Commentary: Strengthening landfill methane standards will help N.Y. reach its climate goals

At a moment when local and state leaders are being asked to do more with less, New York has an opportunity hiding in plain sight.

Methane is an extremely potent greenhouse gas that is worsening fires, storms and droughts. The more than 2,600 municipal solid waste landfills in the U.S. represent the third-largest source of industrial emissions nationwide.

In New York, 86 municipal solid waste landfills generated over 4.8 million metric tons of CO2-equivalent methane emissions in 2023 — equal to the climate impact of 1.1 million cars on the road for a year. And that’s an underestimate; satellite surveys have revealed massive methane plumes at facilities across the state that dwarf official estimates. 

The Department of Environmental Conservation has acknowledged the need to strengthen its landfill methane standards. The longer the DEC waits, the greater the risk to nearby communities exposed to harmful air pollution — and the greater the impact on the state’s climate goals. 

Beyond their climate impact, landfill facilities also emit a whole host of chemicals and pollution that can harm waterways and nearby residents. More than 6.7 million people — over one in three New Yorkers — live within five miles of a landfill, per our analysis of census data. Half are Black, Indigenous or other people of color. Many live in state-recognized disadvantaged communities where rates of cancer, asthma and high blood pressure already exceed state averages.

In 2025, both Colorado and California air regulators finalized major updates to their landfill methane standards, requiring best-in-class practices to cover landfill surfaces and stronger gas collection and control systems to mitigate methane pollution while embracing modern, state-of-the-art technology to better detect methane leaks for landfill operators to address in real time. These rule updates built on momentum from Maryland, Washington and Oregon, all of which have already adopted similar rules in recent years. 

New York, however, is falling behind. DEC has said it will initiate updates, but that process has yet to begin.

The need couldn’t be more critical, especially in light of the Hochul administration proposing shortsighted rollbacks to the state’s cornerstone climate law.

Municipal solid waste landfills may, for many of us, be out of sight and out of mind. But they offer New York regulators an opportunity to notch a bold climate win while keeping communities safe and healthy. By reforming New York’s landfill methane standards, the DEC can give New Yorkers a fighting chance at healthier air and livable communities. 

Katherine Blauvelt is executive director of Full Circle Future.