U.S. State of North Dakota Coal Combustion Residuals Permit Program
On November 5, 2025, EPA announced EPA Administrator Zeldin signed a Federal Register notice approving of the state permit program for the management of Coal Combustion Residuals in the state of North Dakota. This marks the fourth state CCR permit program approved by EPA, following Oklahoma, Georgia, and Texas. On the effective date of this notice, the North Dakota partial permit program will operate in lieu of the federal CCR program, except for three items.
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Final Approval
EPA approved the CCR permit program application submitted by North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality, pursuant to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act section 4005(d)(1)(B). The North Dakota partial program allows the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality to operate in lieu of the federal CCR permit program. EPA determined that the North Dakota CCR permit program meets the standard for approval.
North Dakota did not include three items in their application for program approval, which is why North Dakota has a partial CCR permit program. The three items that North Dakota did not seek approval for are:
- Amendments made in the “Hazardous and Solid Waste Management System: Disposal of Coal Combustion Residuals from Electric Utilities; Legacy CCR Surface Impoundments” rule (89 FR 38985, May 8, 2024) and the technical corrections direct final rule (89 FR 88650, November 8, 2024). These changes are detailed in the corresponding Federal Register notices. North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality did not adopt changes with regard to these final rules.
- Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations Section 257.71(d) for alternate liner demonstrations.
- Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations Section 257.95(h)(2): the alternative groundwater protection standard concentrations for cobalt, lead, lithium, and molybdenum; the D.C. Circuit remanded this provision back to EPA for reconsideration (Waterkeeper Alliance, Inc. v. EPA, No. 18-1289, Doc. 1777351 (D.C. Cir March 13, 2019)). This provision currently remains under reconsideration by the Agency.
The corresponding federal requirements for these provisions will continue to apply.
Background
State Regulations
In preparation of its application submittal, North Dakota promulgated regulations for CCR disposal units at North Dakota Administrative Code (NDAC) Chapter 33.1-20-08, which largely replicate the technical criteria contained in federal CCR regulations. In addition to the technical criteria in NDAC Chapter 33.1-20-08, North Dakota adopted state-specific permit requirements for CCR units at NDAC section 33.1-20-02 and public participation requirements in NDAC section 33.1-20-03.1-02, NDAC section 33.1-20-03.1-03, North Dakota Century Code section 23.1-08-09, and NDAC section 33.1-20-08-06.
Proposed Approval
On May 16, 2025, EPA proposed to approve the application submitted by North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality to allow the North Dakota CCR permit program to operate in lieu of the federal CCR permit program. EPA preliminarily determined that the North Dakota CCR permit program meets the standard for approval under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. EPA sought comment on this proposal during a 60-day public comment period during which EPA held a public hearing.
On August 11, 2025, EPA reopened the comment period to propose the Agency’s intention to approve additional revisions to the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality's CCR permit program. If finalized, these additions will provide North Dakota additional authority to implement their state CCR permit program. EPA reopened the comment period to accept comments on the proposed revisions and EPA’s evaluation of the changes. EPA accepted comments through August 26, 2025.
Docket
You can find the repository of documents for this notice, including the North Dakota application, public comments submitted, the response to comments document and other supporting materials in the docket EPA-HQ-OLEM-2021-0051 on Regulations.gov.
Completeness Letter
On May 16, 2025, EPA took the first step in the process of making a determination of whether to approve North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality's CCR permit program application by notifying North Dakota that their application was complete and that the formal process of soliciting public comment and making a final determination on North Dakota's CCR permit program would begin.
Public Hearing
On July 8, 2025, EPA held a hybrid in-person and online public hearing about the proposed approval. The hearing took place in person at the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality building, 4201 Normandy Street, Room 223, Bismarck, North Dakota, 58503. For more information, visit our public hearing webpage.