Virginia Coal Ash Permit Program Approval
AI-generated summary for informational purposes only. Not legal advice. See the original source for the authoritative text.
Would approve Virginia’s partial permit program for coal combustion residuals, commonly known as coal ash. If finalized, Virginia’s environmental agency would run most permitting and oversight for coal ash landfills and surface impoundments in the state instead of the federal program, except for federal provisions that Virginia has not asked to take over. The proposal mainly affects electric utilities, independent power producers, and operators of coal ash disposal sites in Virginia. These facilities would need to follow Virginia-issued permits for covered requirements, while still complying with any federal coal ash rules left outside the state program. EPA is taking comments until July 6, 2026, and will hold a hybrid public hearing on June 24, 2026.
AI-generated summary. May contain errors. Refer to official sources for legal decisions.
Key Changes
- EPA proposes to approve Virginia’s partial coal ash permit program as protective enough to replace most federal coal ash requirements in the state.
- Virginia would issue and oversee permits for covered coal ash landfills and surface impoundments, including design, operation, monitoring, closure, and post-closure requirements.
- Facilities would still need to comply with federal coal ash provisions that are not included in Virginia’s approved program, and EPA would keep inspection and enforcement powers.
Obligations
What this law requires
Any person or entity submitting written comments on EPA’s proposed approval of Virginia’s partial CCR permit program must submit them to EPA on or before the close of the comment period and identify the submission with Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OLEM-2025-3325.
Any person or entity submitting comments on EPA’s proposed approval of Virginia’s CCR partial permit program must identify the submission with Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OLEM-2025-3325.
Commenters must not submit Confidential Business Information or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute to EPA’s public docket at Regulations.gov.
Commenters must not submit Confidential Business Information or other legally restricted information to EPA’s public docket at regulations.gov.
Commenters submitting multimedia materials, such as audio or video, must accompany the multimedia submission with a written comment; EPA treats the written comment as the official comment.