Bill Text: IL SB2155 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Environmental Protection Act. Provides that an owner or operator of an active municipal solid waste landfill having fewer than 450,000 tons of waste in place must submit an annual waste in place report to the Board or local authority. Places a cap on methane gas emissions according to specified times. Requires specified methods for measurements and tests conducted under the provisions. Provides that an owner or operator of a municipal solid waste landfill may request alternatives to the compliance measures, monitoring requirements, and test methods and procedures. Allows the Board and local authorities to assess and collect such fees as may be necessary to recover the direct and indirect costs associated with the implementation of the provision. Contains requirements for calculating landfill gas heat input capacity, gas collection and control systems, source tests, enforcement provisions, and other provisions.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2023-03-10 - Rule 3-9(a) / Re-referred to Assignments [SB2155 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-SB2155-Introduced.html

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103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 SB2155 Introduced 2/10/2023, by Sen. Laura Fine SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
415 ILCS 5/22.40b new
Amends the Environmental Protection Act. Provides that an owner or operator of an active municipal solid waste landfill having fewer than 450,000 tons of waste in place must submit an annual waste in place report to the Board or local authority. Places a cap on methane gas emissions according to specified times. Requires specified methods for measurements and tests conducted under the provisions. Provides that an owner or operator of a municipal solid waste landfill may request alternatives to the compliance measures, monitoring requirements, and test methods and procedures. Allows the Board and local authorities to assess and collect such fees as may be necessary to recover the direct and indirect costs associated with the implementation of the provision. Contains requirements for calculating landfill gas heat input capacity, gas collection and control systems, source tests, enforcement provisions, and other provisions.
LRB103 27476 CPF 53848 b
A BILL FOR
SB2155 LRB103 27476 CPF 53848 b
AN ACT concerning safety.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Environmental Protection Act is amended by
adding Section 22.40b as follows:
(415 ILCS 5/22.40b new)
Sec. 22.40b. Methane emissions; landfills.
(a) In this Section:
"Active municipal solid waste landfill" means a municipal
solid waste landfill that has accepted or is accepting solid
waste for disposal and has not been closed in accordance with
the requirements set forth in Sections 22.17 and 22.19b.
"Air pollution" means the presence in the outdoor
atmosphere of one or more air contaminants in sufficient
quantities and of such characteristic and duration as is, or
is likely to be, injurious to human health, plant or animal
life, or property or that unreasonably interferes with the
enjoyment of life and property.
"Ambient air" means the surrounding outside air.
"Closed municipal solid waste landfill" means a municipal
solid waste landfill that no longer accepts solid waste for
disposal and has been closed in accordance with the
requirements set forth in Sections 22.17 and 22.19b.

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"Emission" means a release of an air contaminant into the
ambient air.
"Gas collection system" means a system that employs
various gas collection wells, connected piping, mechanical
blowers, fans, pumps, or compressors to create a pressure
gradient and that actively extracts landfill gas.
"Gas control device" means a device used to dispose of or
treat collected landfill gas, including, but not limited to,
enclosed flares, internal combustion engines, boilers,
boiler-to-steam turbine systems, fuel cells, and gas turbines.
"Gas control system" means a system that disposes of or
treats collected landfill gas by:
(1) combustion; or
(2) treatment of gas for subsequent sale or for sale
for offsite processing, including, but not limited to, for
transportation fuel and injection into a natural gas
pipeline.
"Local authority" means any air pollution control board
whose jurisdictional boundaries are coextensive with the
boundaries of one or more counties.
"Municipal solid waste landfill" means a discrete area of
land or an excavation that receives household waste and that
is not a land application site, surface impoundment, injection
well, or pile.
"Person" means an individual, firm, public or private
corporation, association, partnership, political subdivision

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of the State, municipality, or governmental agency.
(b) This Section applies to all municipal solid waste
landfills except landfills that:
(1) receive only hazardous waste or are currently
regulated under the federal Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation and Liability Act; or
(2) receive only inert waste or noncompostable wastes.
(c) The Agency shall propose, and the Board shall adopt,
rules to implement this Section. The rules shall be informed
by landfill methane rules and regulations adopted by the
California Air Resources Board, the Oregon Environmental
Quality Commission, and the United States Environmental
Protection Agency.
(d) An owner or operator of an active municipal solid
waste landfill having fewer than 450,000 tons of waste in
place must submit an annual waste in place report to the Board
or local authority. The waste in place report must be:
(1) prepared for the period of January 1 through
December 31 of each year;
(2) submitted to the Board or local authority on a
date during the subsequent calendar year by a date
established by the Board by rule; and
(3) submitted annually until either:
(A) the active municipal solid waste landfill
reaches a size greater than or equal to 450,000 tons of
waste in place; or

