Landfill Methane Regulations (SOR/2025-279)
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Regulations are current to 2026-03-17
Conditional Requirements (continued)
Marginal note:Deferral of date
6 (1) The Minister may, on the application of an owner or operator of a landfill, defer the applicable date referred to in subparagraph 5(2)(a)(ii) by no more than two years.
Marginal note:Application for deferral
(2) The application must be submitted to the Minister at least 180 days before the day on which sections 7 to 24 would apply under subparagraph 5(2)(a)(ii). The application must include
(a) the name, title, civic and postal addresses, telephone number and email address of the owner or operator, the owner or operator’s authorized official and a contact person, if different from the authorized official;
(b) the name of the landfill and any identification numbers used for reporting to federal and provincial authorities;
(c) the landfill’s civic address and latitude and longitude coordinates, expressed in decimal degrees to five decimal places;
(d) the reasons for their request;
(e) a description of the measures required to comply with sections 7 to 24;
(f) the expected date for completion of the measures and the reasons why it is the earliest feasible date to do so; and
(g) a description of what will be done to minimize methane emissions until the measures are completed.
Marginal note:Decision
(3) A deferral shall be granted if the Minister is satisfied that the owner or operator’s inability to meet the requirements of sections 7 to 24 is due to circumstances that are beyond the owner or operator’s control and that arise from
(a) an outstanding provincial or territorial regulatory permit or approval; or
(b) the delayed procurement, delivery or installation of necessary equipment.
Marginal note:Revocation
(4) The Minister shall revoke a deferral if the Minister has reasonable grounds to believe that the owner or operator has submitted false or misleading information to the Minister.
Marginal note:Procedure
(5) Before revoking a deferral, the Minister shall provide the owner or operator with written reasons for the proposed revocation and an opportunity to make written representations in respect of it.
Methane Control
Marginal note:Venting prohibited
7 (1) Subject to subsection (2), an owner or operator of a landfill shall not vent landfill gas from a portion of the landfill where waste has been disposed of.
Marginal note:Exceptions
(2) Landfill gas may be vented
(a) when it is necessary to do so to conduct repairs, equipment maintenance or active landfill gas recovery system expansions;
(b) when it is necessary to do so to avoid serious risk to human health or safety or to prevent the subsurface migration of landfill gas offsite; or
(c) in portions of the landfill that are under final cover, if the methane concentration in landfill gas in the venting location is below 25% by volume in four consecutive quarterly measurements taken using an instrument documented by the manufacturer to be capable of measuring the methane concentration in landfill gas and that is calibrated and operated in accordance with the manufacturer’s specifications.
Marginal note:Methane destruction
8 (1) To destroy methane, an owner or operator of a landfill shall convey all landfill gas recovered by an active landfill gas recovery system to one or more of the following devices or systems:
(a) an enclosed flare;
(b) an open flare;
(c) an energy recovery device, including gas turbines, internal combustion engines, boilers and steam turbine systems;
(d) a treatment system that processes recovered landfill gas for subsequent sale or use;
(e) if the methane concentration in the recovered landfill gas is below 25% by volume, a biofilter; or
(f) any other device or system that has a methane destruction efficiency of at least 98%.
Marginal note:Treatment system — emissions
(2) If recovered landfill gas is conveyed to a treatment system referred to in paragraph (1)(d), the owner or operator of the treatment system shall convey to an enclosed or open flare or to a thermal oxidizer
(a) treatment process emissions that contain methane; and
(b) any processed landfill gas that is not sold or used.
Marginal note:Submission to Minister
(3) If recovered landfill gas is conveyed to a device or system referred to in paragraph (1)(f), the owner or operator of the landfill shall submit the following information to the Minister by June 1 of the year following the calendar year in which the device or system becomes operational:
(a) the name, title, civic and postal addresses, telephone number and email address of the owner or operator, the owner or operator’s authorized official and a contact person, if different from the authorized official;
(b) the name of the landfill and any identification numbers used for reporting to federal and provincial authorities;
(c) the landfill’s civic address and latitude and longitude coordinates, expressed in decimal degrees to five decimal places; and
(d) a description of the device or system, including the make and manufacturer of any equipment, the calculated or estimated methane destruction efficiency, in percentage, and supporting measurements, calculations and documents, as well as a description of annual or periodic tests to measure destruction efficiency and the estimated days of operation during a calendar year.
