EPA’s CCR Management Unit Deadline Extension Rule was published in the Federal Register on February 10, 2026, pushing back compliance dates created by the 2024 legacy impoundment rule. In April 2026 the agency followed with proposed amendments to the coal combustion residuals regulations, and extended that comment period in June 2026.

What changed

• Deadlines for identifying and characterizing CCR management units shifted later.
• The 2024 rule’s core structure — bringing legacy surface impoundments and previously unregulated CCR management units into the monitoring and corrective action framework — remains in place.
• Further amendments are proposed but not final, so facilities are planning against a moving target.

What it means in the field

An extension is time to build the network properly, not a reason to stand down. Detection monitoring at these units still means piezometers or dedicated wells, defensible water levels, and low-flow sample collection on a fixed schedule. See groundwater monitoring, level logging and pressure transducers, and low-flow sampling.

Sources: Federal Register — CCR Management Unit Deadline Extension Rule; EPA — 2026 proposed amendments to the CCR regulations.