November 2009
EPA Signs Greenhouse Gas Rule Affecting Municipal Solid Waste Landfills
What you need to know … On September 22, 2009, Lisa Jackson, the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), signed the final 40 CFR Part 98 rule, which requires mandatory reporting of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from large sources in the United States. The rule applies to a variety of large sources, including municipal solid waste landfills. Although only those landfills that generate over 25,000 metric tons per year of GHGs have to comply with the reporting requirements, open and closed landfills will need to prepare and document estimates of their GHC generation rates in order to determine if they are subject to the rule. Because the amount of GHGs generated by a landfill is a function of the amount of wastes buried and the amount of time those wastes have been buried, some landfills may be subject to the rule right away, others may become subject in the coming years, and many small landfills may never generate enough GHGs to be affected by the rule. Landfills that are already exceeding the GHG regulatory threshold need to begin monitoring GHG sources on January 1, 2010, and submit their first GHG emission report on March 31, 2011. Landfills that operate stationary fuel combustion sources such as boilers, combustion turbines, engines, incinerators, and process heaters may be subject to more than one portion of the rule.
More information … This final GHG rule was published in the Federal Register on October 30, 2009. It is over 260 pages long and relatively complex. To help you understand the key requirements and how the rule may apply to your facility, Trihydro has prepared a white paper entitled Summary of the Final EPA Rule: Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gases for Municipal Solid Waste Landfills. The white paper provides an overview of the rules’ background, monitoring methods, how methane generation rates and GHC emissions are estimated, and the associated recordkeeping and reporting requirements. You can download a copy of this white paper from this link.
Help is available … If you find this new rule to be a little overwhelming, don’t worry. Trihydro’s Solid Waste and Air and Process Services Teams have been tracking and analyzing this rule since it was originally proposed on March 10, 2009. We have a highly-qualified staff of engineers and scientists with extensive solid waste and air quality experience to help you determine whether this rule will affect your facility, and understand the applicable regulatory requirements. If you think your facility may not be subject to this rule, we can provide you with a third-party analysis and documentation to maintain in your facility operating record. If you have any questions or would like to talk to someone at Trihydro about this rule and your landfill, send an email to GHGLandfillTeam@Trihydro.com or call us at (307) 745-7474.