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(B) the owner or operator submits a closure
notification under subsection (j).
(e) An owner or operator of an active municipal solid
waste landfill having greater than or equal to 450,000 tons of
waste in place or a closed municipal solid waste landfill
having greater than or equal to 750,000 tons of waste in place
must calculate the landfill gas heat input capacity in
accordance with subsection (j) and the Board's rules and must
submit a landfill gas heat input capacity report to the Board
or local authority. If the calculated landfill gas heat input
capacity is less than 3,000,000 Btus per hour recovered, the
owner or operator must:
(1) recalculate the landfill gas heat input capacity
annually using the procedures specified in subsection (j)
and the rules adopted under this Section; and
(2) submit an annual landfill gas heat input capacity
report to the Board or local authority until either:
(A) the calculated landfill gas heat input
capacity is greater than or equal to 3,000,000 Btus
per hour recovered; or
(B) if the municipal solid waste landfill is
active, the owner or operator submits a closure
notification in accordance with subsection (j).
If the landfill gas heat input capacity is greater than or
equal to 3,000,000 Btus per hour recovered, the owner or
operator must either:

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(1) comply with the requirements of this Section and
the rules adopted under this Section; or
(2) demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Board or
local authority that after 4 consecutive quarterly
monitoring periods there is no measured concentration of
methane of 200 parts per million by volume or greater
using the instantaneous surface monitoring procedures
specified in other states' requirements and the rules
adopted under this Section, based on the monitoring
results, and:
(A) if there is any measured concentration of
methane of 200 parts per million by volume or greater
from the surface of an active, inactive, or closed
municipal solid waste landfill, comply with this
Section and the rules adopted under this Section;
(B) if there is no measured concentration of
methane of 200 parts per million by volume or greater
from the surface of an active municipal solid waste
landfill, recalculate the landfill gas heat input
capacity annually as required under this Section until
the owner or operator submits a closure notification
under this Section; or
(C) if there is no measured concentration of
methane of 200 parts per million by volume or greater
from the surface of a closed or inactive municipal
solid waste landfill, the requirements of this Section

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and the rules adopted under this Section no longer
apply, provided that the following information is
submitted to and approved by the Board or local
authority:
(i) a waste in place report in accordance with
this Section and the rules adopted under this
Section; and
(ii) all instantaneous surface monitoring
records.
(f) An owner or operator of a municipal solid waste
landfill that has a calculated landfill gas heat input
capacity greater than or equal to 3,000,000 Btus per hour
recovered must install a gas collection and control system
that meets the requirements of this Section and the rules
adopted under this Section, unless the owner or operator
demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Board or local
authority that after 4 consecutive quarterly monitoring
periods there is no measured concentration of methane of 200
parts per million by volume or greater using instantaneous
surface monitoring procedures. If a municipal solid waste
landfill partners with a third party to operate all or a
portion of the gas collection and control system or energy
recovery device, the obligation to comply with this Section is
the responsibility of the owner or operator of the relevant
portion of the gas collection and control system or energy
recovery device. The gas collection and control system must:

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(1) handle the expected gas generation flow rate from
the entire area of the municipal solid waste landfill and
must collect gas at an extraction rate to comply with the
surface methane emission limits under this Section and the
rules adopted under this Section;
(2) be designed and operated so that there is no
landfill gas leak that exceeds 500 parts per million by
volume, measured as methane, at any component under
positive pressure;
(3) if it uses a flare, achieve a methane destruction
efficiency of at least 99% by weight and must use either an
enclosed flare or, if the system uses an open flare, the
open flare:
(A) must meet the requirements of 40 CFR 60.18;
(B) if it was installed and operating before
December 31, 2022, may operate until January 1, 2032
unless the owner or operator demonstrates to the
satisfaction of the Board or local authority that the
landfill gas heat input capacity is less than
3,000,000 Btus per hour in accordance with this
Section and the rules adopted under this Section and
is insufficient to support the continuous operation of
an enclosed flare or other gas control device; and
(C) may be temporarily operated by the owner or
operator during the repair or maintenance of the gas
control system, while awaiting the installation of an

