"EPA Rules on Coal Ash May Disappoint Environmentalists, Buoy Industry"

"WASHINGTON -- The federal government is about to announce its first rules for the handling and storage of potentially toxic coal ash, months after tons of the waste spilled into a major river in North Carolina.

Environmental groups, though, are preparing for disappointment. The Obama administration appears likely to refuse to designate the material as hazardous and could let states decide whether to enforce the rules.

'It will be incredibly disappointing and reckless if EPA doesn’t solve the problem that it knows how to solve,' said Lisa Evans, an attorney for Earthjustice.

The Environmental Protection Agency is expected to release the new rules Friday. In the meantime, utility industry officials and environmental groups have been lobbying federal regulators in a series of meetings the past several weeks with the White House Office of Management and Budget."

Sean Cockerham reports for the McClatchy Washington Bureau December 17, 2014.