EPA May Move To Act: Making Coal Ash (AKA Fly Ash) 'Non-Hazardous' Material

Updates

Later, 2:28 pm CT: Don provided some background but first, from the blog:

• South Dakota fly is "slightly" radioactive
• Fly ash, mentioned in passing
• FracSorb Wood Pellets as an alternative to fly ash
• FlexCrete, a construction material made from fly ash

Don said about the same thing with a reference to Kerr McGee burning coal/lignite in large kilns west of Bowman (Griffith) and Belfield, North Dakota, in the 1950's for the uranium. The coal came from the area around Ludlow, South Dakota. 

Original Post

I don't follow this issue, so I don't know the significance. From Yahoo!InPlay:

EPA may move to act making coal ash 'non-hazardous' material.

Headwaters announces a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency action that will lead to regulatory certainty for coal ash as a "non-hazardous" material. A Consent Decree signed by Headwaters and all other parties to the Appalachian Voices vs Gina McCarthy lawsuit was delivered to the Federal DC District Court on January 29, 2014. 

The Consent Decree states, "The EPA Administrator shall, by December 19, 2014, sign for publication in the Federal Register a notice taking final action regarding EPA's proposed revision of RCRA Subtitle D regulations pertaining to coal combustion residuals."

The proposed regulations created regulatory uncertainty that has dampened the beneficial use of coal combustion products. The District Court agreed with Headwaters and ordered EPA to propose a date by which it would finalize revised coal ash disposal rules. In the Consent Decree the parties have agreed to set the date at December 19, 2014, and also not to appeal the Court's order. This lifts the burden of regulatory uncertainty.