06/02/2026
On April 9, 2026, EPA announced a proposal to amend several provisions of the federal regulations governing the disposal of CCR in landfills and surface impoundments and the beneficial use for CCR in Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations in Part 257.Specifically, EPA is proposing to:
Create an additional option for facilities to certify closure of legacy CCR surface impoundments by removal of CCR, provided they completed these closures prior to November 8, 2024, and under the oversight of regulatory authorities.
Modify or remove three of the criteria that facilities with legacy surface impoundments closed prior to November 8, 2024, must currently meet to be eligible for the deferral from complying with the CCR unit closure standards until site-specific decisions are made by permit authorities.
Exempt from the CCR regulations in Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations Part 257 certain structures primarily used to dewater CCR waste that facilitate disposal of the CCR elsewhere.
Rescind all CCR management unit requirements and accept comments on alternative approaches that would include revisions to the existing CCR management unit regulations.
Additionally, this proposal would establish an alternative compliance pathway for CCR units complying with groundwater monitoring, corrective action, and closure requirements under federal or approved-state CCR permits. Specifically, these provisions would allow a permit authority to make site-specific determinations regarding the appropriate point-of-compliance for the groundwater monitoring system, site-specific cleanup levels during corrective action for constituents without a federal maximum contaminant level, and appropriateness of certain closure requirements while still requiring the owner or operator to ensure that no reasonable probability of adverse effects on human health and the environment are posed by the unit.
Lastly, EPA is proposing to revise the definition of beneficial use by eliminating the requirement for an environmental demonstration for the non-roadway use of more than 12,400 tons of unencapsulated CCR on land. The proposal would add definitions of CCR storage pile and temporary accumulation and exclude the following beneficial uses from federal CCR regulations:
CCR used in cement manufacturing at cement kilns.
Flue gas desulfurization gypsum used in agriculture.
FGD gypsum used in wallboard.
EPA website on CCR - comment deadline June 12
A rulemaking proposing amendments to the CCR regulations to provide site-specific flexibilities, exempt dewatering structures, revise the definition of beneficial use, and modify the legacy CCR surface impoundment and CCR management unit provisions.
