Environmental groups and community organizations are opposing proposed amendments to California’s landfill methane rules that state officials quietly released this month.
What happened: The Coalition for Clean Air, Environmental Defense Fund and other groups sent a letter Friday to the California Air Resources Board, warning that proposed amendments to landfill regulations could weaken the state’s efforts to protect residents from the effects of methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
A coalition of community groups is also opposing the amendments. They object to language that would reduce landfill monitoring to once every six months if carbon monoxide levels are low, even at trash piles where subsurface temperatures reach 145 degrees.
Why it matters: Methane is about 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide and the second-largest contributor to greenhouse gases, accounting for roughly 25 percent of climate warming. A state mapping study identified 143 methane plumes from landfills in 2023.
