2026 Proposed Amendments to the Coal Combustion Residuals Regulations

On this page: 

• Rule Summary
  • Comments and Public Hearing
  • Webinars
• Rule History
• Rule History Table

Rule Summary

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.

Finally, in this proposal, EPA is providing notice that in a future separate action, EPA will reopen the public comment period for the Federal CCR permit program proposed rule entitled Hazardous and Solid Waste Management System: Disposal of Coal Combustion Residuals From Electric Utilities; Federal CCR Permit Program (85 FR 9940) for a period of 30 days.

• Read the proposal in the Federal Register, titled "Legacy/CCRMU Amendments."

Comments and Public Hearing

EPA will accept comments on this proposal through June 12, 2026.

In addition to accepting written comments, EPA will hold an online public hearing on May 28, 2026. Learn more about the public hearing and register to listen and speak. 

Webinars

In April 2026, EPA held two public webinars to provide an overview and answer any clarifying questions regarding this proposal. The webinars covered the same information and were informational only. EPA did not accept public comments during these presentations. If participants wished to provide public comments, they needed to do so as laid out in the preamble of the proposed rule.

Access the presentation slides used during these webinars below:

Rule History

On April 17, 2015, EPA finalized national minimum criteria for the disposal of CCR as solid waste under Subtitle D of Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (volume 80 of the Federal Register starting on page 21302). The 2015 CCR Rule established regulations for existing and new CCR landfills, existing and new CCR surface impoundments, including all lateral expansions of these CCR units. The requirements consist of location restrictions, design and operating criteria, groundwater monitoring and corrective action requirements, closure and post-closure care requirements, recordkeeping, notification, and website posting requirements.

At the time of the promulgation of the 2015 CCR Rule, EPA did not have the authority to issue CCR permits, authorize state CCR permit programs, or otherwise provide the oversight typically performed by a regulatory agency or permit authority. So, the 2015 CCR Rule established nationwide requirements for CCR units under a self-implementing regulatory structure. Due to the lack of regulatory oversight and the limitations of a national risk assessment, the 2015 CCR Rule did not allow for site-specific variances from the regulations or tailored requirements based on site-specific characteristics. 

The self-implementing framework and national requirements have resulted in a one-size-fits-all approach to compliance with the federal CCR requirements. However, this framework is no longer the only, nor the best, regulatory structure available based on the information EPA received during the rulemaking for the Legacy Final Rule and since the rule’s publication as well as the authority the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act provided to EPA.

Rule History Table