August 05, 2020
By:
Walter G. Wright
Category:
Arkansas Environmental, Energy, and Water Law
Arkansas Environmental, Energy, and Water Law
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The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) issued a July 30th report titled:
EPA Needs to Improve Oversight of How States Implement Air Emissions Regulations for Municipal Solid Waste Landfills (“Report”)
See Report No. 20-P-0236.
OIG undertook an audit addressing whether municipal solid waste landfills (“MSWL”) are operating under the appropriate air permits. MSWLs can generate such various pollutants through decomposition such as:
- Methane
- CO2
- Non-methane organic compounds
Therefore, such emissions can trigger requirements that the landfill obtain certain types of air permits. These can include in some instances Clean Air Act Title V operating permits.
Through delegation of Clean Air Act programs most states issue such permits. However, EPA has certain oversight responsibilities despite this delegation. OIG’s audit addressed certain active MSWLs in Georgia and Texas. It concluded that certain landfills in these states may not be operating with required Clean Air Act Title V permits nor did the states obtain the data necessary to determine whether the landfills required such a permit. However, OIG states that it did not identify deficiencies in the two states implementing Clean Air Act regulations to control air emissions from MSWLs.
The Report provides background on MSWLs and relevant air emissions along with the applicable Clean Air Act regulations. Further, it discusses why it believes EPA needs additional oversight over these activities and provides both recommendations to the federal agency and the agency’s response to the recommendations.
A copy of the 51-page Report can be downloaded here.
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