The Environmental Protection Agency is seeking input on whether to develop a general federal permit that would provide temporary coal combustion residual (CCR) CCR permit coverage for facilities until an individual EPA permit or approved state CCR permit program is in place.
The advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) follows EPA’s February 2020 proposal to establish a federal CCR permit program and its April 2026 proposal to create new compliance pathways allowing site-specific considerations for groundwater monitoring, corrective action, and closure requirements.
The ANPRM does not propose new regulatory requirements or modify existing ones. EPA notes that this ANPRM is independent from the 2026 Proposed Rule and progress on the 2026 Proposed Rule is not contingent or otherwise relying on this ANPRM.
APPA’s comments on the April 2026 Proposed Rule called for EPA to create a bridge mechanism to allow facilities to benefit from the proposed compliance and site-specific flexibilities before the federal permit program is fully available. The ANPRM appears to be the Agency’s attempt to create a bridging mechanism.
The Agency will accept public comments on the ANPRM until October 13, 2026.
APPA said it plans to develop comments.
