[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 38 (Wednesday, March 4, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S2775]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


   SENATE RESOLUTION 64--RECOGNIZING THE NEED FOR THE ENVIRONMENTAL 
    PROTECTION AGENCY TO END DECADES OF DELAY AND UTILIZE EXISTING 
     AUTHORITY UNDER THE RESOURCE CONSERVATION AND RECOVERY ACT TO 
  COMPREHENSIVELY REGULATE COAL COMBUSTION WASTE AND THE NEED FOR THE 
  TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY TO BE A NATIONAL LEADER IN TECHNOLOGICAL 
       INNOVATION, LOW-COST POWER, AND ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP

  Mrs. BOXER (for herself and Mr. Carper) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Environment and 
Public Works:

                               S. Res. 64

       Whereas the burning of coal creates more than 130,000,000 
     tons of coal combustion waste a year;
       Whereas coal combustion waste is made up of various types 
     of waste, including fly ash, bottom ash, boiler slag, and 
     flue gas emission control waste;
       Whereas the National Academy of Sciences found that coal 
     combustion waste ``often contain a mixture of metals 
     [including arsenic, lead, selenium, mercury, cadmium, 
     beryllium, chromium, thorium and uranium] and other 
     constituents in sufficient quantities that they may pose 
     public health and environmental concerns if improperly 
     managed.'';
       Whereas the 2 most common forms of disposal for coal 
     combustion waste are landfills and surface impoundments, with 
     impoundments generally holding a ``wet'' waste mixture of 
     water and landfills holding a ``dry'' waste that does not 
     include intentionally added water, although other forms of 
     disposal also occur in other areas including mines;
       Whereas a 1993 report prepared for the United States 
     Department of Energy found that over the preceding 50 years, 
     roughly 500,000,000 tons of coal combustion waste were 
     disposed of at then-existing or operating waste management 
     units, and that about 1,000,000,000 tons of coal combustion 
     wastes had been disposed of at an estimated 759 closed units;
       Whereas the United States Environmental Protection Agency 
     reported to Congress in 1999 that there were roughly 600 
     fossil fuel combustion waste disposal units operating at 
     approximately 450 coal-fired power plants;
       Whereas the United States Department of Energy in 2006 
     found: ``The total number of [coal combustion waste] disposal 
     units permitted, built, or laterally expanded between January 
     1, 1994 and December 31, 2004 (`new units') is not known, as 
     no industry organization or government agency tracks this 
     information,'';
       Whereas on Monday, December 22, 2008 at 1:00 a.m. a wall 
     constructed of coal combustion waste and dirt failed on a 84-
     acre surface impoundment holding coal combustion waste and 
     water at the Kingston Fossil Plant in Harriman, Tennessee, 40 
     miles west of Knoxville;
       Whereas the spill from this ``wet storage'' impoundment at 
     the Kingston plant released 5,400,000 cubic yards of waste, 
     equaling more than 1,000,000,000 gallons or an amount nearly 
     100 times greater than the amount of oil spilled in the Exxon 
     Valdez disaster, into the Emory River and the surrounding 
     valley and community;
       Whereas the spill from the Kingston plant covered half of a 
     square mile of land and water with waste up to 12 feet deep, 
     destroying roads, waterways, wildlife, trees, railroad 
     tracks, and impacting 42 properties, 40 homes, and sections 
     and coves of the Emory River used by businesses, community 
     members, families, and children;
       Whereas the Kingston spill occurred around 1:00 a.m. in the 
     morning in December, but if it had occurred at midday during 
     the summer, when businesses, community members, families, and 
     children regularly use the river and coves, the already-
     extensive property damage could have been far greater and the 
     loss of life could have been catastrophic;
       Whereas the United States Department of Energy has 
     information demonstrating wet storage impoundments present 
     risks to public safety, health, and the environment: ``[W]et 
     impoundment systems require substantially greater disposal 
     site volumes than dry systems. . . Also, the presence of free 
     liquid increases the possibility of leachate (i.e., a 
     combination of ash solids and water) creation and its 
     potential for migration into underlying soils and 
     groundwater'';
       Whereas in 2006 the United States Department of Energy 
     reported inconsistent coal combustion waste disposal 
     standards, with some States weakening safeguards and others 
     improving protections;
       Whereas the United States Environmental Protection Agency 
     in 2000 produced a draft regulatory determination that 
     certain fossil fuel combustion wastes, including coal ash, 
     should be regulated as a hazardous waste under the Resource 
     Conservation and Recovery Act; and
       Whereas the United States Environmental Protection Agency 
     has continued to issue information on the adverse effects of 
     coal combustion waste but the agency has so far not required 
     any consistent Federal regulatory protections for coal 
     combustion waste disposal practices despite their clear 
     authority to do so: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) recognizes the need for the United States Environmental 
     Protection Agency to--
       (A) immediately conduct and complete reviews, including 
     onsite confirmatory examinations, of all coal combustion 
     waste impoundments and landfills to ensure the safety of 
     people and the environment located in any area that may be 
     threatened by a spill or release from an impoundment or 
     landfill;
       (B) report to the Senate Committee on Environment and 
     Public Works on the earliest date possible that the Agency 
     can regulate coal combustion waste using their existing 
     authority under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act;
       (C) propose rules as quickly as possible to regulate coal 
     combustion waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery 
     Act using the substantial information currently available to 
     the Agency; and
       (D) issue final rules as quickly as possible on regulating 
     coal combustion waste under the Resource Conservation and 
     Recovery Act; and
       (2) recognizes the need for the Tennessee Valley Authority 
     to meet the intentions of Congress and be ``a national leader 
     in technological innovation, low-cost power, and 
     environmental stewardship''.

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