Sen. Boxer urges colleagues to block House-passed coal bill

The bill, which would put states in charge of regulating the wastes with the EPA in an oversight role, passed the House on July 25 with 39 Democrats joining Republicans in backing the measure.

Backers of the House bill fear that the EPA regulations will be costly and stymie re-use of the materials in concrete, roofing products and other applications.

But Boxer makes the case that the agency must have the ability to go forward with its planned standards.

“We must be mindful of what happened in Kingston, Tennessee in 2008, when a wall failed on a 40-acre coal ash impoundment, releasing over one billion gallons of waste and causing over $1 billion in cleanup costs,” she wrote.