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Register entry No. 0029Report2019 Va. Acts ch. 650 (HB 2786)

EPA approves Virginia's partial coal ash permit program, effective Nov. 23, Docket EPA-HQ-OLEM-2025-3325

The final decision at 91 FR 66643 lets Virginia regulators run most of the federal coal combustion residuals program in its place. The 2024 legacy-impoundment and CCR management unit rules stay federal, and existing state permits get no federal permit shield until each is reopened for public comment.

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Summary

None of the coal ash permits Virginia has already issued will carry the federal permit shield when the state’s program takes over next month. That condition sits inside the Environmental Protection Agency’s final approval of Virginia’s partial coal combustion residuals (CCR) permit program, published October 22, 2026, at 91 FR 66643 under Docket No. EPA-HQ-OLEM-2025-3325 and signed by Administrator Lee Zeldin [1]. Issued under sections 4005(d) and 7004(b)(1) of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the approval takes effect November 23, 2026, after which most of the federal coal ash rules at 40 CFR part 257, subpart D, will be administered by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VADEQ) rather than EPA [1]. EPA announced the decision October 20 [2].

What the record shows

The decision is a finding under 42 U.S.C. 6945(d)(1)(B) that Virginia’s program requires each CCR unit in the state to meet the federal criteria or alternatives “at least as protective as” them [1]. EPA states that VADEQ has identified 25 CCR units in Virginia, seven landfills and 18 surface impoundments, at eight facilities [1]. VADEQ has received $571,396 in State and Tribal Assistance Grant funding for fiscal years 2023 through 2025 to develop the program, which otherwise runs on state general funds [1].

EPA reviewed the program in two parts. On the permitting machinery, it applied the four categories of criteria in 40 CFR part 239, written for municipal landfill programs, as guidelines: permitting, compliance monitoring, enforcement and citizen intervention in civil enforcement [1]. It found each adequate [1]. Under the Virginia Solid Waste Management Regulations, a new CCR permit requires a draft permit, a newspaper notice, a public hearing at least 30 days after notice and a comment period of no less than 45 days [1]. VADEQ regional staff inspect the facilities “at least once each year,” according to the decision [1].

On technical criteria, Virginia adopted subpart D by reference at 9VAC20-81-800, as the federal rules stood on December 14, 2020 [1]. That cutoff defines what is approved and what is not.

What stays federal

EPA sorts the provisions Virginia does not administer into four groups [1]:

  • Three older provisions EPA would not approve: the vegetative cover requirements for slope stability in 40 CFR 257.73 and 257.74, the suspension of groundwater monitoring in 257.90(g), and the groundwater protection standards for appendix IV constituents without maximum contaminant levels in 257.95(h)(2). On the last, EPA says the provision “was challenged in court and is under reconsideration by the Agency.”
  • 2024 amendments that apply to all units: among them the broader definitions of “owner” and “operator,” the closure-by-removal standards in 257.102(c)(2) and longer record retention periods.
  • Legacy CCR surface impoundments: the full set of 2024 requirements for impoundments at plants that stopped generating before October 19, 2015.
  • CCR management units: the 2024 requirements as amended by the CCR Management Unit Deadline Extension Rule of February 10, 2026 (91 FR 5806).

For those groups, “facilities remain responsible for compliance with all remaining Federal requirements” [1]. EPA will implement them “until and unless” Virginia applies and receives approval for them [1].

EPA did approve Virginia’s versions of 20 other 2024 amendments, mostly definitions such as “liquids” and “infiltration,” on the stated understanding that VADEQ interprets its incorporated text the same way EPA reads its own rules [1].

Where it sits in the process

VADEQ submitted its application to EPA Region 3 on June 6, 2025 [1]. EPA sent questions and asked for a supplement on September 25, 2025, and VADEQ filed a revised application on March 4, 2026 [1]. Zeldin notified VADEQ Director Michael S. Rolband by letter dated April 30, 2026, that the application was complete [1]. The proposed approval followed on May 4, with comments due July 6 and a hybrid public hearing on June 24 [3]. E&E News reported the preliminary decision on April 30 [6]. EPA received 14 written comments and none at the hearing [1].

