The Colstrip Plant’s coal ash ponds.
In 2015, the Obama Administration signed the U.S. EPA’s Coal Combustion Residual (CCR) Rules into law to address the risks of coal ash contamination of water resources at coal plants across the country, including at Colstrip. Unfortunately, the law exempted hundreds of inactive coal ash landfills and unlined ponds from these requirements to monitor and clean up leaking coal ash landfills. In 2024, many of those exempted coal ash landfills and units came under regulation with the “Legacy CCR rule”, which was prompted by multiple lawsuits and public calls for stronger regulations during EPA public hearings.
Now, the utility industry has shared their playbook for undoing these significant regulations with the help of Trump’s EPA. Their plan starts with winning delays for compliance with Legacy CCR. EPA is doing their bidding, and proposed two new rules on July 17, 2025 that would allow utilities an additional 1-2 years to comply with Legacy CCR. Industry will use this time to build their case for eroding the Legacy CCR rule altogether.
How to comment:
We need you to submit public comment between now and September 15 to demand that EPA does not delay industry compliance deadlines for regulations regarding coal ash disposal at active and retired power plants!
Note: The official website has not yet updated the deadline, but EPA has confirmed that the public comment period is extended until September 15.
Here are some talking points from our friends at Earthjustice:
- EPA should not delay compliance deadlines under the Legacy CCR rule, in spite of industry demands for this.
- Industry has already been given plenty of time for compliance. The Legacy CCR rule finalized in 2024 has generous compliance deadlines. Further delays for monitoring and reporting of coal ash dumps and landfills will inevitably slow clean up, and communities will be exposed to more toxic coal ash pollution.
- EPA must protect communities, especially environmental justice communities, that are hurt by coal ash pollution.
- 91 percent of coal plants have contaminated groundwater with toxic chemicals above federal safety standards, including at Colstrip. EPA must ensure that coal plant owners clean up every dump in a timely manner.
- EPA needs to regulate the reuse of coal ash, despite industry’s interest in removing this from regulation. Reuse of toxic coal ash could result in a slurry of toxic waste being spread across the landscape if EPA fails to regulate its reuse.
Public Hearing on Sept. 12
EPA will hold a virtual hearing on Sept. 12, 2025 at 9am Central Time (8 am Mountain). The deadline to register is September 10, 2025.
Register to speak at or attend the hearing with this link.
EPA may allow some or all persons to present oral testimony at the public hearing by registering the day of. EPA will consider such requests on a first-come, first-serve basis during the hearing as time permits.
