Ministry of Environment

Landfill Gas Management Regulation

The Ministry of Environment developed the Landfill Gas Management Regulation under the Greenhouse Gas Reduction (Emissions Standards) Statutes Amendment Act, 2008. This regulation is effective as of January 1, 2009.

This initiative forms part of the work undertaken by the Ministry of Environment (MOE) to support the provincial government’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gases by at least 33% below current levels by 2020.

The Landfill Gas Management Regulation establishes province-wide criteria for landfill gas capture from municipal solid waste landfills. The regulation focuses on greenhouse gas emission reductions from landfills with the objective of maximizing reductions of landfill gas emissions and identifying potential opportunities to increase landfill gas recovery.
The regulation phases in new requirements for landfill gas (LFG) capture that take into account economic and technical feasibility requirements and associated implications for landfill owners. 

The regulation requires that municipal solid waste landfills with 100,000 tonnes or more of waste in place or with an annual waste acceptance rate exceeding 10,000 tonnes to undertake an assessment of landfill gas generation and to submit the results to the Ministry in a report by January 1, 2011. The procedure and report format for the LFG generation assessment from municipal solid waste landfills in BC are provided in the Landfill Gas Generation Assessment Procedure Guidance documents. The guidance documents consist of the text document Landfill Gas Generation Assessment Procedure Guidance Report (PDF/375 KB) and Landfill Gas Generation Estimation Tool (XLS/103 KB). This tool accompanies the guidance document and provides a template for data output, automatically performs required calculations, and provides a data output summary.

If according to Landfill Gas Generation Assessment Procedure a regulated landfill site is estimated to generate 1000 tonnes or more of methane, the owner or operator of that site is required to complete a LFG management facilities design plan and to install the designed facilities at the landfill site.  The Landfill Gas Management Facilities Design Guidelines (PDF/9.3 MB) provide guidance for the design, installation and operation of robust and efficient LFG management systems that address greenhouse gas emissions, odour issues, and health and safety. The developed Guidelines are based on technical expertise in design of LFG management facilities and best practices for their operations.  The performance standards prescribed in the document are intended to implement high-efficiency LFG collection systems. This Guideline must be used by landfill owners, operators, and qualified professionals in the preparation of LFG facilities design in accordance with the Landfill Gas Management Regulation.

An owner or operator of a regulated landfill site must submit an annual report to MOE. It should reflect the requirements outlined in section 14 of the Regulation and contain calculation of the efficiency of LFG management facilities. The calculation procedure is described in the Landfill Gas Management Facilities Design Guidelines (PDF/9.3 MB)and Landfill Gas Generation Estimation tool for annual reporting (XLS/109 KB) is provided to perform required calculations.

The Technologies and Best Management Practices for Reducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions from Landfills Guidelines (PDF/893 KB) provide guidance for the selection of technologies and best management practices related  to the reduction of GHG emissions  from municipal solid waste landfills in B.C.  The guidance document provides information on site condition applicability, potential GHG emission reductions, cost considerations, feasibility, and supplemental benefits for each particular technology. This guideline complements the Landfill Gas Management Facility Design Guidelines with the set of measures that could be used at landfill sites, including those sites with a well performing LFG collection system.  The guideline would be useful to the vast majority of landfills in British Columbia including sites not captured by the Landfill Gas Management Regulation.  

Background Information

In May 2008, The Ministry of Environment posted the Policy Intentions Paper for Consultation (PDF/119 KB). Comments were solicited for a period of 130 days.

Feedback received on the intentions paper was captured in the Summary of Public Comment Report (PDF/276 KB).

The Ministry would like to thank all those who contributed to this positive consultation process. All information received was invaluable in developing the regulation and was carefully considered in the regulation drafting process. For general information on the development of current regulations, see the Environmental Management Act (EMA) Codes of Practice and Regulatory Review site.

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