Why Virginia’s existing coal ash permits do not get the federal permit shield

Once an approved state issues a CCR permit, section 4005(d)(3) makes the permit’s terms the enforceable requirements, shielding the holder from direct enforcement of the underlying rules [1]. Virginia required every CCR unit owner to apply for a modified permit by October 17, 2017, and VADEQ issued permits for all of them [1].

In September 2025, EPA asked VADEQ in writing whether it wanted those permits reviewed now or at a later program review [1]. The revised application answered that VADEQ was “only requesting EPA’s review and partial approval of the CCR permitting program” [1]. As a result, the decision says, earlier permits “will not provide facilities with the Federal permit shield” [1]. Each becomes part of the approved program only after a major modification that includes public notice and comment “on the entirety of each CCR permit” [1].

That differs from EPA’s 2024 handling of Alabama. In that decision, EPA reviewed permits issued by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, along with comments, and denied the program [5]. Alabama is now among the four states with a pending proposed approval, according to EPA’s October release [2].

What happens after Nov. 23?

The statute requires EPA to review an approved program at least every 12 years, within three years after EPA revises the federal criteria, within one year after an unauthorized significant release, and on petition from another state [1]. EPA retains authority to bring its own enforcement action if Virginia asks or if EPA finds one likely to be necessary [1].

What the record does not show

  • A timetable for reopening permits. VADEQ committed in its application to “initiate a review of existing solid waste permits for CCR facilities and modify permits” after federal approval [1]. Neither the decision nor the release gives a schedule or names which permits come first [1, 2].
  • Which facilities hold the 25 units. The decision refers readers to pages 8 and 9 of VADEQ’s Narrative Description in the docket and does not list them in the Federal Register text [1].
  • EPA’s answers to opponents. The decision summarizes the comments in one paragraph and puts individual responses in a separate Response to Comments document dated October 2026 [1].
  • How long the federal remainder stays put. The provisions EPA keeps include the legacy impoundment and CCR management unit rules [1]. In April, EPA proposed modifying those same provisions, along with a new site-specific compliance pathway for groundwater points of compliance, cleanup levels and closure timeframes [4]. The proposal set a June 12 comment deadline [4], and EPA’s October release still describes it as a proposal [2]. A revision to the federal criteria would itself start the statute’s three-year review clock for Virginia’s program [1].
  • How the state’s 2019 closure law interacts. Virginia’s Chapter 650 of 2019 requires removal of CCR from units at the Bremo, Chesapeake, Chesterfield and Possum Point stations that stopped accepting ash before July 1, 2019 [7]. It requires beneficial reuse of at least 6.8 million cubic yards of the removed ash in total, drawn from at least two of the sites, and completion of each closure within 15 years of starting it [7]. EPA’s decision does not mention the law [1].

Positions on the record

EPA. “By putting Virginia’s experts in charge of managing their own resources, landscapes, facilities, and communities, we’re making sure local knowledge guides environmental protection and economic growth,” Zeldin said in the agency’s release [2]. Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Amy Van Blarcom-Lackey said the approval “gives the commonwealth the authority to oversee coal ash disposal under a program that meets federal standards” [2]. The release says EPA has “set the stage for 10 states to receive CCR program approval” across President Trump’s two terms [2].

Supporting commenters. According to EPA, several comments backed approval and VADEQ’s capacity, and urged “continued expedited approval of state programs by focusing on the program and not evaluating already issued permits” [1]. Some asked VADEQ to adopt new federal revisions quickly [1].

Opposing commenters. EPA reports that several commenters argued it “must consider the performance of VADEQ in administering the program” [1]. In EPA’s summary, those commenters “allege that VADEQ has demonstrated that it cannot be relied upon to adequately implement the program,” citing the 2024 Alabama denial and court opinions in coal ash cases [1]. They also raised detailed concerns about specific Virginia facilities, questioned state definitions that differ from the federal text and challenged the adequacy of public participation [1]. Other comments expressed concern about contamination from coal ash [1].

