"Current EPA rules are inadequate, experts say, but the agency has committed to updating them. States like California, Maryland, and Washington can show the way."
"Landfills are the third-largest source of methane emissions both in the U.S. and globally. These emissions heat the atmosphere at about 80 times the rate of carbon dioxide over 20 years, but the methane that rises from the decomposing food and organic waste that ends up in landfills has thus far received much less attention in the fight against climate change than methane emissions from oil and gas infrastructure.
Under the Clean Air Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is tasked with devising regulations to lower methane emissions, but experts say its rules for landfills fall egregiously short of achieving the necessary reductions. They point to stricter policies adopted by a growing number of states that could provide a model for establishing a stronger nationwide standard. The opportunity to implement such a standard is arriving soon: An EPA spokesperson told Canary Media on Tuesday that the agency is “actively working on revisions” to its regulations for how landfills monitor and capture methane emissions and could release a draft of new rules as early as August.
The current EPA rules, which were established in 2016, require any landfill designed to hold 2.5 million metric tons or more to install a gas collection system — essentially a network of pipes that suck methane out of garbage piles to prevent it from heating the atmosphere. The gas is then burned, releasing carbon dioxide, which is less damaging to the climate than the rapid warming brought on by methane. In some cases, methane is burned off at the landfill site, either underground or using flares. A number of landfills use the gas to produce electricity or refuel garbage-collection vehicles, or it may even be pumped into existing natural-gas networks."
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