This year, Illinois is developing new regulations on coal ash through a rulemaking process. The rulemaking, run by the Illinois Pollution Control Board, is on a tight timeline (as far as rulemakings go), with two week-long hearings that happened in early August and late September this year. The hearings included testimony from the Illinois EPA, expert witnesses from both environmental groups and industry, and impacted members of the public. PRN Staff Andrew Rehn testified as a fact witness and was cross examined before the Board.
Between the two hearings, over one hundred members of the public offered public comments. The commenters navigated the Covid-safe online format of the hearing while delivering powerful comments about the need for strong rules in Illinois.
The Illinois Pollution Control Board, which is the rulemaking body, will continue to accept written comments until the official record closes on October 30th. Then the IPCB will begin deliberating on a final rule that won’t be released until March 2021. You can sign our petition or write your own comments and submit them as public comments to Clerk of the Board Don Brown vis email (don.brown@illinois.gov). Please include coal ash rulemaking in the title of your email.
Andrew Renn, water resources engineer, provides technical expertise in support of Prairie River’s coal pollution programs.
