Compliance Data and Information Websites Required by the Disposal of Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR) Rule
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Background
The Disposal of Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR) from Electric Utilities final rule was published on April 17, 2015 and was effective on October 19, 2015. The rule includes a number of technical requirements that have various compliance deadlines. Among these are a requirement for regulated entities to develop a publicly available website and post compliance information to that website. EPA included Internet posting requirements so that compliance information would be readily available to the public. Read more about publicly available Internet sites.
EPA is required to publish an open dump inventory to assist the states in complying with the directive in section 4003(a)(3) of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) that state solid waste management plans shall provide for closure and upgrading of open dumps (e.g., facilities which do not comply with the revised federal criteria). Open dumps, in this context, refer to facilities which are not in compliance with the federal CCR rule.
Under the final CCR rule, compliance dates for specific technical and reporting requirements will continue to arise, so a facility which is not now an open dump could become one at some point in the future. Also, a facility on the inventory could come into compliance with the regulatory requirements and then would no longer be considered an open dump. For this reason, EPA anticipates publishing this draft initial inventory of open dumps and then periodically updating it.
Draft Initial Open Dump Inventory
The list below provides the initial draft inventory of open dumps. To develop this list, EPA started with the list of facilities that was used in the Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) for the CCR Rule and facilities that were identified in the structural stability assessments. Then, EPA conducted a review of information available on the Web for these facilities and shared this information with the states. Specifically, EPA looked to determine whether these facilities were in compliance with two specific requirements in the CCR rule:
- Did the facility have a website with CCR rule compliance information? and
- Was the required fugitive dust control plan posted on that website?
If a facility had not complied with either of these two requirements, EPA considered the facility an open dump.
EPA then reached out to states and to the Association of State and Territorial Solid Waste Management Officials (ASTSWMO) to help confirm the information EPA had gathered. States and ASTSWMO helped verify this information and assist EPA in finalizing the draft initial open dump inventory.
If a facility is not on this list, it does not mean that the facility is necessarily in compliance with the CCR rule; there are some significant limitations associated with this draft list. First, this draft list is based on the information currently available to EPA; thus for example, the absence of a particular facility may only mean that EPA is not aware of the facility. It may also be that a facility has only inactive surface impoundments and is not aware that they are covered by the rule, or that the facility is conducting an application that it believes to be a beneficial use application, but which EPA would not consider to meet the rule's definition of beneficial use. Second, as discussed above, EPA only looked for the website to be posted and for the fugitive dust plan to be posted in developing this list. Thus, a facility with a website or a fugitive dust plan that has not completed its first inspection report by the required date of November 18, 2015 would not be included in this initial list. Note as well that EPA did not evaluate the adequacy of the website or fugitive dust plan, merely whether the facility had a website and whether it had posted its fugitive dust control plan on that website.
All facilities remain responsible for ensuring their compliance with all of the requirements of the CCR rule, and those that fail to do so will be put on a later version of the open dump inventory.
The draft initial open dump inventory below, which is based on the information available as of August 1, 2016, is being published for comment. Please submit any comments no later than September 26, 2016. Submit your comments on this draft inventory through the online submission form. After comments are received and evaluated, the inventory will then be published in final form.
Draft Initial Open Dump Inventory as of August 1, 2016
| Plant Name | Location | Reason for Being on the Draft Inventory |
|---|---|---|
| AES Puerto Rico | Puerto Rico | No compliance website |
| Avon Lake | OH | No compliance website |
| Brickhaven No. 2 Mine Tract "A" | NC | No compliance website |
| Crisp Plant | GA | No fugitive dust plan posted |
| First Energy Bay Shore | OH | No compliance website |
| JB Sims | MI | No compliance website |
| Taconite Harbor | MN | No compliance website |