Legislation Would Establish Federal Guidelines for Ash Ponds

December’s catastrophic failure of an ash pond at TVA’s Kingston coal plant has heightened national awareness.

Legislation under consideration in Congress would establish, for the first time, federal guidelines for storage of fly ash – the waste left after burning coal. A House subcommittee heard testimony today on The Coal Ash Safety Act of 2009.

The legislation is sponsored by West Virginia Democrat Nick Rahall. He wants to create engineering and inspection standards for impoundments used to permanently store the coal waste.

But an Interior Department official says the legislation needs more specifics about what materials and what forms of storage get the increased scrutiny. Tom Fitzgerald fears that could create loop holes for utilities. He directs the Kentucky Resources Council and says the TVA failure illustrates the lax oversight of the past and why the EPA needs broad authority.

“That the state of Tennessee had classified that structure as a landfill rather than an impoundment, underscores the need to define both covered wastes and impoundments as broadly as this bill does.”

Even now, states do their own regulating. Nick Akins, a vice president with American Electric Power, says companies welcome federal oversight. But he says he’s concerned about classifying coal ash as a hazardous material.

No TVA officials testified at today’s hearing.

See photos of the Kingston ash spill here.