Ranking members of the Oversight and Government Reform and Transportation and Infrastructure Committees, are writing the Department of Transportation, to draw their attention to the negative effects of EPA's proposed decision to regulate coal ash as a hazardous waste.  Members of congress are concerned that designating coal ash, a CCB frequently used in highway construction, as a hazardous waste could reduce the stimulus impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Please read the full letter to the Department of Transportation below.

We understand that EPA is evaluating its regulatory options for the management of coal combustion byproducts (CCBs) and plans to propose federal management standards for CCBs by the end of the year. This issue involves an important component of the nation's overall energy policy as EPA's decision could affect electricity costs from coal-fired plants, the continued viability of CCB beneficial use practices (which plays a significant role in the reduction of greenhouse gases), and the ability of certain power plants to remain in service.

The National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA), the trade association representing concrete producers in the United States, is opposed to a potential ruling by the U.S. EPA that would regulate fly ash as a hazardous waste material. Such regulation could have the perverse impact of limiting beneficial uses of the material, therefore increasing wasted stockpiles that pose the very risks that EPA aims to mitigate.

                                                        AASHTO Subcommittee on Materials