Senate Bill Threatens Public Safety: Fails to Protect Communities from Toxic Coal Ash

The fact sheet contends that S.3512 is a threat to public health and safety because it lacks firm deadlines for state permit programs, fails to mandate engineering standards for coal ash ponds, and strips the EPA of its authority to regulate the nation's second largest industrial waste. The author asserts that the bill ignores the 2008 Kingston disaster and discourages recycling by permitting the continued use of water-based ash ponds. Furthermore, the document highlights a lack of public participation guarantees and the potential for utilities to withhold groundwater monitoring data as 'Confidential Business Information'.

• S.3512 removes the EPA's ability to regulate coal ash and enforce standards, creating a regulatory vacuum where the agency cannot respond to health threats or enforce the bill's own requirements under state programs.
• The bill lacks essential safety and operational mandates, including firm closure dates for dangerous ponds, engineering standards for new ponds, and requirements to control toxic fugitive dust.
• S.3512 is described as detrimental to the economy and recycling efforts because it encourages the use of ash ponds—which makes ash harder to recycle—and ignores a Tufts University study suggesting a stronger EPA rule could have generated 28,000 jobs.
• The bill fails to protect vulnerable populations and the general public by omitting requirements for meaningful public participation in permitting and allowing utilities to hide groundwater data as 'Confidential Business Information'.
• The document highlights the severity of coal ash pollution in the U.S., noting that nearly 200 sites across 36 states have been contaminated and some ponds pose a cancer risk 2,000 times the EPA's regulatory goal.

APA

Earthjustice (n.d.). Senate Bill Threatens Public Safety: Fails to Protect Communities from Toxic Coal Ash. https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/s3512-fact-sheet_2012-11.pdf

Chicago

Earthjustice. Senate Bill Threatens Public Safety: Fails to Protect Communities from Toxic Coal Ash. n.d. https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/s3512-fact-sheet_2012-11.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Earthjustice |title=Senate Bill Threatens Public Safety: Fails to Protect Communities from Toxic Coal Ash |url=https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/s3512-fact-sheet_2012-11.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{earthjusticendsenate, author = {{Earthjustice}}, title = {{Senate Bill Threatens Public Safety: Fails to Protect Communities from Toxic Coal Ash}}, institution = {Earthjustice}, url = {https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/s3512-fact-sheet_2012-11.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }