Under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the EPA has proposed a rule that would regulate coal combustion residuals (CCR) for the first time.

CCRs, commonly known as coal ash, are residues captured from the combustion of coal at power plants and are typically disposed of at large surface impoundments in liquid (wet or slurried) form and at landfills in solid (dry) form. CCRs are currently considered exempt wastes under an RCRA amendment.

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In May 2010 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a response to key comments and recommendations made by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) on the EPA’s 2003 draft dioxin reassessment. This response addresses the human health and exposure risk assessment of dioxins.

The EPA’s draft report includes significant new analyses that relate to issues raised by the NAS, including potential cancer and non-cancer human health effects that may result from exposures to dioxins. The NAS identified three areas that require substantial improvement:

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On April 29, 2010, the EPA announced two proposed air toxics standards: (1) an amendment to emission guidelines and new source performance standards, and (2) proposed new rules to clearly define and identify solid and non-solid, non-hazardous secondary materials.

The two air toxic standards will affect emissions from industrial, commercial, and institutional boilers and process heaters. One is written for major source facilities, which are those that emit or have the potential to emit 10 or more tons per year of any single air toxin or over 25 tons per year of any combination of air toxins. The second is for area source facilities that emit less than 10 tons per years of a single air toxin or less than 25 tons of any combination.

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