The decision does not resolve those objections in its own text. It answers that the earlier permits are outside “the program evidence submitted for EPA review” and that EPA intends to review the modified permits at its next program review [1].

Reading-room questions

Questions readers bring to this record, answered from the documents cited below.

When does Virginia's coal ash permit program take effect?
EPA's approval is effective November 23, 2026 [1]. From then, the approved Virginia requirements operate in lieu of the matching federal coal ash rules [1].
Which federal coal ash rules still apply in Virginia after EPA's approval?
The 2024 requirements for legacy surface impoundments and CCR management units, the 2024 changes to the owner and operator definitions and closure-by-removal standards, and three older provisions EPA did not approve all remain federally enforceable [1]. EPA will implement them until Virginia applies and is approved for them [1].
Do existing Virginia coal ash permits get the federal permit shield?
No. Virginia left its previously issued permits out of its application, so they gain the shield only after a major modification under the approved program, with public comment on the whole permit [1].
How many states have EPA-approved coal ash permit programs?
EPA says Virginia is the sixth [2]. Its release lists approvals for North Dakota and Wyoming during this administration and pending proposals for Louisiana, Alabama, Wisconsin and Indiana [2].
Did anyone oppose EPA approving Virginia's coal ash program?
Yes. EPA reports that several commenters argued it must weigh how the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has run the program, alleging the agency cannot be relied on to implement it [1]. EPA's answers are in a separate Response to Comments document in the docket [1].

Note on sourcing

EPA's final decision summarizes the 14 written comments it received but does not name the commenters; the positions described here are EPA's characterization, and this report does not draw on the individual comment letters or on EPA's separate Response to Comments document. The list of Virginia's 25 CCR units by facility appears in the state's Narrative Description in the docket, which this report does not draw on, so individual plants other than the four named in Virginia's 2019 closure law are not identified. The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality had not issued a public statement on the final approval in the record cited here as of publication. The April 2026 federal rule revisions referenced here are proposals and had not been finalized as of publication.

Sources

  1. Virginia: Approval of State Coal Combustion Residuals Permit Program, final decision, 91 FR 66643 (FR Doc. 2026-21622)Environmental Protection Agency, October 22, 2026 · federalregister.gov
  2. EPA Finalizes Virginia's Coal Combustion Residuals Permit ProgramEnvironmental Protection Agency, October 20, 2026 · epa.gov
  3. Virginia: Approval of State Coal Combustion Residuals Permit Program, proposed approval and request for comments, 91 FR 23924 (FR Doc. 2026-08662)Environmental Protection Agency, May 4, 2026 · federalregister.gov
  4. Hazardous and Solid Waste Management System: Disposal of Coal Combustion Residuals From Electric Utilities; Legacy/CCRMU Amendments, proposed rule, 91 FR 18968 (FR Doc. 2026-07061)Environmental Protection Agency, April 13, 2026 · federalregister.gov
  5. Alabama: Denial of State Coal Combustion Residuals Permit Program, 89 FR 48774 (FR Doc. 2024-11692)Environmental Protection Agency, June 7, 2024 · federalregister.gov
  6. EPA eyes handing oversight of coal ash to VirginiaE&E News, April 30, 2026 · eenews.net
  7. Acts of Assembly 2019, Chapter 650 (HB 2786), An Act to allow closure of certain coal combustion residuals impoundmentsVirginia General Assembly, March 19, 2019 · legacylis.virginia.gov

Subject headings

Cross-references

Other register entries filed under the same subject headings.

  1. No. 0024 · Report · 2 shared headingsEPA repeals most 2024 power plant carbon standards and proposes ending the rest, 91 FR 58954 and 91 FR 59002
  2. No. 0019 · Report · 1 shared headingNRC notices NextEra-Dominion application for indirect transfer of Dominion nuclear licenses, NRC-2026-4060
  3. No. 0013 · Environmental review · 1 shared headingFERC staff issues environmental assessment for Mountain Valley Pipeline Boost compression project, Docket CP26-14-000