WASHINGTON REFUSE & RECYCLING ASSOCIATION

July 22, 2016

Mr. Sam Wilson Air Quality Department of Ecology P.O. Box 47600 Olympia, WA 98504

RE: Clean Air Rule WAC 173-442

Dear Mr. Wilson:

The Washington Refuse and Recycling Association (WRRA) is the oldest Solid Waste Trade Association operating on the West Coast of the United States, founded 69 years ago. WRRA member companies and the solid waste industry serve a vital role in public health, safety, and environmental protection. WRRA's members, individually and in combination are the solid waste collection companies and real recyclers in Washington, operate the largest landfill facilities, and service virtually every community in the state.

WRRA represents the private sector solid waste and real recycling industry in Washington, including curbside collection service, state of the art recycling facilities, and landfills which are the final destination for both solid waste and recycling residuals from innovative industry programs. WRRA members transport solid waste and recycling residuals to both publically and privately owned landfills, the result of a public-private partnership that makes Washington's waste system the best in the nation. As such, the Clean Air Rule is of great interest to the industry and our comments reference both public and private facilities.

The solid waste industry and landfills provide for safe and environmentally responsible disposal of most of the solid waste in Washington. The industry is proud to perform a vital public service which is necessary to protect human health and the environment. These facilities are the result of a successful and necessary regulatory system. These wastes are not generated by the solid waste industry itself. Rather, the industry is responsible for safely and proactively managing wastes generated by every other industrial, residential, and commercial source in Washington.

4160 6th Ave. SE •Suite# 205 • Lacey, WA 98503 • (360) 943-8859 • (360) 357-6958 fax www.wrra.org

The solid waste industry has already made great strides in achieving emissions reduction, including methane capture, sequestration, and the transition to CNG vehicles on the transportation side of the industry. However, the solid waste industry is unique and landfills face unique challenges which WRRA asks the Department of Ecology to consider while drafting the Clean Air Rule. WRRA references and incorporates early comments submitted by the association regarding the Clean Air Rule. WRRA appreciates the opportunity to comment on these rules still in development and offers these comments which are of great interest to the solid waste industry.

I. Landfills are Exempt under Leading Carbon Reduction and Cap-and-Trade Programs.

Landfills are unique facilities, necessary for public health and the proper disposal of all types of waste generated by both the public and private sectors. Other cap-and-trade and similar carbon reduction programs have recognized this fact and exempted landfills from these programs. In California, landfills are exempt from the state's robust AB 32 cap-and-trade program. California's program excludes the biogenie emissions from biomass (including biogas) as well as fugitive emissions from municipal solid waste landfills, which are regulated under a separate rule. On the East Coast, landfills are excluded from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a mandatory cap-and-trade program covering nine states (Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Y ork, Rhode Island, and Vermont).

Landfills are also exempt from the European Union's (EU) cap-trade-program. Landfill emissions reductions are achieved through the separate EU Landfill Directive, which provides solutions tailored to landfills and their unique public necessity. Similarly, carbon emissions from biogenie sources are not included in the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol. Washington's Clean Air Rule should follow the precedent set by the most prominent currently functioning carbon reduction and cap-and-trade programs. Washington should follow the global trend; landfills should be exempt from the Clean Air Rule.

Summary: Landfills are exempt under all of the long standing and well established carbon reduction and cap and trade programs across the world. Landfills should be exempt from the Clear Air Rule.

II. Landfills Should Generate Emission Reduction Units from Methane Capture Programs.

Under the Clean Air Rule, biogenie emissions from combustion oflandfill gas are included in the baseline emissions, which apparently precludes the generation of Emission Reduction Units from landfill methane capture and reduction programs. Landfill emissions, particularly landfill gas methane can be collected by high efficiency systems and eliminated through combustion and other methods, producing electricity, fuel, or used for other industrial purposes. These uses oflandfill emissions routinely generate "credits" or reductions under other emission reduction programs, even when landfills are exempt from the program itself.

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Many major emission reduction programs allow for emission credits to be generated from landfill methane capture programs. Landfills are not regulated under the RGGI, yet landfills performing above state and federal standards can generate credits under these programs through methane capture and reduction. The same trend holds true abroad in both longstanding and newly established programs. The EU cap-and-trade programs has operated for 11 years since 2005, and allows landfills generate credits for methane reduction. Again, landfills notably are exempt from the EU program, but still rewarded for emission reducing efforts. Under Australia's recently newly established Safeguard Mechanism carbon cap, which went into effect on July 1, 2016, landfills may generate reduction credits through methane capture and combustion.

Contrary to other leading carbon reduction programs, The Clean Air rule precludes a number of excellent carbon neutral, green, and innovative energy and fuels projects which use landfill gas as a feedstock from generating Emission Reduction Units. In this respect, the Clean Air Rule is at odds with its own goals by discouraging the transition to alternate and better fuel sources. The Clean Air Rule is also at odds with other leading carbon reduction programs, many of which exclude landfills from emissions caps. In light of this, WRRA asks the Department to reconsider landfill methane capture and reduction projects in the rule.

