Proposed Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Permitting and Control

On September 30, 2009, EPA proposed to regulate large facilities, including municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills, emitting over 25,000 metric tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) of greenhouse gases (GHG) a year. For comparison, using EPA’s LandGEM emission calculation tool, this equates to:

· Landfill gas (LFG) emission rate of 240 cubic feet per minute (cfm) at 50% methane
· MSW landfills accepting 50,000 tons per year or more over a 15-year period

According to the EPA, the majority of sources newly affected by this proposed rule are expected to be municipal solid waste landfills. As shown above, small to medium sized landfills would be affected, relative to current NSPS rules.

Facilities emitting 25,000 tCO2e would be considered major stationary sources required to be permitted under the Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) air program. Additionally, existing major sources making modifications that result in an increase of emissions above the significance level of 10,000 tCO2e would be required to obtain a PSD permit. EPA will evaluate this rule after five years, and determine if these thresholds should be adjusted, presumably downward.

These operating permits would likely require best available control technologies and energy efficiency measures to minimize GHG emissions. These controls are determined on a case-by-case basis during the PSD process, and may include open or enclosed flares, reciprocating engines, or boilers.

This proposed rule could mandate the installation of active LFG collection and control systems at facilities well under the current NSPS thresholds of 50 Megagrams (Mg) per year, and possibly make these facilities ineligible to claim carbon credits for the voluntary destruction of methane.

EPA will accept comment on this proposal for 60 days following publication in the Federal Register.

For information on submitting comments, or to download the proposed rule, please go to: http://www.epa.gov/nsr/actions.html#2009. Alternately, you may contact me at (919) 828-0577 ext. 121 or matt@rsgengineers.com with any questions.