CARB to hold public hearing on methane emissions regulation

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) will conduct a public hearing to consider approving the adoption of proposed amendments to the regulation on methane emissions from municipal solid waste landfills. 

The hearing is scheduled at the Byron Sher Auditorium in Sacramento at 9 a.m. Nov. 20, with Nov. 21 earmarked for a possible extension date. According to CARB, the proposed amendments are “designed to improve methane control at (municipal solid waste) landfills by leveraging technologies, research and lessons learned over a decade of implementation experience.” 

Members of the public can present comments orally or in writing during the hearing or submit comments electronically or in writing prior to the hearing. Written comments not submitted during the hearing must be received no later than Nov. 10. 

According to the notice, CARB seeks to: 

• require inspection and repair when operators are notified of a remotely detected methane emission plume;  
• increase the stringency of landfill surface and component leak monitoring procedures, including increasing coverage by removing exemptions from monitoring, reducing corrective action timelines, and increasing frequency at certain landfills;  
• establish a process to evaluate and approve emerging alternative technologies for leak detection and require tools such as hand-held or drone-mounted laser scanners to identify leaks in inaccessible areas that are currently excluded from monitoring; 
• require earlier installation and operation of gas collection infrastructure in areas of new waste deposition;  
• limit periods of gas collection and control systems (GCCS) downtime and mitigate emissions from unavoidable downtime;  
• expand wellhead monitoring parameters and analysis and require response actions for out-of-range values or large changes in values;  
• require more frequent monitoring, analysis and mitigation measures, including cover improvement in areas with persistent leaks or other issues;  
• better manage declining gas generation at closed landfills through clearer standards for requests and approvals to operate a GCCS semi continuously or shut down a GCCS; 
• clarify responsibilities of third-party gas control system owners and operators;  
• reduce barriers to using continuous wellhead monitoring technologies by defining how regulatory thresholds apply to that data;  
• standardize, streamline and digitize reporting to support compliance monitoring; and  
• miscellaneous clarifications, updates, and improvements to processes and enforceability. 

CARB adds that it could consider other changes to the scope of its notice during the rulemaking process.