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enclosed flare, or to address offsite gas migration
issues; an owner or operator seeking to temporarily
operate an open flare under this subparagraph must
submit a written request to the Board or local
authority in accordance with Section 50 and the rules
adopted under this Section;
(4) if it does not use a flare, either route the
collected gas to an energy recovery device or must route
the collected gas to a treatment system that processes the
collected gas for subsequent sale or use;
(5) if it routes the collected gas to an energy
recovery device or devices, the owner or operator of the
energy recovery device or devices must comply with the
following requirements:
(A) the device must achieve a methane destruction
efficiency of at least 97% by weight, except for
lean-burn internal combustion engines that were
installed and operating before January 1, 2022, which
must reduce the outlet methane concentration to less
than 3,000 parts per million by volume, dry basis
corrected to 15% oxygen; and
(B) if a boiler or a process heater is used as the
gas control device, the landfill gas stream must be
introduced into the flame zone, except that, where the
landfill gas is not the primary fuel for the boiler or
process heater, introduction of the landfill gas

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stream into the flame zone is not required;
(6) if it routes the collected gas to a treatment
system that processes the collected gas for subsequent
sale or use, achieve a methane leak rate of 3% or less by
weight; venting processed landfill gas to the ambient air
is not allowed; and
(7) if the processed landfill gas cannot be routed for
subsequent sale or use, then the treated landfill gas must
be controlled according to paragraph (3).
An owner or operator of a municipal solid waste landfill
must conduct a source test for any gas control device subject
to this Section using the relevant test methods identified in
this Section. If a gas control device was in compliance with
relevant source testing requirements on June 9, 2022, the
owner or operator must conduct the source test no less
frequently than once every 5 years. If a gas control device was
not in compliance with source testing requirements on June 9,
2022, or if a subsequent source test shows the gas control
device is out of compliance, the owner or operator must
conduct the source test no less frequently than once each year
until 2 subsequent consecutive tests both show compliance.
Upon completion of the 2 subsequent consecutive compliant
tests, the owner or operator may return to conducting the
source test no less frequently than once every 5 years.
(g) Except as provided in subsection (e), beginning
January 1 of the year following the year in which the Board

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adopts rules to implement this Section, or upon commencing
operation of a newly installed gas collection and control
system or modification of an existing gas collection and
control system, whichever is later, and except as provided by
the Board to accommodate significant technological
improvements, which may include, but are not limited to, the
installation of an energy recovery device, not to exceed 24
months after the Board adopts rules to implement this Section,
no location on a municipal solid waste landfill surface may
exceed the following methane concentration limits, dependent
upon whether the owner or operator of the municipal solid
waste landfills conducts instantaneous surface emissions
monitoring or integrated surface emissions monitoring:
(1) 500 parts per million by volume, other than
nonrepeatable momentary readings, as determined by
instantaneous surface emissions monitoring; or
(2) an average methane concentration limit of 25 parts
per million by volume as determined by integrated surface
emissions monitoring.
Any reading exceeding the limits set forth in paragraph
(1) must be recorded as an exceedance and the owner or operator
must: (i) record the date, location, and value of each
exceedance, along with retest dates and results and the
location of each exceedance must be clearly marked and
identified on a topographic map of the municipal solid waste
landfill, drawn to scale, with the location of both the

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monitoring grids and the gas collection system clearly
identified; and (ii) take corrective action, which may
include, but is not limited to, maintenance or repair of the
cover, or well vacuum adjustments; the location or locations
of any exceedance must be remonitored within 10 calendar days
after a measured exceedance.
The requirements of this subsection do not apply to:
(A) the working face of a landfill;
(B) areas of a landfill surface where the landfill
cover material has been removed for the purpose of
installing, expanding, replacing, or repairing
components of the landfill cover system, the landfill
gas collection and control system, the leachate
collection and removal system, or a landfill gas
condensate collection and removal system;
(C) areas of a landfill surface where the landfill
cover material has been removed for law enforcement
activities requiring excavation; or
(D) areas of the landfill in which the landfill
owner or operator, or a designee of the owner or
operator, is engaged in active mining for minerals or
metals.
(h) An owner or operator of a municipal solid waste
landfill with a gas collection and control system must:
(1) conduct instantaneous or integrated surface
monitoring of the landfill surface according to rules

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adopted by the Board;
(2) monitor the gas control system according to the
requirements specified in rules adopted by the Board; and
(3) monitor each individual wellhead to determine the
gauge pressure according to the requirements specified in
rules adopted by the Board.
(i) An owner or operator of a municipal solid waste
landfill must:
(1) maintain records and prepare reports in accordance
with this Section and any rules adopted under this
Section;
(2) maintain records related to monitoring, testing,
landfill operations, and the operation of a gas control
device, gas collection system, and gas control system; the
records must be provided by the owner or operator to the
Board or local authority within 5 business days after a
request from the Board or local authority;
(3) if the landfill ceases to accept waste, submit a
closure notification to the Board or local authority
within 30 days after ceasing to accept waste; and
(4) submit a gas collection and control system
equipment removal report to the Board or local authority
within 30 days after well capping or the removal or
cessation of operation of the gas collection, treatment,
or control system equipment.
An owner or operator of either an active municipal solid

