EPA has proposed giving Wyoming regulatory control of in-state landfills and dump sites for ash generated by coal-fired power plants.
The state’s 19 ash dumps would primarily be regulated by Wyoming under the proposal signed Wednesday by EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. The state has sufficient staff and funding to take on that role, the proposal said.
“Today’s approval of Wyoming’s coal combustion residuals program is a win for cooperative federalism,” Zeldin said in a news release. “By empowering state experts who know their communities best, we’re advancing smart permitting reform and helping unleash American energy responsibly, while giving industry the regulatory certainty needed to invest and create jobs.”
Coal ash contains cadmium, mercury and other heavy metals. It is, by volume, one of the nation’s largest industrial waste streams.
