特朗普政府对煤灰储存法规进行了最终更改，该法规为煤灰储存法规提供了六个月，直到2021年4月11日，在他们必须停止将残留物从燃煤发电厂发送到无机且经常泄漏的存储池之前。

The actions, taken by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, also allow utilities more time to permanently close existing unlined impoundments.

EPA said it reviewed engineering and construction data and found that not all utilities would be able to meet the 2020 deadline to stop taking waste in unlined pits and allow them to request extensions.

EPA的行动，宣布了7月29日，这是该机构希望对奥巴马政府于2015年发布的煤灰存储法规所做的五项更改中的第一个。

"今天的行动s changes to the closure regulations for coal-ash storage that enhance protections for public health while giving electric utilities enough time to retrofit or replace unlined impoundment ponds,” EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said in a statement.

环保团体不同意惠勒的评估。非营利性环境法组织EarthJustice在一份声明中说：“回滚将增加豁免和漏洞，使公用事业可以推迟煤灰池的关闭，直到2038年。”

Utilities would have stopped adding toxic coal ash to the ponds more than a year ago if the administration had not stepped in to rescind the 2015 rule, said Lisa Evans, an Earthjustice attorney.

EarthJustice和Sierra俱乐部发誓要与法庭上的EPA监管变更作斗争。

The Obama administration published regulations in 2015 after two major spills from storage ponds. An unlined surface impoundment at a Tennessee Valley Authority coal-fired plant ruptured in 2008 and sent more than 1 billion gallons of coal ash, which had been stored as a slurry, across 300 acres and into a nearby river.

2014年，杜克能源蓄水系统将39,000加仑的煤灰和27,000加仑的废水洒到了丹河中。众所周知，煤炭含有砷，铅，汞，铬和其他有毒物质。

塞拉俱乐部竞选总监玛丽·安·希特（Mary Ann Hitt）表示，回滚延迟了泄漏煤灰池的关闭。

根据EPA的数据，大约85％的存储蓄水池位于美国的三个地区：中西部，为41％；西南，有10％；和东南，占34％。

Utilities in the Southeast have stopped sending ash to unlined impoundments and most of the unlined pits are being dug out, Frank Hollaman, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, told ENR.

霍拉曼说：“该规则是为表现最差的人，最不负责任，最污染的公用事业。”他补充说，EPA规则的一个改进是，粘土衬里现在被认为是无衬里的，必须对其进行改造或关闭。