Marginal note:Monitoring — methane destruction
(4) The owner or operator of the landfill shall measure
(a) at least on a monthly basis, the methane concentration in recovered landfill gas that is conveyed to each of the devices or systems referred to in subsection (1), at a location that is either specific to each device or system or common to every device or system; and
(b) at least every 15 minutes, the volumetric flowrate of that recovered landfill gas at a location specific to each device or system.
Marginal note:Records
9 An owner or operator of a landfill shall make a record of
(a) when venting of landfill gas occurs, the location of the venting, the dates on which it took place and the reasons why it took place;
(b) any measurements taken that demonstrate that the condition set out in paragraph 7(2)(c) has been met;
(c) the measurements taken under paragraph 8(4)(a) or the monthly average of them;
(d) the volume of landfill gas that is conveyed each day to each of the devices or systems referred to in subsection 8(1); and
(e) the dates on which the active landfill gas recovery system and the devices or systems referred to in subsection 8(1) were shut down and the reasons for each shutdown.
Monitoring of Landfill Gas Recovery Wells
Marginal note:Monitoring — recovery wells
10 (1) An owner or operator of a landfill shall, on a monthly basis,
(a) monitor each landfill gas recovery well to determine
(i) whether the gauge pressure is more than 0.5 inches of water,
(ii) whether the oxygen concentration in recovered landfill gas is more than 5% by volume, and
(iii) unless freezing conditions prevent necessary measurements, whether the volumetric flow rate of landfill gas is zero; and
(b) inspect each wellhead to identify damaged equipment components.
Marginal note:Method
(2) The monitoring shall be conducted using instruments that are documented by the manufacturer to be capable of taking the required measurements and that are calibrated and operated in accordance with the manufacturer’s specifications.
Marginal note:Compliance not required
(3) The owner or operator need not comply
(a) with paragraph (1)(a) or (b), for a landfill gas recovery well that
(i) is not in operation due to construction activities including repairs or modifications to it, the active landfill gas recovery system, the leachate collection system or the landfill cover,
(ii) is not in operation due to measures taken to extinguish or prevent a fire at the landfill,
(iii) has been decommissioned or has not operated in the previous 30 days,
(iv) has no accessible location for measurements to be taken, or
(v) is located in a portion of the landfill that is under final cover, if the methane concentration in landfill gas in the well is below 25% by volume in six consecutive monthly measurements taken using an instrument documented by the manufacturer to be capable of measuring the methane concentration in landfill gas and that is calibrated and operated in accordance with the manufacturer’s specifications; and
(b) with paragraph (1)(a), for a wellhead in which equipment is operating that continuously monitors the gauge pressure, oxygen concentration and volumetric flow rate and adjusts pressure in the well.
Marginal note:Follow-up — wells
11 (1) If an owner or operator identifies the existence of any of the conditions described in paragraph 10(1)(a), the owner or operator shall, before the completion of the next scheduled monitoring event,
(a) demonstrate that none of the conditions still exist; or
(b) determine
(i) whether there are methane leaks in any equipment components at the wellhead, based on measurements taken using an instrument and method referred to in paragraph 13(1)(a) or (b), and
(ii) whether there are exceedances in any landfill cover penetrations associated with the wellhead, based on measurements taken using an instrument and method referred to in paragraph 19(1)(a) or (c).
Marginal note:Follow-up — damaged equipment
(2) If the owner or operator identifies a damaged equipment component, the owner or operator shall, before the completion of the next scheduled monitoring event, determine
(a) whether there are methane leaks in any equipment components at the wellhead based on measurements taken using an instrument and method referred to in paragraph 13(1)(a) or (b); and
(b) whether there are exceedances in any landfill cover penetrations associated with the wellhead based on measurements taken using an instrument and method referred to in paragraph 19(1)(a) or (c).
