Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act

Floor Speech

The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2273) to amend subtitle D of the Solid Waste Disposal Act to facilitate recovery and beneficial use, and provide for the proper management and disposal, of materials generated by the combustion of coal and other fossil fuels.

* Mr. COHEN. Madam Chair, I rise today to state my opposition to H.R. 2273, the Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act. On October 14, 2011, I inadvertently cast a vote in support of final passage of this measure. However, I am adamantly opposed to this legislation and want the Congressional Record to reflect my true sentiments.

* The EPA's proposed coal ash rule is a much needed response to an incident that occurred in 2008 in my home state of Tennessee. On December 22, 2008, a coal ash pond at the Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) Kingston power plant breached, spilling 1.2 billion gallons of coal ash and its contaminants--including arsenic, selenium, and mercury--into two rivers. The disaster moved homes off of their foundations, and the ongoing cleanup, which has only removed half of the coal ash that was spilled to date--is expected to cost about $1.2 billion.

* The EPA coal ash rule would set standards in place to ensure that a horrific tragedy such as the Kingston spill never occurs again. However, H.R. 2273 would undercut the coal ash rule and create a dangerous plan consisting of nothing but ``guidelines'' for regulating coal ash--guidelines that do nothing to protect citizens throughout America from another Kingston spill. Despite the Kingston disaster and EPA's acknowledgement that wet ponds can pose as high as a 1-in-50 risk of cancer to nearby residents, this bill fails to take the obvious and necessary step of phasing out surface impoundments. Meaning if this legislation were adopted, it would do nothing to avert tragedies such as Kingston from occurring in the future.

* Another reason I oppose the Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act is because it interrupts an EPA rulemaking process that has been ongoing for nearly three years and silences the concerns of the American people. Over the last three years, the EPA has held eight public hearings and received more than 455,000 public comments on its proposed coal ash rule--a precedential response to an EPA rulemaking. Congress should not be interfering and obstructing this critical public process.

* In an effort to prevent the passage of H.R. 2273, I circulated a Dear Colleague letter that informed my colleagues of the legislation's immense shortcomings and failures to protect the American people. I also offered an amendment, which unfortunately was not made in order, but would have required the EPA Administrator to revise the disposal criteria upon which the bill relies to ensure that human health and the environment are protected from the risks posed by coal combustion residuals.

* In some parts of the country people justify the status quo because they have not seen the full dangers of unregulated coal ash. In Tennessee we cannot ignore these consequences and cannot tolerate legislation that would usurp a beneficial rulemaking and replace it with legislation that fails to protect the American people. For these reasons, I oppose H.R. 2273 and would like the record to reflect my strong opposition.

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