(1) The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle), generally regulates the disposal, management, and recycling of solid waste, as defined. The act authorizes CalRecycle to certify a local enforcement agency and requires CalRecycle and certified local enforcement agencies to perform specified functions with regard to the regulation of solid waste management, including issuing and enforcing solid waste facility permits. The act prohibits a person from operating a solid waste facility without a solid waste facilities permit, as provided.

The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 charges the State Air Resources Board with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases that cause global warming in order to reduce emission of greenhouse gases. The act requires the state board to adopt rules and regulations to achieve the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective greenhouse gas emissions reductions, as provided.

This bill would require the state board to amend its regulations on methane emissions from a municipal solid waste landfill (MSW landfill) to establish requirements for the monitoring of landfill gas temperature. The bill would require the operator of an MSW landfill to monitor landfill gas temperature in accordance with those regulations. If the gas temperature is 131 degrees Fahrenheit or higher for longer than 3 consecutive monthly monitoring periods covering 60 consecutive days, and if other criteria established by CalRecycle are met or exceeded, the bill would require the operator of the MSW landfill to take specified actions, including, but not limited to, filing a corrective action plan for review by the local enforcement agency, as defined, and the department. If the gas temperature is 146 degrees Fahrenheit or higher for longer than 3 consecutive monthly monitoring periods covering 60 consecutive days, and if other criteria established by CalRecycle are met or exceeded, the bill would require additional actions, including, but not limited to, the operator of the MSW landfill submitting corrective action plans to a multiagency coordination group, established by the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA), as specified. If the gas temperature is 170 degrees Fahrenheit or higher for longer than 3 consecutive monthly monitoring periods covering 60 consecutive days, and if other criteria established by CalRecycle are met or exceeded, the bill would require additional actions, as specified. The bill would require CalRecycle to establish the other criteria by emergency regulation.

If an operator of an MSW landfill fails to provide notice of a sustained gas temperature by the specified due date, the bill would authorize CalRecycle or a local enforcement agency to impose a penalty of $10,000 per day. The bill would require CalRecycle or a local enforcement agency to impose a penalty not to exceed $1,000,000 for each week that the gas temperature is 170 degrees Fahrenheit or higher for longer than 3 consecutive monthly monitoring periods covering 60 consecutive days, if specified criteria are met or exceeded. The bill would require all penalties to be deposited into the Landfill Subsurface Fire Mitigation Account, which the bill would create, to be used upon appropriation by the Legislature to mitigate harm to a person or community adversely affected by a solid waste landfill with a gas temperature of 131 degrees Fahrenheit or higher for longer than 3 consecutive monthly monitoring periods covering 60 consecutive days. The bill would require any permit suspended pursuant to these provisions to be reinstated when, among others, gas temperature decreases to below 131 degrees Fahrenheit for 3 consecutive monthly monitoring periods covering 60 consecutive days or longer, as specified.

Existing federal regulations require the owner of an MSW landfill with a gas collection and control system to operate each interior wellhead in the collection system with a landfill gas temperature less than 131 degrees Fahrenheit, unless the federal Environmental Protection Agency approves a higher operating temperature, as provided.

This bill would require an operator of an MSW landfill to provide notice to the local enforcement agency, CalRecycle, and any other state agency designated by CalEPA regarding a request for a higher operating temperature, as specified.

(2) This bill would declare its provisions to be severable.