Timeline of U.S. Federal Coal Ash and Power Plant Wastewater Regulation

The timeline details the evolution of U.S. coal ash and wastewater regulation, beginning with the 2008 Kingston Fossil Plant spill and subsequent lawsuits by Earthjustice. It tracks the introduction of the first coal ash rule and revised Effluent Limitation Guidelines (ELG) under the Obama administration, followed by a series of rollbacks and delays proposed by the Trump administration's EPA between 2017 and 2019.

• The December 22, 2008, collapse of a coal ash pond at the TVA Kingston Fossil Plant in Harriman, Tennessee, is identified as the largest toxic waste spill in US history, releasing over one billion gallons of toxic sludge and more than 2.6 million tons of toxic pollutants into the Emory and Clinch Rivers.
• Legal actions by Earthjustice and partners led to the 2015 establishment of the first-ever coal ash rule and the November 2015 publication of revised Effluent Limitation Guidelines (ELG), which required power plants to modernize wastewater treatment and eliminate discharges from ash pits.
• Between 2017 and 2019, the Trump administration's EPA initiated several rollbacks, including a two-year delay for ELG compliance, proposals to extend deadlines for closing leaking coal ash ponds, a proposal to remove requirements for plants to guarantee funds for disaster cleanup, and a Phase 2 rollback increasing the use of toxic coal ash as construction fill.

APA

Earthjustice (n.d.). Timeline of U.S. Federal Coal Ash and Power Plant Wastewater Regulation. https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/coal20ash20regulation20timeline20.pdf

Chicago

Earthjustice. Timeline of U.S. Federal Coal Ash and Power Plant Wastewater Regulation. n.d. https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/coal20ash20regulation20timeline20.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Earthjustice |title=Timeline of U.S. Federal Coal Ash and Power Plant Wastewater Regulation |url=https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/coal20ash20regulation20timeline20.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{earthjusticendtimeline, author = {{Earthjustice}}, title = {{Timeline of U.S. Federal Coal Ash and Power Plant Wastewater Regulation}}, institution = {Earthjustice}, url = {https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/coal20ash20regulation20timeline20.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }