EPA approves Oklahoma CCR disposal plan

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently approved Oklahoma's proposed permitting programme for the disposal of coal combustion residuals (CCR) in landfills and surface impoundments, making the state the first to have a federally approved CCR disposal programme under Subtitle D of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.

In 2015 the EPA promulgated a rule ('the CCR rule') governing the disposal of CCR as a solid waste under Subtitle D of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. At the time, there was no mechanism for state permitting of CCR disposal. In 2016, when Congress enacted the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act, it modified Section 4005 of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act to authorise state CCR disposal programmes. The EPA has also proposed to modify various elements of the CCR rule. Environmental non-governmental organisations have already threatened to challenge the approval of Oklahoma's programme.

For further information on this topic please contact Samuel B Boxerman or Jim Wedeking at Sidley Austin LLP by telephone (+1 202 736 8000) or email (sboxerman@sidley.com or jwedeking@sidley.com). The Sidley Austin LLP website can be accessed at www.sidley.com.