The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday declined to stay EPA’s legacy coal ash rule, letting it take effect while utilities challenge it in court.
Federal courts previously declined to block the other power plant rules issued together by EPA this spring, including the climate rule, the mercury rule and the effluent limitations guidelines. But those rules all still face legal challenges and could be repealed if Donald Trump wins another term in the White House in next week’s election.
The regulation, Reg. 2050-AH14, extends groundwater monitoring and cleanup requirements to inactive ponds and landfills housing the toxic byproduct of burning coal, know as “legacy” impoundments. The rule was issued in the wake of a 2018 court ruling that said the Obama administration had wrongly excluded legacy sites from its initial coal ash regulations.
A utility with facilities subject to the rule, East Kentucky Power Cooperative, asked for a stay in August. The rule applies to sites where coal ash has been removed, such as the coop’s Dale Station, it argued. It also warned retroactivity requirements would mandate the reopening and re-closure of sites under “burdensome new requirements.”
