[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 45 (Tuesday, March 22, 2016)]
[House]
[Page H1498]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      COAL ASH LANDFILL SAFETY ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. Johnson) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, power companies are closing down 
old, air-polluting, coal-fired power plants as we move toward cleaner, 
more sustainable ways to generate electricity.
  As these small producing plants close, they leave behind a toxic 
substance known as coal ash. The coal ash is a public health hazard if 
it is not disposed of properly. Coal ash is toxic and can cause 
sickness and death. It is a dangerous substance that must be kept out 
of our drinking water. Coal ash contains known carcinogens such as 
arsenic, mercury, and lead. That is why coal ash is being regulated by 
the EPA.
  As power companies shut down or upgrade their facilities while 
closing existing coal ash ponds, where much of this toxic material has 
been temporarily stored, the need to permanently dispose of this 
hazardous byproduct is growing.
  We now know that some waste disposal companies have been quietly 
exploiting a loophole in the new EPA rules, which allow them to dump 
toxic coal ash into municipal solid waste landfills. So far, these 
waste disposal companies have dumped millions of tons of coal ash into 
unlined municipal solid waste landfills across America. These 
landfills, which are often located near neighborhoods and schools, are 
simply not built or constructed or equipped to safely handle this toxic 
material.
  EPA rules do not require sufficient commonsense protections for 
people who live nearby these landfills. Unfortunately, many of these 
landfills are disproportionately located in low-income and minority 
communities.
  Today I introduced the Coal Ash Landfill Safety Act to close the 
loopholes in the EPA rules to ensure that landfills receiving coal ash 
are properly equipped with the necessary safeguards that will protect 
the public from the health risks caused by drinking water contaminated 
with the coal ash components.
  In addition to ensuring that landfills accepting coal ash are lined 
properly to protect groundwater, the Coal Ash Landfill Safety Act would 
also protect communities by working to minimize coal ash dust in the 
air, which is also toxic. It will require groundwater monitoring, 
mandate proper cleanup requirements, and require weekly, monthly, and 
annual inspections, thereby keeping the public informed by posting the 
monitoring data, corrective action plans, and inspection reports on a 
publicly accessible Web site.
  As we saw in Flint, Michigan, we need to act at the Federal level 
before our failure to do so results in irreversible damage to the 
health and environment of the communities we represent. I don't want 
American families, regardless of income level, to be unfairly and 
unreasonably exposed to toxic chemicals because dangerous materials, 
such as coal ash, are being deposited into inadequately protected 
facilities in their neighborhoods.
  Together, we can find sensible solutions to all of these problems 
that we face, but we must deal with the regulations, the shortcomings. 
We must protect the American people.

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