By Jacob Wallace, Editor, Waste Drive
The U.S. EPA’s decision to include landfill methane emissions in its quadrennial document outlining enforcement priorities this year has left industry observers concerned and confused by the enhanced scrutiny.
The agency’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance said it has documented “widespread noncompliance” in methane emissions from landfills in its FY 2024-2027 National Enforcement and Compliance Initiatives document.
As a result, EPA plans to use preexisting requirements set out by the New Source Performance Standards that govern landfills to crack down on methane emissions.
“I am not aware that we have ever been the target of the NECIs in the past,” Anne Germain, chief operating officer and senior vice president of technical and regulatory affairs for the National Waste & Recycling Association, said. “This is relatively new ground.”
The move is part of a broader shift toward climate and environmental justice priorities by the Biden administration and EPA in recent years. Another enforcement priority included in the document was PFAS contamination, which the waste industry hopes will lead to more solutions upstream that reduce contamination for landfills and other downstream waste facilities. Landfills are also wrapped up in the “Mitigating Climate Change” goal that will bring stepped-up enforcement of emissions from oil and gas facilities and the use of hydrofluorocarbons as well.
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