We are pleased to share a significant win for our clients, Environmental Defense Fund and Eco-Cycle, who successfully intervened as parties to advocate for Colorado to adopt robust standards to reduce methane from landfills. This new rule, in development for over a year and now codified as Regulation 31, will directly regulate methane from a wide range of municipal solid waste landfills, leading to meaningful pollution reductions and helping Colorado meet its science-based climate goals. Landfills are one of the largest sources of methane, a potent greenhouse gas contributing to climate change. In 2020 alone, landfills in Colorado released 4.5 metric tons of methane, which is more than the amount of carbon dioxide equivalent emitted by 1 million gas-powered cars driven for a year. The landfill regulation will also reduce hazardous and other co-pollutants, like ozone precursor emissions, benefiting vulnerable communities living near these pollution sources.

Following high stakes fact and expert testimony at a hearing in August 2025, the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission (Commission) paused deliberations until December. During this period, the parties (including our clients), public and private landfill operators, the Colorado Air Pollution Control Division, and community groups were able to develop a consensus proposal.  The rules, adopted unanimously by the Commission on December 18, 2025, will strengthen monitoring, expand capture and control requirements, phase out outdated flares and push forward new technologies to reduce leaks. These new and innovative tools will serve as a model for other states and the federal government. For example, the rule sets up a nation-leading remote sensing program, using data from satellites and airplanes, to reduce landfill methane emissions.

Eco-Cycle is non-profit social enterprise that launched recycling in Colorado in 1976. Today, Eco-Cycle is one of the nation’s oldest and largest non-profit recyclers.

With over 3 million members, EDF is a global non-profit organization that brings together science, law, economics, and policy to create positive impacts on the environment. It routinely appears before the Commission to help develop and improve climate and air quality regulations in Colorado.

Kaplan Kirsch attorneys have extensive experience practicing before the Commission and representing clients on a range of air quality, climate, and compliance issues in Colorado and other states.

Please reach out to Thomas Bloomfield with any questions or for more information.