The Environmental Protection Agency in late November published in the Federal Register its proposed rule to extend by three years the compliance deadline for owners and operators to complete closure of unlined coal combustion residual (CCR) surface impoundments larger than 40 acres.
The original deadline was October 17, 2028; the proposed new deadline is October 17, 2031.
This extension applies only to facilities with no available alternative disposal capacity and scheduled to permanent cease coal combustion after April 11, 2021.
The proposed rule is available here.
The proposal does not change requirements for smaller impoundments (≤40 acres), which had a closure deadline of October 17, 2023.
The EPA justifies this proposal by stating that extending the deadline will support the reliability of the electric grid, as it enables certain coal-fired power plants to remain in operation past their planned retirement dates.
However, this extension is limited -- it does not permit new requests for deadline extensions beyond April 11, 2021, nor does it apply to facilities that already have alternative disposal options in place.
EPA expects that the proposed deadline extension would directly promote resource adequacy by allowing 11 facilities affected by this proposal to continue to operate for up to three additional years.
EPA is currently evaluating these applications and has not yet taken any action.
EPA will hold a virtual public hearing on January 6, 2026, at 9 a.m. EST. Registration for the hearing will be available here shortly.
Comments are due by January 7, 2026.
Background on Alternative Closure Deadline CCR Part A Rule
On April 17, 2015, the EPA established national minimum standards for existing and new CCR landfills and surface impoundments. In 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (USWAG v. EPA) vacated provisions that allowed unlined impoundments to continue receiving coal ash unless they leaked, and also vacated the classification of “clay-lined” impoundments as lined.
In response, the EPA finalized regulations to implement the court’s decision:
• Unlined impoundments can no longer continue to receive waste unless they leak; all unlined units must now initiate closure by a revised date.
• “Clay-lined” impoundments are no longer considered lined and must meet the same closure requirements as other unlined units.
