U.S. State of Virginia Coal Combustion Residuals Permit Program
On October 20, 2026, the EPA Administrator signed a Federal Register notice approving of the state permit program for the management of coal combustion residuals (CCR) in the state of Virginia. On the effective date of this notice, Virginia's permit program will operate in lieu of the Federal CCR program.
On this page:
Final Approval
On October 20, 2026, EPA announced the approval of the coal combustion residuals permit program application submitted by Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VADEQ), pursuant to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act section 4005(d)(1)(B). The Virginia partial program allows the VADEQ to operate in lieu of the federal CCR permit program. EPA determined that the Virginia CCR permit program meets the standard for approval.
Virginia did not include certain items in their application for program approval, which is why they have a partial CCR permit program. You can find the items not included in Virginia’s partial CCR permit program in more detail in the Federal Register Notice. The corresponding federal requirements for these provisions will continue to apply.
Read a prepublication copy of the Federal Register notice for this approval.
Background
EPA received an application from the Commonwealth of Virginia requesting approval of their CCR permit program.
In preparation to submit their application, Virginia promulgated regulations for CCR disposal units at Title 9 of the Virginia Administrative Code Agency 20, Chapter 81, Section 800, which adopts the federal CCR regulations in Title 40 of the Code of Regulations part 257 subpart D by reference. Virginia also promulgated additional permitting and certification elements for these facilities at 9 VAC 20-81-450, 460, 475, 490, and 810 as well as requirements for inactive CCR surface impoundments in 9 VAC 20-81-820.
State Regulations
EPA received an application from the Commonwealth of Virginia requesting approval of their CCR permit program.
In preparation to submit their application, Virginia promulgated regulations for CCR disposal units at Title 9 of the Virginia Administrative Code Agency 20, Chapter 81, Section 800, which adopts the federal CCR regulations in Title 40 of the Code of Regulations part 257 subpart D by reference. Virginia also promulgated additional permitting and certification elements for these facilities at 9 VAC 20-81-450, 460, 475, 490, and 810 as well as requirements for inactive CCR surface impoundments in 9 VAC 20-81-820.
Proposed Approval
On May 4, 2026, EPA published a proposal to allow the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, rather than the federal government, to permit CCR disposal in surface impoundments and landfills. EPA preliminarily determined that the Virginia CCR permit program meets the standard for approval under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
The comment period closed on July 6, 2026.
Docket
You can find the repository of documents for this notice, including the Virginia application, public comments submitted, the response to comments document and other supporting materials in the docket EPA-HQ-OLEM-2025-3325 on Regulations.gov.
Completeness Letter
EPA took the first step in the process of making a determination of whether to approve the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality's CCR permit program by notifying Virginia DEQ that their application is complete and that the formal process of soliciting public comment and making a final determination on Virginia's CCR permit program will begin.
- Read the completeness letter. (pdf) (439.99 KB) .
Public Hearing
EPA held a hybrid in-person and online public hearing about this proposed approval on June 24, 2026. The hearing took place in person in the Training Room at the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality Piedmont Regional Office, 4949-A Cox Road, Glen Allen, VA 23060.