Committee hears testimony on SB 726 to require advanced methane monitoring and GIS reporting at landfills

Senate Bill 726, which would require municipal solid-waste landfill operators to conduct surface emissions monitoring and report the data to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality in GIS formats, drew extensive testimony on Feb. 24 before the Senate Energy and Environment Committee.

Sponsor Senator Sarah Gelser Bluhin told the committee the measure aims to modernize how landfill methane is measured and shared so the public, operators and regulators have better information. She said current monitoring requires technicians to walk landfill surfaces in transects — a slow and sometimes unsafe process that can leave portions of a site unmonitored. The bill would encourage use of advanced monitoring technologies, such as drones, aircraft, satellites and fixed sensors, and require that monitoring data be reported in mapping formats (shapefile or GeoJSON) so DEQ and others can view and analyze emissions spatially. The bill does not change emission limits or mitigation triggers; advocates said it improves transparency and helps prioritize follow-up actions.

Proponents included environmental-justice and research organizations and technical experts. Mason Levitt of Beyond Toxics emphasized that GIS-formatted data allows DEQ…