News from New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

For more information contact: Maureen Wren, 518-402-8000

DEC Announces $7.5 Million for Landfill Closure Projects

Projects Will Generate Electricity from Landfill Gas, Assist in Landfill Management

ALBANY, NY (02/01/2008; 1117)(readMedia)-- Nine communities across New York State will receive $7.5 million from the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to complete landfill closure and gas recovery projects, Commissioner Pete Grannis announced today. The grants will help the communities buy and install equipment to protect public health and to explore alternative energy opportunities that will utilize the recaptured landfill gases.

“Impacts to our air quality, water quality and climate come from many different sources,” Commissioner Grannis said. “These grants will enable communities to recover some of their investments in landfill maintenance and technologies to help improve operations and reduce greenhouse gases.”

DEC’s landfill closure and gas recovery grants are provided through a combination of the 1996 Clean Water/Clean Air Bond Act, the 1986 Environmental Quality Bond Act (EQBA) and the State Environmental Protection Fund (EPF), which supports a variety of important, ongoing environmental efforts, including municipal waste reduction and recycling projects and municipal landfill closure projects. Including today’s announcement, more than $208 million has been provided by DEC to municipalities for more than 156 landfill closure and gas recovery projects.

The landfill closure program is for municipalities with inactive solid waste landfills or landfills that will be inactive within 18 months of application. The landfill gas recovery program is for municipal owners or operators of landfills who have incurred costs associated with design and construction of active landfill gas collection and treatment systems. The policy for implementing the landfill gas recovery program was issued in 2004 and legislative changes provided additional funding for the program in 2005. While some grant applications from municipalities were received prior to the policy’s approval, DEC has been distributing funds as they are made available. Since taking over at DEC in 2007, Commissioner Grannis has pushed to speed up grant processing and eliminate needless delays.

State assistance grants for these projects are capped a maximum of $2 million or 50 percent of total project cost, whichever is less. Municipalities with a population of less than 3,500 can receive 90 percent reimbursement of total project cost for landfill closure projects. All projects are subject to a final eligible cost review and final eligible cost approval.

A list of proposed eligible landfill closure and gas recovery projects can be found in the attachment.

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Attachments

List of Land Fills
listoflandfills.doc