022.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-FL | Darren Soto | May 17, 2021 | |
| D-DC | Eleanor Holmes Norton | May 17, 2021 | |
| D-IL | Janice D. Schakowsky | May 17, 2021 | |
| D-IL | Marie Newman | May 17, 2021 | |
| D-CA | Nanette Diaz Barragán | May 17, 2021 | |
| D-MI | Rashida Tlaib | May 17, 2021 | |
| D-CO | Diana DeGette | May 18, 2021 | |
| D-OR | Earl Blumenauer | May 28, 2021 | |
| D-GA | Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. | May 28, 2021 | |
| D-CA | Jared Huffman | Jun 8, 2021 | |
| D-NY | Nydia M. Velázquez | Jul 1, 2021 | |
| D-NY | Adriano Espaillat | Jul 2, 2021 | |
| D-CA | Katie Porter | Jul 6, 2021 | |
| D-TN | Jim Cooper | Jul 16, 2021 | |
| D-NY | Jerrold Nadler | Sep 3, 2021 | |
| D-CA | Karen Bass | Sep 3, 2021 | |
| D-CA | Barbara Lee | Oct 20, 2021 | |
| D-PA | Michael F. Doyle | Dec 8, 2021 | |
| D-IL | Bradley Scott Schneider | Jul 1, 2022 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Energy and Commerce Committee | Referred Apr 8, 2021 |
| Environment Subcommittee | Referred Apr 13, 2021 |
Actions 3
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Apr 13, 2021Referred to the Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change.
- Apr 8, 2021Introduced in House
- Apr 8, 2021Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 167, no. 61, April 8, 2021, page H1720.
Printed hearings 1
Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.
| Number | Hearing | Committee | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serial No. 117-21 | THE CLEAN FUTURE ACT AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: PROTECTING FRONTLINE COMMUNITIES236 pages | Energy and Commerce Committee | Apr 15, 2021 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to ensure the safe disposal of coal combustion residuals.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- Ensuring Safe Disposal of Coal Ash Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Environmental Protection.
- Administrative law and regulatory procedures
- Air quality
- Coal
- Electric power generation and transmission
- Environmental assessment, monitoring, research
- Environmental health
- Environmental Protection
- Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- Environmental regulatory procedures
- Government information and archives
- Hazardous wastes and toxic substances
- Intergovernmental relations
- Licensing and registrations
- Pollution liability
- Public participation and lobbying
- Solid waste and recycling
- State and local government operations
- Water quality
- Water use and supply
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Apr 8, 2021Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
