Harvesting and Beneficial Use of Coal Combustion Products (CCP)

Bill Petruzzi, Senior Consultant at Verdantas, authored the “I’m Glad You Asked” article published in the recent edition of the American Coal Ash Association’s semi-annual magazine, Ash at Work. Bill’s article advocates for the establishment of consensus-based standards related to harvesting coal combustion products for beneficial use. This is Bill’s second article for the magazine’s recurring ask the expert forum.

The need for a standard related to the harvesting and beneficial use of CCP was principally identified some years ago as availability of new CCP declined and limited guidance was available on how to approach CCP harvesting and characterization studies. Stakeholders from ACAA and other interested parties charted a path to work within the ASTM organization’s E50.03 Beneficial Use Subcommittee, as we have with other CCP-related standards. The goal was to build a consensus on standards to establish a framework for the responsible harvesting and effective characterization for the beneficial use of CCP.

Bill is a recognized leader in the industry. His expertise is in material / waste strategic initiatives, including characterization, permitting, beneficial use, compliance, and the rulemaking process. He serves on the Board of Directors for the American Coal Ash Association and is an active member of the ASTM E50.03 Subcommittee. Bill and Abbey Calmes, also an Verdantas engineer, were lead authors of the recently approved ASTM E3355-23 Standard for Characterization of Coal Combustion Products in Storage Unit(s) for Beneficial Use.“ Bill and Abbey, along with many others within Verdantas’ Sustainability Practice Group, continue to advocate for sensible regulations and guidelines to promote beneficial use as a means to further conservation and sustainability efforts.

About ASTM Committee E50

ASTM Committee E50 on Environmental Assessment, Risk Management and Corrective Action has a current membership of approximately 1,000. It has 6 technical subcommittees that have jurisdiction of over 93 standards that have and continue to play a preeminent role in all aspects commercial real estate transactions, corrective action, pollution prevention, and beneficial use, and biological effects and environmental fate.

The scope of the Committee includes, but is not limited to multi-media environmental assessment and risk management issues including environmental assessment, environmental management, corrective action due diligence, and sustainability.

ASTM committees are open to anyone with an interest, but only members of ASTM can view, vote, and submit comments on draft standards during the balloting process.