Democrats on Thursday expressed alarm over a growing push among electric utilities and industry groups for EPA to scrap Biden-era regulations for managing waste generated from burning coal for electricity.
“I’m very concerned that several industry groups have begun a lobbying campaign to roll back this rule,” said New York Rep. Paul Tonko, the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment, during a hearing.
Tonko was referring to mounting backlash to a regulation EPA finalized last year that extended federal oversight to so-called legacy impoundments or ponds full of coal ash across the U.S.
In January, a coalition of utilities including Duke Energy called on then-EPA administrator nominee Lee Zeldin to scrap the rule, arguing it amounted to federal overreach.
