A new rule by the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission could cost county governments millions of dollars.

The rule requires landfills to control methane emissions from decomposing waste.  

Colorado landfills emit at least 1.3 million tons of methane a year, making them the third largest source of methane in the state. 

While methane only accounts for about 1% of Colorado’s overall greenhouse gases, it’s 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

dumpster

The Main Entrance of the Denver Arapahoe Disposal Site Landfill – Recycling Center in Aurora, Colorado, is seen on Aug. 21, 2018.

Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post via Getty Images

Morgan County Commissioner Tim Malone says he wants clean air as much as the next guy. But he also wants to make sure his county doesn’t go broke, and he says the new rule would cost his small county a small fortune.

“It’s just unrealistic, some of the numbers,” he said.

Malone says a gas collection and control system runs $4 to 6 million. Monitoring, reporting, and maintenance, he says, would mean at least $1 million a year in ongoing costs: “It’s an unfunded mandate. Help us out a bit.”

That’s exactly what two state senators, Republican Byron Pelton and Democrat Dylan Roberts, intend to do. They introduced a bill that would allow counties to qualify for grant money in two state funds.

“Nobody is saying that they don’t want clean air,” Pelton said. “What they’re saying is ‘we don’t want to raise fees so high that it becomes an affordability problem to dump our trash.'”

He says higher fees will lead to more illegal dumping. The bill initially exempted counties that couldn’t afford the cost, but the exemption was removed after pushback from environmental groups.

Brian Loma with GreenLatinos says methane from landfills is especially toxic: “Some of these sources would include the testing facilities for the meat processors in Weld County, children’s diapers, construction materials.”

Loma insists the benefits of capturing methane far outweigh the costs.

But Malone says in some counties those costs could double: “We are 100% for good quality air, but we have to be realistic in attaining that.”

The new rule only applies to landfills with at least 450,000 tons of trash, which is about 15 to 16 landfills right now. But Loma says that with a new statewide recycling program starting in June, some of those landfills may fall below the threshold.

Counties have three years to submit their plans for capturing methane and another year and a half to implement them.

The bill passed the Senate Transportation and Energy Committee unanimously and is headed to the floor.

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