{"id":15844,"date":"2016-09-12T07:00:10","date_gmt":"2016-09-12T11:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/articles\/epas-new-rules-for-landfills-wont-cut-greenhouse-gas-pollution\/"},"modified":"2024-05-01T18:00:50","modified_gmt":"2024-05-01T18:00:50","slug":"epa-new-landfill-rules","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/es\/article\/composting-for-community\/epa-new-landfill-rules","title":{"rendered":"EPA\u2019s New Rules for Landfills Won\u2019t Cut Greenhouse Gas Pollution"},"template":"","migration":[],"article_type":[9],"initiatives":[15],"topics":[87],"impact_areas":[],"authors":[621],"class_list":["post-15844","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","article_type-press-release","initiatives-composting-for-community","topics-incineration","authors-rebecca-toews"],"acf":{"details":{"featured_image":5308,"background_color":"","article_type":[9],"initiative":15,"display_event_fields":false,"display_case_study_fields":false,"start_date":null,"end_date":null,"start_time":null,"end_time":null,"time_zone":"America\/New_York","virtual_event":false,"location":"","locality":"","state":"","topics":[87],"impact_areas":false,"abstract":"

EPA special interest group proposal flies in the face of science, as well as White House mandates for reduced greenhouse gas emissions.… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","authors_tax":[621]},"sidebar":{"title":"\u00cdndice"},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"content":"

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EPA special interest group proposal flies in the face of science, as well as White House mandates for reduced greenhouse gas emissions<\/em><\/h2>\n

Contact:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nick Stumo-Langer
\nstumolanger@ilsr.org
\n612-844-1330<\/p>\n

WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>The Federal Register recently published new landfill rules which fail to meet any of the goals that the White House and EPA have set forth to reduce landfill gas emissions.<\/p>\n

In July, US EPA\u2019s \u201cFuels and Incineration Group\u201d (FIG) pushed through its final revisions to new rules regarding landfills in the United States. The rules state that landfill owners may receive greenhouse gas credits[1]<\/sup><\/sup> that profit a landfill operation\u2019s bottom line.<\/p>\n

\u201cGarbage is Not Renewable.\u201d <\/em>states Neil Seldman of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. \u201cWhile we applaud the EPA for its public statement in support of food loss reduction,\u201d <\/em>he says, \u201cthis new landfill policy will do nothing to help move toward the food recovery goal. It will even hurt these efforts.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The new rules lower the threshold for controlling methane emissions from 50 metric tons per year to 34, but only for landfills built after July 17, 2014.[2] However, the 2016 rule will have no effect on landfills built after 2014, since these are overwhelmingly mega-landfills whose sheer size means that they would have already<\/em> been required to install gas collection systems.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the new proposal, FIG leans heavily on the interests of landfill operators, and false statistics that they say would reduce emissions from methane\u201d<\/em> says Monica Wilson of the Global Anti Incineration Alliance. \u201cThe rules will have no effect on methane release for the large landfills that are presently being built.\u201d<\/em>
\n“EPA is using outdated science that understates the climate impacts of methane by three to four times,”<\/em> says Mike Ewall with the Energy Justice Network.\u00a0 “Their proposal reinforces ‘business-as-usual’ at landfills, pretending to make a difference while still intensely warming the climate.\u00a0 A true ‘zero waste’ approach would divert food waste and other clean organic materials for composting, and ensure that any remaining waste is digested before landfilling, to first capture the methane in an enclosed environment to reduce leachate and avoid having gassy, stinky landfills.”[1]<\/em><\/p>\n

In September 2015 the EPA, USDA, and the White House came out with a forward-thinking goal of 50 percent reduction in food waste over the next 15 years.<\/p>\n

By choosing to focus on minor alterations to regulations, as opposed to a plan for sustainable waste management that encourages preventative measures, The Institute for Local Self-Reliance and other organizations believe that the Fuels and Incineration Group fails to adequately respond to the 2014 White House call for decisive action on methane. The Fuel and Incineration Group\u2019s chosen course of action does not tighten controls or lower the amount of methane currently being generated in, and escaping from, landfills.<\/p>\n

The EPA group should instead focus on waste management goals and the food hierarchies to prevent organic materials from reaching landfills in the first place, thus reducing the potential for landfill gas to be created. Disregard for truly sustainable waste processing systems is permitting the continuation of the methane problem, rather than redressing it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Fact Sheet Highlights:<\/strong><\/p>\n