The decline in coal for energy has reduced available fly ash supply to the concrete industry and generated a significant increase in finished product variability, which has led to a sharp rise in material costs for high profile projects such as One World Trade Center, New York City.
Read MoreSources: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; CP staff
EPA is eyeing programs that allow flexibility in individual permits to manage the safe disposal of coal combustion residuals, known as CCR or “coal ash,” and expects that implementation guidance will allow for the safe disposal and continued beneficial use of the material, while enabling states to decide what works best for their environment.
Read MoreSources: American Coal Ash Association, Washington, D.C.; CP staff
“We are pleased to report that 52 percent of coal combustion products were beneficially used in 2015—up from the previous year’s record of 48 percent. For the first time, we are using more of these valuable resources than we are throwing away,” reports American Coal Ash Association Executive Director Tom Adams, taking stock of the central metric in the group’s latest “Production and Use Survey.”
Read MoreA late-January federal court action establishes a December 2014 deadline for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to finalize a rulemaking, initiated in early 2009, that has created uncertainty over the regulatory status for all grades of coal ash, including ASTM C618 product. “The regulatory uncertainty that has impeded the beneficial use of coal ash for half a decade is finally coming to an end,” affirms American Coal Ash Association (ACAA) Executive Director Thomas Adams. “It now appears 2014 is the year for EPA to finally establish federal coal ash disposal guidelines under the ‘non-hazardous’ section of the law.”
Read MoreSource: American Coal Ash Association (ACAA), Farmington Hills, Mich.
A federal court action establishes a December 2014 deadline for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to finalize a rulemaking, initiated in early 2009, that has created uncertainty over the regulatory status for all grades of coal ash, including ASTM C618 fly ash.
Read MoreCoal ash recycling in the U.S. was off 4.7 million tons in 2012 against the prior year, according to the American Coal Ash Association (ACAA) “Production and Use Survey” released last month. Ash utilization has stalled after nearly a decade of growth of a practice that conserves energy and natural resources, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and safely keeps ash out of landfills and disposal ponds.
Read MoreSources: Citizens for Recycling First, Denver; Office of Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND); CP staff
Five Democrat and five Republican Senators have filed The Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act (S.1751), creating state-enforced, national disposal standards for coal ash while protecting the material from a “hazardous waste” designation.
Read MoreSources: American Road & Transportation Builders Association Transportation Development Foundation (ARTBA-TDF), Washington, D.C.; CP staff
The cloud of proposed Environmental Protection Agency regulations governing handling and disposal of coal combustion residuals (CCR), including construction-grade fly ash, compelled an ARTBA-TDF report to forecast potential economic impacts on the subtraction of ASTM C 618 product from the transportation infrastructure supply chain.
Read MoreSource: Environmental Protection Agency
EPA staff is poring over reams of responses submitted during the June–November 2010 public comment period for a proposed rule on coal ash disposal and handling. “The target date for release of a final rule will be determined, pending a full evaluation of all the information and comments received on the proposal,” the agency notes in mid-May update.
Read MoreIn the June 21 Federal Register, EPA formally proposes a rule maintaining provisions for beneficial use of fly ash in concrete and other construction materials, but significantly tightening existing regulations’ treatment of nonconstruction-grade coal ash
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