First is was your air. Then your lights and power. Gasoline. Oil and gas. Roads. And cow flatulence.Now he’s coming for Canadians’ trash.Late Friday, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault issued proposed new rules to limit methane emissions from landfills 50% by 2030. The new rules would require municipalities to install gas-recovery systems in their waste management infrastructure.In a statement, the department of Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) said the new rules would ”provide a consistent regulatory approach to reduce landfill methane emissions across the country in publicly and privately-owned landfills that have received municipal solid waste.” .“Reducing emissions from methane is one of the top recommendations made by climate scientists to slow the rate of global warming,”Steven Guilbeault .More specifically, owners and operators of regulated landfills that “are estimated to generate methane above regulation thresholds would be required to comply with and monitor methane concentration limits on the landfill surface, limit venting of methane to the atmosphere, and detect and repair methane leaks.”It follows a familiar pattern of regulatory enforcement around electricity rules, oil and gas production, carbon taxation and the agriculture sector.According to government statistics, landfills account for 17% of Canada's methane emissions and 3% of its greenhouse gas emissions.Those who play ball will be eligible for federal funding to help pay for it. Those who don’t face unspecified enforcement.Stakeholders — municipalities that have to pay for it, essentially — have until August 28 to comment..Not surprising, Guilbeault was congratulatory in his assessment of the new rules.“Reducing emissions from methane is one of the top recommendations made by climate scientists to slow the rate of global warming,” he said.“To achieve Canada's emissions reduction targets, we need to reduce landfill methane emissions. The proposed regulations would set standards that are in line with the most stringent requirements in North America.”
