WRRA stated

WASHINGTON
REFUSE & RECYCLING ASSOCIATION
July 22, 2016
Mr. Sam Wilson
Air Quality
Department of Ecology
P.O. Box 47600
Olympia, WA 98504
RE: Clean Air Rule WAC 173-442
Dear Mr. Wilson:
The Washington Refuse and Recycling Association (WRRA) is the oldest Solid Waste
Trade Association operating on the West Coast of the United States, founded 69 years ago.
WRRA member companies and the solid waste industry serve a vital role in public health, safety,
and environmental protection. WRRA's members, individually and in combination are the solid
waste collection companies and real recyclers in Washington, operate the largest landfill
facilities, and service virtually every community in the state.
WRRA represents the private sector solid waste and real recycling industry in
Washington, including curbside collection service, state of the art recycling facilities, and
landfills which are the final destination for both solid waste and recycling residuals from
innovative industry programs. WRRA members transport solid waste and recycling residuals to
both publically and privately owned landfills, the result of a public-private partnership that
makes Washington's waste system the best in the nation. As such, the Clean Air Rule is of great
interest to the industry and our comments reference both public and private facilities.
The solid waste industry and landfills provide for safe and environmentally responsible
disposal of most of the solid waste in Washington. The industry is proud to perform a vital public
service which is necessary to protect human health and the environment. These facilities are the
result of a successful and necessary regulatory system. These wastes are not generated by the
solid waste industry itself. Rather, the industry is responsible for safely and proactively
managing wastes generated by every other industrial, residential, and commercial source in
Washington.
4160 6th Ave. SE •Suite# 205 • Lacey, WA 98503 • (360) 943-8859 • (360) 357-6958 fax
www.wrra.org
The solid waste industry has already made great strides in achieving emissions reduction,
including methane capture, sequestration, and the transition to CNG vehicles on the
transportation side of the industry. However, the solid waste industry is unique and landfills face
unique challenges which WRRA asks the Department of Ecology to consider while drafting the
Clean Air Rule. WRRA references and incorporates early comments submitted by the
association regarding the Clean Air Rule. WRRA appreciates the opportunity to comment on
these rules still in development and offers these comments which are of great interest to the solid
waste industry.
I.
Landfills are Exempt under Leading Carbon Reduction and Cap-and-Trade
Programs.
Landfills are unique facilities, necessary for public health and the proper disposal of all
types of waste generated by both the public and private sectors. Other cap-and-trade and similar
carbon reduction programs have recognized this fact and exempted landfills from these
programs. In California, landfills are exempt from the state's robust AB 32 cap-and-trade
program. California's program excludes the biogenie emissions from biomass (including biogas)
as well as fugitive emissions from municipal solid waste landfills, which are regulated under a
separate rule. On the East Coast, landfills are excluded from the Regional Greenhouse Gas
Initiative (RGGI), a mandatory cap-and-trade program covering nine states (Connecticut,
Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and
Vermont).
Landfills are also exempt from the European Union's (EU) cap-trade-program. Landfill
emissions reductions are achieved through the separate EU Landfill Directive, which provides
solutions tailored to landfills and their unique public necessity. Similarly, carbon emissions from
biogenie sources are not included in the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol.
Washington's Clean Air Rule should follow the precedent set by the most prominent currently
functioning carbon reduction and cap-and-trade programs. Washington should follow the global
trend; landfills should be exempt from the Clean Air Rule.
Summary: Landfills are exempt under all of the long standing and well established carbon
reduction and cap and trade programs across the world. Landfills should be exempt from the
Clear Air Rule.
II.
Landfills Should Generate Emission Reduction Units from Methane Capture
Programs.
Under the Clean Air Rule, biogenie emissions from combustion oflandfill gas are
included in the baseline emissions, which apparently precludes the generation of Emission
Reduction Units from landfill methane capture and reduction programs. Landfill emissions,
particularly landfill gas methane can be collected by high efficiency systems and eliminated
through combustion and other methods, producing electricity, fuel, or used for other industrial
purposes. These uses oflandfill emissions routinely generate "credits" or reductions under other
emission reduction programs, even when landfills are exempt from the program itself.
WRRA Clean Air Rule Comments Page 2
Many major emission reduction programs allow for emission credits to be generated from
landfill methane capture programs. Landfills are not regulated under the RGGI, yet landfills
performing above state and federal standards can generate credits under these programs through
methane capture and reduction. The same trend holds true abroad in both longstanding and
newly established programs. The EU cap-and-trade programs has operated for 11 years since
2005, and allows landfills generate credits for methane reduction. Again, landfills notably are
exempt from the EU program, but still rewarded for emission reducing efforts. Under Australia's
recently newly established Safeguard Mechanism carbon cap, which went into effect on July 1,
2016, landfills may generate reduction credits through methane capture and combustion.
Contrary to other leading carbon reduction programs, The Clean Air rule precludes a
number of excellent carbon neutral, green, and innovative energy and fuels projects which use
landfill gas as a feedstock from generating Emission Reduction Units. In this respect, the Clean
Air Rule is at odds with its own goals by discouraging the transition to alternate and better fuel
sources. The Clean Air Rule is also at odds with other leading carbon reduction programs, many
of which exclude landfills from emissions caps. In light of this, WRRA asks the Department to
reconsider landfill methane capture and reduction projects in the rule.
Summary: Landfills generate credits for emission reduction units under other leading
carbon reduction programs across the world, even under programs that exempt landfills.
