# 119-hr-4875: Coal Ash for American Infrastructure Act

119-hr-4875, Coal Ash for American Infrastructure Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Barr, Andy [R-KY-6] (R-KY); status introduced (as of 2026-04-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4875
- As of: 2026-04-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-4875
- Congress: 119
- Title: Coal Ash for American Infrastructure Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-08-05
- Sponsor: Rep. Barr, Andy [R-KY-6] (R-KY)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Policy area: Environmental Protection
- Touches household money: no
- Last recorded action: 2026-04-21

## Summary

This bill would create a new framework called **beneficial use staging units** for coal combustion residuals (CCRs) to let owners designate certain impoundments and landfills for staged removal and reuse. It sets eligibility rules, removal targets and timelines, reporting requirements, and federal preemption of conflicting state closure rules. - Owners and operators can apply to a participating State or the EPA with an attestation, a cubic-yard volume and a plan for removing CCRs and finding markets for reuse. - Designated units may not receive additional CCRs and must remove or contract to remove at least 25% of stored material; the law uses size-based deadlines for removal for units under or over 1.5 million cubic yards. - States with approved permit programs or the EPA would review applications and may deny or revoke designations; denials must state reasons and the EPA must publish a report by March 1, 2026 and annually thereafter on volumes removed and revocations. - Units that meet the subsection’s criteria are treated as sanitary landfills and must meet federal liner and groundwater-monitoring standards, and the statute bars state or local laws that conflict with these rules including earlier closure mandates. - Applications must include any plan to recover critical minerals as defined in the Energy Act of 2020 and identify markets for the reused CCRs, encouraging material recovery and reuse.

## Cosponsors (1)

- Rep. Mackenzie, Ryan [R-PA-7] (R-PA), 2026-02-24T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Limits on early closure of coal ash units: benefit, medium. If enacted, a compliant coal ash reuse unit would be treated like a sanitary landfill under federal law. States and localities could not enforce rules that conflict with these federal reuse rules, including forcing an earlier closure while the unit is in compliance. The unit would not have to close…
- New coal ash reuse rules and deadlines: mixed, medium. If enacted, coal plant owners could apply to a state or EPA to label a coal ash pond or landfill for reuse. The application would need the ash volume in cubic yards, a reuse plan and schedule, any critical mineral plan, markets, and a promise to meet removal rules. Approval would only be allowed if…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-2725: Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2025
- 119-hr-833: Educational Choice for Children Act of 2025
- 119-hr-137: TCJA Permanency Act
- 119-hr-2548: Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025
- 119-hr-8791: IGNITE HBCU Excellence Act
- 119-hr-2528: Association Health Plans Act

## Sources
- [119-hr-4875 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/4875)

## Related
- [119-hr-2725: Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2725)
- [119-hr-833: Educational Choice for Children Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-833)
- [119-hr-137: TCJA Permanency Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-137)
- [119-hr-2548: Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2548)
- [119-hr-8791: IGNITE HBCU Excellence Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-8791)
- [119-hr-2528: Association Health Plans Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2528)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4875 (as of 2026-04-21).