Proposed Colorado landfill methane rules could cost Garfield County millions, consultants and commissioners warn

Garfield County heard a technical briefing and discussion about proposed statewide landfill methane rules and their potential local impact, including estimates that compliance could cost the county millions in upfront capital and increase annual operating costs substantially.

SCS Engineers consultants presented the draft Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment rule language under consideration by the Air Quality Control Commission and warned the rules, as drafted, would expand monitoring and control obligations to many more landfills across the state. The county has joined a coalition of municipal and county landfills and retained outside counsel to participate in the upcoming rulemaking and prehearing process.

Evan Guillen of SCS Engineers summarized the main regulatory changes the state has proposed and how they differ from current federal- or state-level practice. Under the prior standard used by some jurisdictions, a landfill gas system typically was not required until a site had received about 4,300,000 tons of waste; the proposed draft would lower that screening threshold to roughly 450,000 tons and would require earlier engineering, monitoring and, if methane is detected, much faster installation of collection systems. "With the old regulations... you wouldn't even have to be considered to…