Landfills should be exemptfrom the rule, but allowed to generate emission reduction units
through methane capture and destruction if included.
III.
The Clean Air Rule Draws Problematic Conclusions in Measuring Landfill
Emissions which are Better Measured and Regulated under Other Existing
Programs.
Landfills are unique, unlike measuring stack emissions from a manufacturing facility,
landfill gas emissions cannot be directly measured. Potential emissions can be measured through
several complex methods, though every landfill is different in terms of its emissions and existing
mechanisms for emission reduction. Furthermore, biogenie emissions from landfill gas are
treated differently under the Clean Air Rule than existing programs at the federal level and
differently than the global trend.
On July 15, 2016, the federal Environmental Protection Agency issued final rules
governing New Source Performance Standards for new, modified, and reconstructed Municipal
Solid Waste landfills, as well as new Emission Guidelines for MSW landfills. These rules and
guidance are on track to specifically reduce landfill emissions and represent a better fit for
landfills than the Clean Air Rule. A number of solid waste industry and government
representatives have addressed these issues and the difficulty with landfill emissions in excellent
technical detail in their comments. WRRA will not duplicate those arguments, but does reiterate
that well-reasoned and informative analysis. Given these challenges with landfills, most carbon
reduction programs exclude landfills and regulate these entities separately, as previously
discussed.
WRRA Clean A.1r Rule Comments Page 3
Summary: Landfills are not a good fit for cap and trade programs due to the difficulty in
accurately measuring emissions. Landfills are heavily regulated under other programs,
including new federal rules which will accomplish significant reductions similar to the Clean Air
Rule. Landfills should be exempt from the Clean Air Rule and achieve reductions through
programs more tailored to these unique and necessaryfacilities.
IV.
The is No Clear Emission-Reduction Pathway for Landfills, the Cost of
Compliance is Likely Unachievable, and will Directly Impact Nearly Every
Resident and Industry in Washington.
Compliance pathways for landfills are much more complex because a landfill will
generate emissions over the entire life of the landfill, and the highest generation rate will occur
the year after the landfill accepts its final ton of solid waste. In other words, cumulative
emissions generations rates increase every year waste is placed into the landfill. Because of this,
there is no real ability for landfills to have an "emission-reduction pathway" as envisioned by the
rule, and landfills must tum to ever-increasing cost penalties in the form of purchasing ERUs.
The cost of compliance for landfills is devastating to both public and private facilities.
For example, Cowlitz County, operator of a publicly owned landfill, estimates a cost of $80
million through 2035. These costs are crippling to a public facility and impact privately owned
landfills as well, with estimated potential costs exceeding $200 million over the same period for
larger landfills. The costs of meeting the ERU requirements will be very significant, and meeting
these will place Washington Counties and companies at a disadvantage.
As landfills adjust prices to account of the cost of compliance with the Clean Air Rule,
these increases in disposal and collection costs will likely cause the diversion of waste from
larger landfills (which are highly regulated and have comprehensive gas collection systerns and
beneficial use projects in place) to smaller or out of state landfills not subject to the rule. As that
process unfolds, there will be no real OHG reductions from landfills because waste will go to
landfills or states not required to reduce emissions, Washington will see increased OHG
emissions from extra waste transport, and Washington landfills will face economic hardship and
potential bankruptcy under the Clean Air Rule.
The Clean Air rule will also lead to increased costs to other sections of the solid waste
industry, which serves virtually every other industry and resident in Washington State. In
Washington, the transportation of Solid Waste is heavily regulated by the Utilities and
Transportation Commission under RCW 81.77. The Commission sets the rates for solid waste
collection companies to ensure that they are just, fair, reasonable, and sufficient. The costs of
disposal are internalized in these rates, and typically account for around 40% of a solid waste
collection company's costs. RCW 81.77.160 allows solid waste collection companies to receive
rate increases should the cost of disposal at a landfill increase. Cities may opt out of the regulated
WUTC structure and contract directly with a solid waste collection company, though those
contracts virtually always include a similar mechanism for cost recovery on increased disposal
costs. An increase in the cost of disposal landfills will thus be spread across the entire rate base,
WRRA Clean A.1r Rule Comments Page 4
and felt across the entire economy. The costs of compliance will be felt across the state and the
cost may fall disproportionately on disadvantaged people and communities. This runs directly
contrary to the Clean Air Rule's stated environmental justice goals.
Summary: Landfill emissions increase over the lifetime of the landfill and there is no clear
path to reduction for landfills like other facilities. Under the rule, landfills can only meaningfully
achieve reductions through purchasing ERU's, which carry a massive burdenfor both public
and private facilities. The rule will only hurt Washington entities, not achieve emissions
reductions as waste will be diverted to smaller and out of state landfills not subject to the rule.
The increased cost of compliance will befelt by virtually every Washington resident and sector
of the State's economy.
V.
Conclusion
The proper and safe disposal of waste is an essential public service necessary to protect
human health and the environment. Landfills generally do not lend themselves to regulation
under cap and trade programs based on the difficulty in measuring the direct emissions
accurately and the public necessity they serve. As such, the global and national trend has been to
exclude landfills from programs like the Clean Air Rule because, simply put, landfills are
different and necessary. WRRA requests the department consider these comments and adjust the
Clean Air Rule accordingly.
Brad Lovaas
Executive Director
cc: Maia Bellon, Director, Department of Ecology
Stu Clark, Program Manager, Air Quality Program
WRRA Clean Air Rule Comments Page 5