The CCR Rule ‘ s Impact on Electric Utilities

America’s electricity generation industry has historically been almost entirely dependent on the burning of coal. This necessity to burn coal so as to provide vital energy for our nation will likely continue for several decades into the future. Due to the large volumes of ash generated by the burning of coal and the toxins associated with coal ash, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has identified coal combustion residuals, or CCR, as a potential threat to the environment. To help protect both society and the environment, the EPA instituted a new regulation in the Federal Register in the Fall of 2015, stipulating both design and operation measures for all electric utility facilities across the nation. With such drastic regulation comes much controversy and concern over the necessity of governing coal ash disposal. This paper provides an overall summary of the history, make up, controversy, and implementation of the new CCR Rule so that members of the engineering community can gain a better understanding of the new regulation. Aisthesis Volume 7, 2016 23 The CCR Rule ‘s Impact on Electric Utilities by Matthew McDermott Just before sunrise on December 22, 2008 in rural Tennessee, a catastrophe was minutes from occurring that would ultimately change the operation of hundreds of power plants across the nation. That morning, a surface impoundment at the Tennessee Valley Authority power plant failed, releasing 1.7 million cubic yards of coal ash into the surrounding environment. As one of the largest releases of coal combustion residuals (CCR) in American history, the spill flooded 300 acres and contaminated both the Emory and Clinch Rivers [1]. Meanwhile, in the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), much discussion was already happening concerning the handling of CCR waste across the nation. To environmental activist groups that were pushing for such legislation, the recent spill in Tennessee was the perfect catalyst for their arguments of tightening restrictions on the handling of CCR waste. Despite much opposition by the electric utility industry, a final regulation further governing the disposal of CCR was published in the Federal Register less than seven years after the spill. For Americans, the production of CCR will certainly continue for several decades into the future as coal forms the basis of electricity production. Therefore the new CCR Rule (or simply the Rule) will need to be fully embraced. As a result, an understanding of the Rule’s history, its structure, and resulting implications to both the electric utility community and American economy is valuable for civil engineers serving the industry. I. Background As stated on the EPA’s central website, the purpose of the Rule is to provide a comprehensive set of requirements for the safe disposal of coal combustion residuals from coal-fired power plants. The rule was shaped by the inputs of various entities from the electric utility industry along with numerous environmental activist organizations that, together with the public, generated some 450,000 comments during the review of the proposed Rule [1]. These comments served as the voice of the public, representing the views of both sides of the argument, and were used by the EPA to revise the draft of the Rule and make decisions about controversial requirements as published in the final version of the Rule. The resulting legislation was placed under subpart D of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the nation’s primary regulation of solid waste. During the proposal process of the rule, there was much controversy over whether the final Rule would The CCR Rule’s Impact on Electric Utilities Aisthesis Volume 7, 2016 24 be under subpart C or subpart D, as the specific subpart had implications towards its regulatory structure and effectiveness. Under subpart D, the enforcement organization is unlike almost any other similar solid waste regulation because a permitting program is not employed. Instead the Rule is only enforceable by civil lawsuit. The Rule is one of the first regulations structured this way, so there is both skepticism and concern on the degree of its effectiveness and its consequent effect on the industry [2]. Though CCR has been a waste of society for centuries, this new regulation intends to mitigate its future detrimental effects to the environment and protect the health of society by improving the waste management criteria for nearly all CCR units across the nation. The first and most likely avenue for CCR waste to impact the health of society in the future is through the contamination of groundwater. Though CCR is known to cause little bodily harm while interacted with in small doses, it contains small amounts of heavy metals that have the potential to cause significant bodily harm over an extended exposure period. During the burning of coal, slight amounts of these heavy metals such as arsenic, lead, selenium, and mercury are released that can become trapped in the ash. Over time these toxins can seep out of the ash at the disposal site and infiltrate into the ground. Eventually there is a possibility that the underlying groundwater could be affected by the toxins and reach unsafe concentrations, thus compromising the local source of drinking water [3]. Because this process takes time, the effects of poor waste management could be realized decades after placement of the waste. This means that improving the waste management practices today will help to improve the quality of life for future generations. The second concern addressed by the Rule is the potential for catastrophic failure of coal ash surface impoundments. The Rule sets detailed structural integrity criteria for both design and maintenance in attempt to prevent events such as the spill at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston, TN power plant in 2008. Though these events are rare, they have the potential to cause the most harm to the public and local property. The Rule intends to protect both society and the environment through these criteria by ensuring that good engineering practices are employed and maintained throughout the life of a surface impoundment. Finally, the Rule addresses the potential of CCR to become an air born contaminant. Once CCR becomes dry enough to be blown away, the heavy metals generated during the burning of coal have the potential to also be carried by the wind to almost any part of the earth. There is already a global issue with airborne mercury that has caused harm to the environment; so as a national administration, the EPA supports responsible management of the nation’s global input of mercury [4]. On a local scale, fugitive CCR dust can also raise issue for the health and aesthetic desires of the surrounding community. Though daily inhalation of CCR by local residents would likely not be fatal, it could generate potential health hazards over a lifetime of exposure. Further, the amount of dust produced by a CCR waste facility through several decades could be substantial and thus accumulate in the surrounding areas. As a result, the Rule requires CCR facilities to nearly eliminate fugitive dust and take note of all local complaints [4]. II. The CCR Rule The CCR Rule is structured into six main divisions that establish design, operation, closure, and notification characteristics of the regulation. As found in the preamble to the regulation, almost every part of the Rule received comment from both environmental groups and electric utility representatives that commonly influenced the decision by the EPA as reflected in the final Rule [4]. Though there are particular aspects of some parts with which each side of the discussion still likely has issue, the Rule is published in the Federal Register so electric utility companies must embrace the Rule. Ultimately, the goal of the Rule is to mitigate the potential for groundwater contamination, catastrophic failure, and fugitive dust associated with CCR units. Consequently, each part of the Rule serves an integral purpose in protecting the environment and society against these three major issues, among others. The initial criterion the Rule addresses is a location restriction on new and existing CCR landfills and CCR surface impoundments. Location limits are intended to ensure the waste is located a suitable distance from water sources as well as out of The CCR Rule’s Impact on Electric Utilities Aisthesis Volume 7, 2016 25 seismically active areas. Some of the specific locations that are considered in the Rule are placements by the uppermost aquifer, wetlands, fault areas, seismic impact zones, and unstable areas. By simply not placing a CCR unit in these locations, the risk for water contamination as well as structural damage is