[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 8 (Friday, January 16, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S241-S242]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 41. Mr. TOOMEY (for himself, Mr. Casey, and Mr. Hatch) submitted 
an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 1, to 
approve the Keystone XL Pipeline; which was ordered to lie on the 
table; as follows:

       At the appropriate place, insert the following:

     SEC. __. STANDARDS FOR COAL REFUSE POWER PLANTS.

       (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
       (1) 19th-century mining operations left behind more than 
     2,000,000,000 tons of coal refuse on surface land in various 
     coal mining regions of the United States;
       (2) coal refuse piles--
       (A) pose significant environmental risks;
       (B) have contaminated more than 180,000 acres of land and 
     streams; and
       (C) are susceptible to fires that endanger public health 
     and emit an estimated 9,000,000 tons of carbon dioxide each 
     year, in addition to other uncontrolled pollutants;
       (3) the Environmental Protection Agency, the Office of 
     Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, and the 
     Department of Environmental Protection of the State of 
     Pennsylvania recognize the significant public

[[Page S242]]

     health benefits of power plants that use coal refuse as fuel;
       (4) since the inception of coal refuse power plants, the 
     plants have removed 210,000,000 tons of coal refuse and 
     restored 8,200 acres of contaminated land; and
       (5) due to the unique nature of coal refuse and the power 
     plants that use coal refuse as a fuel, those plants face 
     distinct economic and technical obstacles to achieving 
     compliance with regulatory standards established for 
     traditional coal-fired power plants.
       (b) Definition of Coal Refuse.--In this section, the term 
     ``coal refuse'' means any byproduct of coal mining, physical 
     coal cleaning, or coal preparation operations that contains 
     coal, matrix material, clay, and other organic and inorganic 
     material.
       (c) Emission Limitations for Certain Electric Utility Steam 
     Generating Units.--
       (1) In general.--The general emission limitations 
     established by the Environmental Protection Agency in the 
     final rule entitled ``Federal Implementation Plans: 
     Interstate Transport of Fine Particulate Matter and Ozone and 
     Correction of SIP Approvals'' (76 Fed. Reg. 48208 (August 8, 
     2011)) (or a successor regulation) shall not apply to an 
     electric utility steam generating unit described in paragraph 
     (3).
       (2) Hydrogen chloride and sulfur dioxide.--The emission 
     limitations for hydrogen chloride and sulfur dioxide 
     contained in table 2 of subpart UUUUU of part 63 of title 40, 
     Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regulations), 
     entitled ``Emission Limits for Existing EGUs'' shall not 
     apply to an electric utility steam generating unit described 
     in paragraph (3).
       (3) Description of electric utility steam generating 
     units.--An electric utility steam generating unit referred to 
     in paragraphs (1) and (2) is an electric utility steam 
     generating unit that--
       (A) is in operation as of the date of enactment of this 
     Act;
       (B) uses fluidized bed combustion technology to convert 
     coal refuse into energy; and
       (C) uses coal refuse as at least 50 percent of the annual 
     fuel consumed, by weight, of the unit.
       (d) Effective Date.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
     this Act, this section takes effect on the date of enactment 
     of this Act.
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