Municipal Solid Waste Landfills: New Source Performance Standards (NSPS), Emission Guidelines (EG) and Compliance Times
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Rule Summary
In 2016, EPA announced final updates to its New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) to reduce emissions of methane-rich landfill gas from new, modified and reconstructed municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills. In a separate action, EPA also issued guidelines for reducing emissions from existing MSW landfills.
In 2017, EPA announced the agency is reconsidering certain aspects of the 2016 final rules for MSW NSPS and Emission Guidelines (EG). The EPA still intends to complete the reconsideration process granted by the Administrator.
In August 2019, EPA issued two actions related to timing and implementation of the 2016 emission guidelines for existing MSW landfills. One was a final rule to align state plan timing requirements with the updated Clean Air Act section 111(d) implementing regulations that were finalized with the Affordable Clean Energy rule on July 8, 2019. The other was a proposed federal plan in response to a court order for EPA to finalize a federal plan by November 6, 2019. That court order has since been stayed pending an appeal.
In February 2020, EPA amended the NSPS and EG to allow landfills subject to the NESHAP to opt-in to certain compliance provisions.
In March 2020, EPA issued a notice of finding of failure to submit state plans, identifying 42 states and territories that failed to submit for review and approval state plans to implement the 2016 EG for MSW Landfills. This finding does not establish sanctions for states that have failed to submit state plans or set deadlines for imposing sanctions.
Rule History
05/21/2021 - Final Rule: Federal Plan Requirements for Municipal Solid Waste Landfills (86 FR 27756)
08/26/2019 - Final Rule: Adopting Subpart Ba Requirements in Emission Guidelines for Municipal Solid Waste Landfills (84 FR 44547) (pdf) (250 KB)
08/22/2019 - Proposed Federal Plan (84 FR 43745)
08/29/2016 – Final Rule: Standards of Performance for Municipal Solid Waste Landfills (81 FR 59332)
08/29/2016 – Final Rule: Emission Guidelines and Compliance Times for Municipal Solid Waste Landfills (81 FR 59276)
08/27/2015 – Supplemental Proposal (80 FR 52162) (pdf) (752 KB)(New Source Performance Standards)
08/27/2015 – Proposed Rule (80 FR 52100) (pdf) (579 KB) (Emission Guidelines)
07/17/2014 – Proposed Rule (79 FR 41771) (pdf) (516 KB)
09/08/2006 – Proposed Rule; amendments (71 FR 53272) (pdf) (220 KB)
05/23/2002 – Proposed Rule (67 FR 36476) (pdf) (143 KB)
10/17/2000 – Final Rule; testing amendments (65 FR 61744) (pdf) (4.65 MB)
04/10/2000 – Final Rule; technical corrections (65 FR 18906) (pdf) (242 KB)
11/08/1999 – Final Rule (64 FR 60689) (pdf) (234 KB)
02/24/1999 – Final Rule; technical amendments and corrections (64 FR 9258) (pdf) (136 KB)
12/16/1998 – Proposed Rule (63 FR 69363) (pdf) (240 KB)
06/16/1998 – Direct Final Rule (63 FR 32743) (pdf) (181 KB)
11/13/1997 – Proposed Settlement; Municipal Solid Waste Landfills NSPS and EG Litigation (62 FR 60898) (pdf) (106 KB)
03/12/1996 – Final Rule (61 FR 9905) (pdf) (521 KB)
06/21/1993 – Supplemental Notice (58 FR 33790)
05/30/1991 – Proposed Rule (56 FR 24468)
Additional Resources
Elevated Temperature Landfills Factsheet (pdf)
Fact Sheet: Final Federal Plan Requirements for Municipal Solid Waste Landfills (May 2021)
EPA hosted two virtual half-day sessions on January 26th and 28th, 2021 to explore recent air emissions measurement and monitoring developments from municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills.
Proposed Federal Plan for Municipal Solid Waste Landfills: Additional Information and Fact Sheet
Municipal Solid Waste Landfills: Proposed and Final Air Regulation Fact Sheets
Municipal Solid Waste Landfills Economic Impact Analysis for the Proposed New Subpart to the New Source Performance Standards (For the 2014 Proposed Rule)
Municipal Waste Landfills Background Information Document For Federal Plan, Public Comments And Responses (pdf) (947 KB)(For the 1999 Rule)
Municipal Solid Waste Landfills, Volume 1 Summary Of The Requirements For The New Source Performance Standards and Emission Guidelines For Municipal Solid Waste Landfills, Final (For the 1998 Rule)
Municipal Solid Waste Landfills, Volume 2 Summary Of The Requirements For Section 111(d) State Plans For Implementing The Municipal Solid Waste Landfills Emission Guidelines (pdf) (14.88 MB)(For the 1998 Rule)
Air Emissions From Municipal Solid Waste Landfills Background Information For Final Standards and Guidelines (pdf) (14.03 MB)(For the 1996 Final Rule)
Air Emissions From Municipal Solid Waste Landfills - Background Information for Proposed Standards and Guidelines (pdf) (6.97 MB)(For the 1991 Proposed Rule)
View the supporting documents in the docket (EPA-HQ-OAR-2003-0215) folder to find additional related documents to the new source performance standards.
View the supporting documents in the docket (EPA-HQ-OAR-2014-0451) folder to find additional related documents to the emission guidelines and compliance times.
Related Rules
Municipal Solid Waste Landfills: National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP)
Compliance
Applicability Determination Index (ADI). The ADI is maintained by EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) and provides a data base of memoranda dealing with applicability issues. The database is searchable by Subpart.
Example Moisture Mass Balance Calculations for Bioreactor Landfills (pdf) (1,069 KB)