Comment & Consultation

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP) is initiating consultation and coordination with federally recognized Tribes regarding the development of a proposed rule addressing EPA’s soil-lead hazard standards. The soil-lead hazard standards support EPA’s lead-based paint activities program under Title X, or the Residential Lead-Based Paint Reduction Act, by providing the basis for risk assessors and abatement professionals to determine whether soil-lead hazards are present; the standards apply to target housing (i.e., most pre-1978 housing) and child-occupied facilities (i.e., pre-1978 non-residential properties where children under 6 spend a significant amount of time such as daycare centers and kindergartens).

On January 5, 2001, EPA promulgated a final rule which established two hazard standards for bare residential soil: 400 ppm for play areas and an average of 1,200 ppm for the rest of the yard. On May 14, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued an opinion to remand without vacatur a related 2019 final rule that established stricter dust-lead hazard standards and directed the EPA to reconsider that rule. Within the same opinion, the Ninth Circuit also noted that the soil-lead hazard standards did not identify all levels of lead in soil that are dangerous to human health and thus the lack of reconsideration of the soil-lead hazard standards was contrary to Title IV of the Toxic Substances Control Act. The Ninth Circuit instructed EPA to consider only health factors when setting the hazard standards and affirmed that the agency could consider non-health factors (i.e., reliability, effectiveness, and safety) when regulating implementation activities such as abatement.

OCSPP’s anticipated timeline for the consultation and coordination period is expected to occur from December 10, 2025, to February 9, 2026, prior to publication of the proposed rule. During this period, two identical informational webinars will be conducted. To participate, OCSPP invites you and/or your designee to join us during one or more of the following consultation sessions:

Tuesday, January 13, 2026 Tribal webinar 1 – Technical Briefing and Comment Period from 2:00-3:30pm ET

Zoom Conference Link: https://usepa.zoomgov.com/j/1609273565

Thursday, January 15, 2026 Tribal webinar 2 – Technical Briefing and Comment Period from 2:00-3:30pm ET

Zoom Conference Link: https://usepa.zoomgov.com/j/1606377494

If you have any other questions or we may be of additional assistance in the interim, please contact Lauren Achstatter, OCSPP’s Tribal Consultation Advisor at achstatter.lauren@epa.gov or 202-564-0631.

EPA proposes to extend the compliance deadline for owners and operators of coal combustion residuals (CCR) surface impoundments to cease operation of their coal-fired boilers and complete closure of their CCR surface impoundments larger than 40 acres by three years, from October 17, 2028, to October 17, 2031. This change responds to recent findings from the Department of Energy indicating that retirement of coal-fired power generating assets could cause electric grid reliability risks. 

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EPA will hold a virtual public hearing on this proposal on Jan. 6, 2026. 

• Register

On today [Nov 25, 2025], EPA announced a proposal to extend the compliance deadline for coal combustion residuals (CCR) surface impoundments continuing to operate under the alternative closure provisions in 40 C.F.R. 257.103(f)(2). Specifically, EPA is proposing to extend the deadline for owners and operators both to cease operation of their coal-fired boilers and complete closure of their CCR surface impoundments larger than 40 acres by three years, from October 17, 2028, to October 17, 2031. This change responds to recent findings from the Department of Energy which indicate that retirement of coal-fired power generating assets could cause electric grid reliability risks and aligns with Executive Order 14262, which emphasizes the importance of ensuring grid reliability and security to support economic growth and national security. 

If the proposal is finalized, the new deadline for any affected facility’s coal-fired boiler(s) to cease operation and CCR surface impoundment(s) to complete closure would become October 17, 2031. For more information, visit our webpage.

Please share this information with your Tribal contacts. If you have any questions, please reach out to Frank Behan at behan.frank@epa.gov or (202) 566-0531. Thanks, and enjoy the rest of your day!

Denise

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Denise R. Roy

U.S. EPA

Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery (ORCR)

Materials Management Branch

Tribal Team Co-Lead