Rep. David McKinley to Keynote ACAA Winter Meeting

United States Congressman David McKinley will be a featured speaker at the American Coal Ash Association Winter Meeting in Tampa, Florida, January 30-31.

Representative McKinley (R-WV) will address meeting attendees during the Government Relations Committee session at 1:00 p.m. Monday, January 30.

The Congressman was the primary sponsor of coal ash legislation that passed the U.S. House of Representatives last October. HR 2273 – the “Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act” – was approved by a bipartisan vote of 267-144 and is now under consideration by the U.S. Senate.

The bill mandates the first ever national standards for coal ash disposal. The standards are patterned after successful regulatory programs for managing municipal solid waste. The bill requires state-administered permit programs to create enforceable requirements for groundwater monitoring, lining of landfills, corrective action when environmental damage occurs and structural criteria. It also provides that if a state is unable or unwilling to implement the permit program, the federal EPA would have authority to do so.

Still Time to Register for the Tampa Meeting

Here’s everything you need to know to sign up for the meeting in Tampa: To view the two-day schedule, click here. For online registration for the meeting, click here. For hotel information and online reservations, click here.

Women and Runners: Don’t Forget Special Tampa Events

ACAA’s Winter Meeting will feature two additional special events for attendees:

The Women’s Leadership Forum will conduct its second meeting at noon on Monday, January 30. The featured speaker will be Brenda Brickhouse, Vice President of Environmental Permits and Compliance for the Tennessee Valley Authority. A complimentary lunch will be provided thanks to a generous sponsorship from Constellation Energy. To be included in a Women’s Leadership Forum roster that includes professional profiles, complete and submit to ACAA this form. (Completion of the form is not required to attend the meeting and lunch.)

The Florida Challenge Trail Run will be held Sunday, January 29, in Tampa and several ACAA members are planning to participate. Contact Bruce Kazich (bkazich@transash.com) or Kyle Seevers (kyle.seevers@ashgroveresources.com) if you would like to join them.

EPA Responds to Attack on Coal Ash Beneficial Use

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on January 3 responded to an anti-coal environmental group that has been attacking the beneficial use of coal ash in all settings.

As part of its attack, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility last year requested that EPA “correct” statements that the use of coal ash in concrete reduces greenhouse gas emissions. (PEER contends that calculations of greenhouse gas emissions reductions from use in concrete should be offset by all of the emissions of burning coal to generate electricity.)

EPA responded by stating that PEER’s concerns will be addressed as part of the Agency’s on-going coal ash disposal rulemaking and promised that “at the conclusion of the rulemaking process, EPA will provide a definitive written response to PEER's information quality concerns, either in the preamble to the final rule or in the accompanying Response to Comments document.”

A copy of EPA’s response to PEER can be found here.

Another International Call for Papers

The next EUROCOALASH conference will be held September 25-27, 2012 in Thessaloniki, Greece. The biannual conference addresses a range of topics related to Coal Combustion Product management and marketing. Abstracts are due February 15. More information is here.

The Phoenix was sent to you from the American Coal Ash Association: info@acaa-usa.org.
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The ACAA’s mission is to advance the management and use of coal combustion products in ways that are environmentally responsible, technically sound, commercially competitive, and more supportive of a sustainable global community.