Today, the House passed, and I voted in favor of the Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act (H.R. 2273). When coal is used to make electricity in power plants, the residue left over is known as coal ash. It has never been regulated at the federal level. For the first time, this bipartisan legislation will set out federal standards, enforceable at the state level, for the safe disposal of coal ash.
I am proud of my strong record protecting public health and the environment. In fact, through my work on the Energy and Commerce Committee, I was able to strengthen this legislation in several significant ways. I fought for and won additional protections for groundwater monitoring for elements such as boron, molybdenum, mercury and sulfates. Monitoring will ensure groundwater in areas surrounding coal ash disposal sites remains safe. I won additional requirements for corrective actions, record keeping, and run-on and run-off control systems. Lastly, I worked to ensure that states are allowed to go above and beyond this federal standard.
Existing Wisconsin state regulations for coal ash are viewed as the gold standard for handling coal combustion waste and there is a strong beneficial reuse program in our state. In fact, We Energies has an average recycling rate of 96 percent and actually achieved a recycling rate close to 110 percent in 2010. The company is the only utility in the country currently digging up coal ash from existing landfills and reusing it. This process results in high quality ash used in road construction, concrete, cement, bricks and additional byproducts.
The success of this process is bringing jobs here to Wisconsin. The availability of this high quality ash attracted CalStar Products to open a new manufacturing plant in Racine County early last year, bringing 20 new jobs to southeastern Wisconsin. CalStar uses coal ash from We Energies’ Oak Creek Power Station to make sustainable building products like bricks and pavers. According to CalStar, for every ton of cement replaced by fly ash, we eliminate about a ton of carbon dioxide. Additionally, this practice has reduced U.S. carbon emissions by more than 200 million tons since 1990.
While Wisconsin continues to expand the use of renewable energy sources, coal will continue to be part of our energy mix for the foreseeable future. Instead of landfilling these materials, we should encourage their safe use in construction and building projects. When used correctly, recycled coal ash reduces greenhouse gas emissions, conserves resources and leads to positive economic benefits. When coal combustion residuals cannot be recycled into useful products, they must be disposed of properly and this legislation ensures that.
