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Natural Resources Board adopts major update to landfill rules, fees
Summary
The Natural Resources Board voted to adopt WA 11-22, a broad update to NR 500–524 that revises landfill engineering, operations, monitoring and fee schedules; the rule aims to align state code with current industry practice and federal protections and to fund staffing and IT improvements.
The Natural Resources Board on Jan. 22 adopted WA 11-22, a sweeping set of revisions to Wisconsin Administrative Code chapters NR 500–524 that update landfill design, operation, financial responsibility and reporting rules and adjust certain fees.
The rule package, presented by Kate Stromhyrns, director of the Waste and Materials Management Program at the Department of Natural Resources, is the first major update to the state's solid-waste landfill rules and fees since 2006. Stromhyrns told the board the updates reflect 30 years of industry practice, add new engineering options (including alternative liner and cap designs), codify long‑term care and annual reporting standards, and standardize requirements that had previously been handled in site-specific plans of operation.
Board members pressed department staff about the fee changes and how much additional funding would cover vacant positions within the program. Stromhyrns said the fee adjustments were designed to fund some new staff, IT development and file digitization to shorten review timelines and improve public access to site files, but that the fee increases would not necessarily cover all supervisory or legal costs. Marcy West and other members praised staff for collaborative work with a technical advisory committee that included landfill owners, operators, consultants and university representatives.
The rulemaking process included six technical advisory committee meetings in 2023–24; staff reported removing several proposed requirements based on stakeholder feedback (for example, some baseline groundwater sampling was removed and plan‑review fee increases were limited and phased in). The department said the rules remain at least as protective as federal requirements and maintain groundwater protections, leachate and landfill gas monitoring and corrective actions.
Board member discussion also noted that statute already requires the DNR to reduce fees if year-end balances exceed 20% of expenditures for three consecutive years. After a motion from Marcy West and a second from Doug Scott, board members approved the rule. The board voiced support for the department’s effort to modernize the code while preserving environmental protections.
The board’s action sends WA 11-22 into administrative completion; the department will implement the fee schedule and compliance steps according to the timeline in the adopted rule. Department staff said they will continue outreach to landfill operators and the public as the new rules take effect.
