House Bill Lets States Regulate Power-Plant Coal Residue

States would be allowed to regulate the byproducts of coal-fired power plants under a bill the U.S. House passed 265-155.

The legislation would halt the Environmental Protection Agency’s effort to regulate coal ash as a hazardous waste -- a category that comes with stringent storage requirements.

The legislation, H.R. 2218, is part of two Republican initiatives -- to ease federal regulations on businesses and to end what they call a war on coal.