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waste landfill with 450,000 or more tons of waste in place or a
closed municipal solid waste landfill with 750,000 or more
tons of waste in place must prepare an annual report for the
period of January 1 through December 31 of each year. The
annual report must include a calculation of landfill gas heat
input capacity. Each annual report must be submitted to the
Board and local authority during the subsequent calendar year,
with the date of submission to be established through rules
adopted by the Board.
(j) Except as provided under paragraph (8), the following
methods must be used for measurements and tests conducted
under this Section:
(1) any instrument used for the measurement of methane
must be a hydrocarbon detector or other equivalent
instrument approved by the Board or local authority based
on standards adopted by the Board that address
calibration, specifications, and performance criteria;
(2) the determination of landfill gas heat input
capacity must be calculated consistent with the Board's
rules adopted under this Section;
(3) an owner or operator of a municipal solid waste
landfill must measure the landfill surface concentration
of methane using a hydrocarbon detector meeting the
requirements of this Section and the Board's rules adopted
under this Section;
(4) an owner or operator of a municipal solid waste

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landfill must measure leaks using a hydrocarbon detector
meeting the requirements of this Section and the Board's
rules adopted under this Section;
(5) the expected gas generation flow rate must be
determined according to the Board's rules adopted under
this Section;
(6) the control device destruction efficiency must be
determined according to the Board's rules adopted under
this Section;
(7) gauge pressure must be determined using a handheld
manometer, magnehelic gauge, or other pressure measuring
device approved by the Board or local authority; and
(8) alternative test methods may be used if they are
approved in writing by the Board or local authority.
(k) The Board or local authority must allow the capping or
removal of the gas collection and control system at a closed
municipal solid waste landfill, provided that:
(1) the gas collection and control system has been in
operation for at least 15 years, unless the owner or
operator demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Board or
local authority that due to declining methane rates the
municipal solid waste landfill will be unable to operate
the gas collection and control system for a 15-year
period;
(2) surface methane concentration measurements do not
exceed the limits specified in this Section; and

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(3) the owner or operator submits an equipment removal
report to the Board or local authority in accordance with
this Section and any rules adopted by the Board under this
Section.
Nothing in this Section may be interpreted to modify or
supersede requirements related to the capping or removal of
gas collection and control systems that may exist under this
Act, the federal Clean Air Act, or rules adopted under either
of those Acts.
(l) An owner or operator of a municipal solid waste
landfill may request alternatives to the compliance measures,
monitoring requirements, and test methods and procedures set
forth in this Section and the Board's rules adopted under this
Section. Any alternatives requested by the owner or operator
must be submitted in writing to the Board. The criteria that
the Board may use to evaluate alternative compliance option
requests include, but are not limited to:
(1) compliance history;
(2) documentation containing the landfill gas flow
rate and measured methane concentrations for individual
gas collection wells or components;
(3) permits;
(4) component testing and surface monitoring results;
(5) gas collection and control system operation,
maintenance, and inspection records; and
(6) historical meteorological data.

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The Board must review and either approve or disapprove the
requested alternatives within 120 days. The Board may request
that additional information be submitted as part of the review
of the requested alternatives. If a request for an alternative
compliance option is denied, the Board must provide written
reasons for the denial. The Board must deny a request for
alternative compliance measures if the request does not
provide levels of enforceability or methane emissions control
that are equivalent to those set forth in this Section or in
rules adopted by the Board under this Section.
(m) The Board or a local authority may request that any
owner or operator of a municipal solid waste landfill
demonstrate that a landfill does not meet the applicability
criteria required under this Section. The demonstration must
be submitted to the Board or local authority within 90 days of
a written request received from the Board or local authority.
(n) Any person who violates this Section or any rules
adopted under this Section may incur a civil penalty. The
Board shall waive penalties if the owner or operator of the
landfill is actively taking corrective actions to control any
methane exceedances. Penalties collected under this Section
shall be deposited into the Environmental Protection Trust
Fund.
(o) The Board and local authorities may assess and collect
such fees as may be necessary to recover the direct and
indirect costs associated with the implementation of this

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Section.