Long Backs Effort to Rein in EPA, Support Jobs and Help Lower Energy Prices

Press Release

U.S. Rep. Billy Long voted in support of the Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act of 2013(H.R. 2218), legislation which sets up a state-based regulatory program for the safe management, reuse, and disposal of coal residuals.

"We must rein in proposed EPA regulations that threaten jobs and energy prices. This legislation takes an important step to protect jobs and help lower energy prices," Long said.

The EPA proposed to regulate coal ash as a hazardous waste, putting hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk and threatening to drive up electricity and construction costs. The Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act of 2013is in response to efforts by the EPA to regulate coal ash as hazardous waste. Coal ash is recycled and used in construction products like cement, wallboard and roofing materials. The legislation:

·Sets up a state-based regulatory program to ensure the safe management and disposal of coal ash and encourage beneficial reuse.

·Protects both the environment and jobs by setting enforceable federal standards while allowing states to craft a permit program that works best for the state.

·Includes requirements for groundwater monitoring at all structures that receive coal ash after enactment and corrective action for unlined, leaking impoundments within a specified time period.

·Sets deadlines for issuing permits, creating an interim compliance period for many of the requirements, and identifying criteria to assess whether a state permit program is meeting the minimum requirements.

·Contains provisions to ensure structural stability, including a consultation with state dam safety officials, a periodic evaluation to identify structural weakness and potentially hazardous conditions, and the creation of an emergency action plan for high hazard structures.

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