Swamp Stomp
Volume 16, Issue 31
Landfill methane emissions rules have not been updated anytime in the past 20 years, but that is about to change. On July 15, 2016, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released their final rules for new and modified municipal solid waste landfills and emission guidelines in regards to existing landfills.
The new rules require existing landfills to capture and monitor their gas emissions. The rules reduce the levels of acceptable emissions by one third. “The EPA expects the final rules to reduce methane emissions by about 334,000 tons a year beginning in 2025. The agency puts the climate benefits of the combined rules at $512 million in 2025 or more than $8 for every dollar spent to comply” (Hardcastle).
Reducing methane, a potent greenhouse gas that is 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide, will affect the environment. The EPA hopes that these new rules will dramatically reduce the effects of global warming. The Environmental Protection Agency is also hoping that these rules will drastically increase the quality of life for future generations.
The EPA feels that these guidelines will have a dramatic impact because “as landfill waste decomposes, it produces a number of pollutants, including air toxics, volatile organic compounds, carbon dioxide, and methane. Municipal solid waste landfills are the second-largest industrial source of methane emissions in the US, accounting for 20 percent of methane emissions in 2014, according to the EPA” (Hardcastle).
Luckily for these landfills and the planet, these emissions can be captured. The capturing of these emissions is cost effective because the captured emissions can be used in place of other fossil fuel. This helps the planet all around by reducing emissions released into the air, which will cut down on global warming, and it will reduce the use of fossil fuels that cannot be replenished or take a long time to regrow.
These rules were a long time coming. They have been proposed before but are just now getting put into effect. Proposals were made in July of 2014 and August of 2015, so it has taken two years for these proposed rules to be finalized and put into practice. The rules update the 1996 guidelines for existing landfills. As previously stated, these rules update guidelines written 20 years ago.
“In addition, the EPA’s Landfill Methane Outreach Program provides landfill owners and operators a suite of tools and technical resources to facilitate development of landfill gas energy projects. Over the last 20 years, LMOP-assisted projects have reduced and avoided more than 345 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents” (Hardcastle).
Landfill methane emissions are not the only emissions that are getting revamped and reduced. Methane emissions from the oil and gas industry have also been cut down. The EPA announced final regulations to limit oil and gas emissions back in May. As more and more people became concerned about global warming, the EPA has updated emissions guidelines to reflect this.
Do you agree with the EPA’s new guidelines for methane emissions for existing landfills?
Source: Hardcastle, Jessica. “EPA Issues Final Landfill Methane Emissions Rules.” Environmental Leader. Environmental and Energy Management News, 15 July 2016. Web. 19 July 2016.