Comment submitted by Pomaj Chakmam-Yajalaji

Dear Effluent Limitations Guidelines and Standards for the Steam Electric Power Generating Point Source Category: Unmanaged Combustion Residual Leachate, Dear Administrator Zeldin, I strongly oppose the proposed rule to weaken wastewater pollution standards for the Steam Electric Power Generating Point Source Category. Public Comment Opposing EPA's Proposed Rollback of Coal Plant Wastewater Pollution Limits Docket No. EPA-HQ-OW-2009-0819 To the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: I submit this public comment as Chief Pomaj-chakmam-yajalaji, Trustee of ARH TRUST, Miko of the Tuscarora Onkwehone Nations People, and an Aborigine American land, air, and water steward. I strongly oppose EPA's proposed rollback of wastewater pollution limits for coal-fired power plants. EPA must not weaken protections that keep arsenic, mercury, selenium, lead, and other toxic pollutants out of rivers, streams, lakes, groundwater, fisheries, and drinking water sources. These waters are not waste channels for coal ash contamination. They are living systems. They sustain children, families, elders, fish, wildlife, soil, food systems, cultural practices, and future generations. Coal plants have already discharged dangerous pollutants into U.S. waterways for far too long. Communities downstream from coal ash ponds, landfills, and leaking waste sites should not be forced to carry the burden of industry's refusal to treat its own pollution. The proposed rollback would allow continued contamination from unmanaged combustion residual leachate and would weaken federal accountability at the very moment stronger enforcement is needed. As a matter of environmental justice, public health, and Indigenous stewardship, EPA must reject this rollback. The agency's mission is to protect human health and the environment. That mission cannot be fulfilled by reducing safeguards for one of the nation's dirtiest industries while children, pregnant people, elders, low-income communities, communities of color, Indigenous peoples, and downstream residents face increased exposure to toxic water pollution. Mercury, arsenic, selenium, and lead are not ordinary pollutants. They are toxic substances associated with cancer risk, neurological harm, cardiovascular impacts, developmental harm, reproductive harm, and damage to aquatic life. The Clean Water Act was created to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation's waters. Weakening wastewater limits for coal plants moves the country in the opposite direction. It shifts costs away from polluters and onto the public. It makes water treatment more expensive. It threatens fisheries and recreation. It risks private wells and drinking water intakes. It undermines the rights of communities that depend on clean water for life, food, ceremony, and health. EPA should not accept arguments that industry cost savings justify toxic discharges into public waterways. The cost of pollution does not disappear when regulation is weakened. It is transferred to families, local governments, water authorities, health systems, farmers, fishers, and future generations. A rollback that saves money for coal plant operators while increasing toxic pollution is not sound public policy. It is environmental sacrifice. I urge EPA to maintain and strengthen the 2024 wastewater protections, require coal-fired power plants to use the best available technology to treat unmanaged combustion residual leachate, and ensure that contaminated groundwater and leachate are not allowed to reach waters of the United States without strict treatment and enforceable limits. EPA should also fully consider cumulative impacts, environmental justice, children's health, Tribal and Indigenous concerns, downstream drinking water systems, subsistence fishing, fish consumption, wildlife, and the long-term public cost of continued coal ash contamination. Any final rule must be based on protection of people and waters first, not industry convenience. The lands, air, and waters are not separate from the people. When waters are poisoned, communities are poisoned. When rivers and streams are treated as dumping grounds, public trust is broken. EPA has a duty to uphold that trust. For these reasons, I respectfully request that EPA withdraw the proposed rollback and retain strong, enforceable wastewater pollution limits for coal-fired power plants. Respectfully submitted, Chief Pomaj-chakmam-yajalaji Trustee, ARH TRUST Miko, Tuscarora Onkwehone Nations People Aborigine American Land, Air, and Water Steward I urge EPA to withdraw this proposal. Chief Pomaj chakmam-yajalaji 2118 Lindsay Road Pittsburgh, PA 15221 Sincerely, Chief Pomaj chakmam-yajalaji