Marginal note:Records
12 An owner or operator of a landfill shall make a record of
(a) for each monitoring event,
(i) the latitude and longitude coordinates, expressed in decimal degrees to five decimal places, of each landfill gas recovery well and the corresponding measurements taken,
(ii) the identifier of each well,
(iii) the date of the monitoring event, and
(iv) if the owner or operator did not comply with subsection 10(1), the reason for the non-compliance;
(b) the measurements taken for the purposes of subparagraph 10(3)(a)(v), along with the dates and locations of those measurements and the instruments and calibrations used; and
(c) any measurement taken for the purposes of subsection 11(1) or (2) and
(i) the date on which the measurement was taken,
(ii) the latitude and longitude coordinates, expressed in decimal degrees to five decimal places, of the landfill gas recovery well, and
(iii) the well identifier.
Methane Leaks
Marginal note:Monitoring — equipment components
13 (1) An owner or operator of an equipment component that is part of a landfill gas management system in operation at a landfill shall, to detect methane leaks in that equipment component, monitor the equipment component three times per calendar year separated by an interval of at least 60 days, using
(a) an instrument referred to in paragraph 19(1)(a) in accordance with section 8.3.1 of EPA Method 21, with the probe inlet of the instrument held no more than 2 cm from the equipment component or no more than 5 cm from the surface of a vault containing equipment components; or
(b) any methane leak detection instrument and method approved by the Minister under subsection (2).
Marginal note:Approval of instrument and method
(2) The Minister may approve a methane leak detection instrument and method that
(a) is capable of detecting the same methane leaks as could be detected if the equipment component were monitored in accordance with paragraph (1)(a); and
(b) includes
(i) a description of the detection instrument and its specifications,
(ii) instructions for the operation and calibration of the instrument, the manner in which measurements are to be taken and the means by which methane leaks are to be detected,
(iii) instructions for the appropriate use of the instrument under various conditions, and
(iv) if units other than ppmv are used to measure methane concentrations, instructions as to how those units are to be interpreted for the purpose of determining compliance with these Regulations.
Marginal note:Exception
(3) Subsection (1) does not apply in respect of an equipment component the monitoring of which poses a serious risk to human health or safety.
Marginal note:Detection of methane leak
14 (1) If a methane leak is detected, whether during a monitoring event or at any other time, in an equipment component, the owner or operator of the component shall, within 30 days after the day on which it is detected,
(a) repair the equipment component and confirm that the leak has been eliminated by measuring the methane concentration at the location of the leak using an instrument and method referred to in paragraph 13(1)(a) or (b); or
(b) prepare a plan that includes
(i) the cause of the leak and a description of the measures required to eliminate it,
(ii) the expected date for the completion of the measures and the reasons why it is the earliest feasible date to do so, and
(iii) a description of what will be done to minimize methane emissions from the equipment component until the measures are completed.
Marginal note:When leak to be eliminated
(2) If elimination of the methane leak is not confirmed in accordance with paragraph (1)(a), the owner or operator shall eliminate it
(a) within 90 days after the day on which it is first detected, if it can be eliminated while the equipment component is still operating; or
(b) during the next planned shutdown of the landfill gas management system, if that shutdown is for the purpose of inspecting and maintaining the landfill gas management system.
Marginal note:When leak considered eliminated
(3) A methane leak is considered to be eliminated if the methane concentration at the location of the methane leak is less than 500 ppmv.
Marginal note:Records
15 An owner or operator of a equipment component referred to in subsection 13(1) shall make a record of, for each monitoring event,
(a) the date of the monitoring event and the name of the individual who conducted it;
(b) the type of each monitoring instrument used, including its make and model and the results of each calibration;
(c) any equipment component that is not monitored due to the application of subsection 13(3); and
(d) for each methane leak detected,
(i) the day on which it was detected,
(ii) the location of the methane leak, including its latitude and longitude coordinates, expressed in decimal degrees to five decimal places, the equipment component on which it was detected and the corresponding methane concentration measured,
(iii) the cause of the methane leak and a description of the measures required to eliminate it,
(iv) the methane concentration that demonstrates that the leak has been eliminated and the day on which the concentration was measured, and
(v) any plan prepared under paragraph 14(1)(b).
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