In an article posted on PaintSquare.com, we are seeing that changes are coming regarding coal ash and EPA regulations.

A judge is giving the agency a time frame to complete revisions of the regulations regarding coal ash.

Whatever this ruling, it will have implications on your blast abrasives safety plan.

Hazardous or Not?

At the heart of the proposal is a decision critical to the coatings, construction and blasting industries: whether or not to designate CCRs for the first time as “hazardous waste” for purposes of disposal under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).

RCRA contains a two-pronged approach for regulating solid wastes: Hazardous waste is regulated under Subtitle C, creating a cradle-to-grave federal regulatory system for its treatment, storage and disposal. All other wastes (including CCRs) fall under Subtitle D.

White’s order notes that a waste is considered hazardous and subject to regulation under Subtitle C if it exhibits “any one of the four characteristics of hazardousness: ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity, or toxicity.”

The article continues on to say how the EPA continues to drag their feet on a decision or even an approximate time on when they will do so.

It also brings into question the politics of the issues and how any regulation the EPA proposes faces a difficult path through “House Republicans and the power corporate lobbies.”

We will be keeping our eye on this subject as it continues to play out.

Original article posted here: http://www.paintsquare.com/news/?fuseaction=view&id=10478