May 10 - ARB to Hold AB 32 Mandatory Reporting Workshop

The ARB will hold a Mandatory Reporting Workshop on May 23 at the Cal/EPA building. Under AB 32, the ARB must adopt by January 1, 2008, regulations requiring the reporting and verification of GHG emissions. The ARB must also monitor and enforce compliance with the reporting program.

At the last Mandatory Reporting Workshop, the ARB identified a preliminary list of industries that would be among the first that would be required to report emissions. Landfills were not on the list. The ARB's position is that there is not a sufficient scientific basis to develop a reporting protocal for landfills, and therefore they will not be required to report until a three year study has been completed and a protocal developed.

CAW agrees that their is uncertainty surrounding methane emissions from landfills, but could not disagree more with the ARB's decision not to require landfills to report under Mandatory Reporting. The fact that we dont know the full possible extent of global warming emissions from landfills is precicely why they should be required to report all available information that would reduce the uncertainty.

At a minumum, CAW has suggested that landfills should be required to report to the ARB/CIWMB the length of time that all waste is in place (and the total tons) before gas collection is "turned on" and at full capacity. Our letter to the ARB on this issue (and others) will be posted on our website soon.