Summary: Landfills generate credits for emission reduction units under other leading carbon reduction programs across the world, even under programs that exempt landfills. Landfills should be exempt from the rule, but allowed to generate emission reduction units through methane capture and destruction if included.

III. The Clean Air Rule Draws Problematic Conclusions in Measuring Landfill Emissions which are Better Measured and Regulated under Other Existing Programs.

Landfills are unique, unlike measuring stack emissions from a manufacturing facility, landfill gas emissions cannot be directly measured. Potential emissions can be measured through several complex methods, though every landfill is different in terms of its emissions and existing mechanisms for emission reduction. Furthermore, biogenie emissions from landfill gas are treated differently under the Clean Air Rule than existing programs at the federal level and differently than the global trend.

On July 15, 2016, the federal Environmental Protection Agency issued final rules governing New Source Performance Standards for new, modified, and reconstructed Municipal Solid Waste landfills, as well as new Emission Guidelines for MSW landfills. These rules and guidance are on track to specifically reduce landfill emissions and represent a better fit for landfills than the Clean Air Rule. A number of solid waste industry and government representatives have addressed these issues and the difficulty with landfill emissions in excellent technical detail in their comments. WRRA will not duplicate those arguments, but does reiterate that well-reasoned and informative analysis. Given these challenges with landfills, most carbon reduction programs exclude landfills and regulate these entities separately, as previously discussed.

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Summary: Landfills are not a good fit for cap and trade programs due to the difficulty in accurately measuring emissions. Landfills are heavily regulated under other programs, including new federal rules which will accomplish significant reductions similar to the Clean Air Rule. Landfills should be exempt from the Clean Air Rule and achieve reductions through programs more tailored to these unique and necessary facilities.

IV. The is No Clear Emission-Reduction Pathway for Landfills, the Cost of Compliance is Likely Unachievable, and will Directly Impact Nearly Every Resident and Industry in Washington.

Compliance pathways for landfills are much more complex because a landfill will generate emissions over the entire life of the landfill, and the highest generation rate will occur the year after the landfill accepts its final ton of solid waste. In other words, cumulative emissions generations rates increase every year waste is placed into the landfill. Because of this, there is no real ability for landfills to have an "emission-reduction pathway" as envisioned by the rule, and landfills must tum to ever-increasing cost penalties in the form of purchasing ER Us.

The cost of compliance for landfills is devastating to both public and private facilities. For example, Cowlitz County, operator of a publicly owned landfill, estimates a cost of $80 million through 2035. These costs are crippling to a public facility and impact privately owned landfills as well, with estimated potential costs exceeding $200 million over the same period for larger landfills. The costs of meeting the ERU requirements will be very significant, and meeting these will place Washington Counties and companies at a disadvantage.

As landfills adjust prices to account of the cost of compliance with the Clean Air Rule, these increases in disposal and collection costs will likely cause the diversion of waste from larger landfills (which are highly regulated and have comprehensive gas collection systerns and beneficial use projects in place) to smaller or out of state landfills not subject to the rule. As that process unfolds, there will be no real OHG reductions from landfills because waste will go to landfills or states not required to reduce emissions, Washington will see increased OHG emissions from extra waste transport, and Washington landfills will face economic hardship and potential bankruptcy under the Clean Air Rule.

The Clean Air rule will also lead to increased costs to other sections of the solid waste industry, which serves virtually every other industry and resident in Washington State. In Washington, the transportation of Solid Waste is heavily regulated by the Utilities and Transportation Commission under RCW 81. 77. The Commission sets the rates for solid waste collection companies to ensure that they are just, fair, reasonable, and sufficient. The costs of disposal are internalized in these rates, and typically account for around 40% of a solid waste collection company's costs. RCW 81.77.160 allows solid waste collection companies to receive rate increases should the cost of disposal at a landfill increase. Cities may opt out of the regulated WUTC structure and contract directly with a solid waste collection company, though those contracts virtually always include a similar mechanism for cost recovery on increased disposal costs. An increase in the cost of disposal landfills will thus be spread across the entire rate base,

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and felt across the entire economy. The costs of compliance will be felt across the state and the cost may fall disproportionately on disadvantaged people and communities. This runs directly contrary to the Clean Air Rule's stated environmental justice goals.

Summary: Landfill emissions increase over the lifetime of the landfill and there is no clear path to reduction for landfills like other facilities. Under the rule, landfills can only meaningfully achieve reductions through purchasing ERU's, which carry a massive burden for both public and private facilities. The rule will only hurt Washington entities, not achieve emissions reductions as waste will be diverted to smaller and out of state landfills not subject to the rule. The increased cost of compliance will be felt by virtually every Washington resident and sector of the State's economy.

V. Conclusion

The proper and safe disposal of waste is an essential public service necessary to protect human health and the environment. Landfills generally do not lend themselves to regulation under cap and trade programs based on the difficulty in measuring the direct emissions accurately and the public necessity they serve. As such, the global and national trend has been to exclude landfills from programs like the Clean Air Rule because, simply put, landfills are different and necessary. WRRA requests the department consider these comments and adjust the Clean Air Rule accordingly.

Brad Lovaas

Executive Director

cc: Maia Bellon, Director, Department of Ecology Stu Clark, Program Manager, Air Quality Program

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