Landfill Facility Compliance Study

Background: In-Depth Information on 53 Municipal Solid Waste Landfills

The 53 landfills consist of 40 landfills selected from the 224 included in Task 2—MSW landfills that accepted waste since October 9, 1993—as well as 13 additional landfills that closed, or in the case of three landfills, ceased to accept waste, prior to that date. The October 9, 1993, date was chosen as the cutoff date since it was the effective date for Title 40, Part 258 of the Code of Federal Regulations (40 CFR 258), also known as "Subtitle D" (Subtitle D of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act), which created the first comprehensive federal standards for MSW landfills. The addition of the 13 MSW landfills that closed prior to 1993 provides a longer closure period for review of environmental controls and performance. The 40 landfills were selected based on their general site characteristics, including whether the landfill has the following features:

• Vertical expansion over an unlined waste management unit.
• A gas extraction system.
• A gas-to-energy system.
• A bioreactor.
• Leachate recirculation.
• Fully Subtitle D-lined.
• Closed with a monolithic evapotranspirative soil cover and/or is "trickling waste" at the site.

The in-depth information is the result of the collective efforts of GeoSyntec, the CIWMB, the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB), the California Air Resources Board (CARB), regional water quality control boards (RWQCB), local enforcement agencies (LEA), air pollution control districts (APCD), air quality management districts (AQMD), landfill owners, and landfill operators. Initially, GeoSyntec assessed the Task 2 cross-media inventory and the results of the Task 3 multi-variable analyses to identify the environmental performance of the 53 landfills, and then reviewed documentation available through the Task 2 cross-media inventory to gain a better understanding of the environmental performance of the landfills.

After gathering the initial background information, GeoSyntec then contacted landfill owners/operators and regulators during the period from December 2003 through May 2004 to collect more detailed information regarding the environmental performance of the 53 landfills and the application of the existing regulations at those landfills. GeoSyntec compiled and summarized the information collected for each of the 53 landfills, arranging the information by contributor (the landfill owner/operator and each regulator). CIWMB then forwarded the draft information collected for each landfill to all respective landfill owners/operators and regulators requesting verification, comments, and corrections. Comments by owners, operators, and regulators were incorporated, as appropriate, to produce the final version of the collected information.

In Task 5 of the study, GeoSyntec evaluated the effectiveness of the current California MSW landfill regulations in controlling environmental impacts over time by using the 53 selected landfills as case studies. The information compiled in Task 4 was reviewed to identify recurring issues of environmental performance that may be associated with deficiencies in the existing landfill regulations. Recommendations for changes to the existing multimedia landfill regulations that could result in greater environmental protection were summarized in a Phase II report.

Additional information on the Landfill Facility Compliance Study is available at www.ciwmb.ca.gov/Landfills/ComplyStudy/

Last updated: November 08, 2007