An EPM alum’s role in strengthening California’s landfill methane regulations

California is often seen as a national and global leader on environmental policy. So why are landfill methane emissions still such a big problem here? Landfills are one of the largest sources of methane in the state, and for years, advocates have pushed for stronger rules to address emissions that harm both the climate and nearby communities. 

About Me

I graduated from the EPM  program in June 2025 while working full time as a Policy Associate at Californians Against Waste (CAW). I started my job during my first year in the program, which meant that my coursework and my professional work developed side by side. At CAW, I focus on climate change, organics recycling, landfill management, and food waste reduction policy and regulatory affairs. 

When I joined CAW in March 2024, I stepped directly into an effort to update the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) Landfill Methane Rule, a regulation aimed at identifying and mitigating methane emissions from landfills across the state. The project quickly became the centerpiece of my role at CAW. Because I was working full-time and enrolled full-time, my practicum and coursework needed to integrate with my job. To do this, I centered my academic work on landfill methane research, writing papers on landfill methane policy, researching emissions trends, studying community impacts at facilities like the Chiquita Canyon Landfill, and developing policy briefs based on my research and findings. This overlap helped me apply what I learned in class to real policy decisions. 

Why Landfill Methane Matters

Methane is one of the most impactful climate pollutants. It traps heat far more efficiently than carbon dioxide and drives significant warming over a shorter period of time. Reducing methane emissions is one of the fastest ways to slow near-term climate impacts. What many don’t know is that landfills are one of the largest sources of methane in the state! 

Fourteen years ago, California adopted the most stringent landfill methane regulation in the country. Despite those progressive rules, California ranks second in the nation for methane emissions from landfills. What's more, methane isn’t the only air pollutant emitting from these facilities– a cocktail of toxins are often co-emitted from landfills such as carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, and volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) like benzene and vinyl chloride. These emissions harm public health and disproportionately affect nearby communities, especially when monitoring and response requirements fall short.

Research shows that emissions from landfills are often underestimated and can persist for months or even years. One community that I work closely with is Val Verde, near Castaic, CA. It is a community with a rich history and strong relationships that has been impacted by the  ongoing Chiquita Canyon Landfill disaster. Learning about the health and community impacts directly from people living near landfills, and witnessing the consequences of regulatory gaps firsthand transformed this work from a professional responsibility to a personal commitment to protect people and the environment. 

Stepping Into the Work

When I started at CAW, it was clear that this project required a deep understanding of the regulatory landscape and the stakeholders involved. I began by learning the local, state, and federal rules (I spent countless hours reading legalese), meeting with partners and experts, and studying how landfill monitoring works in practice.

As my understanding grew, our team built a diverse coalition that included environmental justice organizations, community groups, public health advocates, climate advocates, and technical experts. The goal was to create a space where people with different experiences and backgrounds could work together around a shared vision for stronger protections for frontline communities and our environment. At its core, our advocacy was about modernizing a regulation that had fallen behind science, technology, and the lived reality of communities. Our top priorities for the update to the LMR were:

1. Integrating advanced methane monitoring technologies into the regulation. The original LMR was written before today’s monitoring tools existed. Now, we can see methane plumes from space and track emissions in near real-time using satellites, drones, and other technologies. Science and technology have advanced significantly, and the LMR should reflect this!
2. Improving data transparency so communities can access timely and meaningful information. Communities living near landfills are often in the dark about what is being released into their air. People have a right to know what they are being exposed to.
3. Strengthening monitoring thresholds and response requirements to better protect frontline communities. Weak thresholds, slow response times, and regulatory gaps allow problems to escalate before action is taken (like Chiquita Canyon). Stronger, more proactive requirements are essential to prevent landfill disasters and reduce harm to nearby communities.

These priorities shaped our strategy for the next two years.

What the Work Looked Like in Practice

Stepping into this project was intimidating at first. My background did not perfectly align with the scale or complexity of the project ahead, and this was my first time building a coalition, engaging in a regulatory process, and working directly with impacted communities. I relied heavily on what I was learning through EPM. Because my coursework aligned so closely with my job, I was constantly learning new frameworks, communication skills, strategies, and analytical tools that I could apply directly. Over the course of the campaign, my work included: 

• Meeting with CARB staff and Board Members
• Working directly with communities living near landfills
• Building and coordinating a coalition of about 25 organizations
• Drafting public comment letters and technical policy feedback
• Conducting policy and emissions research, including participation in technical workshops
• Developing press and communications strategies
• Using real-world methane plume data to translate complex science for diverse audiences
• Supporting community members in engaging directly with the regulatory process

Each part of this work prepared me for the next step. The more time I spent with the technical material, the better I could help others engage with it. The more I listened to community concerns and spent time with them, the clearer our priorities became. And the more we collaborated as a coalition, the more effective our advocacy grew. That hard work culminated in the November 20th board hearing, when CARB voted on amendments to the Landfill Methane Regulation.

CARB’s Unanimous Vote

The November 2025 Board hearing was a moment I will never forget. We organized about fifty people to attend and speak at the hearing, including residents living near landfills, environmental justice leaders, technical experts, and advocates. The testimonies of the frontline communities were especially powerful. People spoke about health and financial impacts of landfill pollution, quality of life, and what it means to live next to a facility that fails to protect its neighbors. One community member even made CARB history by delivering her testimony in the form of a song that brought humor and emotion into an otherwise technical hearing.

During the Board discussion, several members expressed gratitude for the community presence directed staff to expedite data transparency timelines and consider more protective thresholds. When the vote was called, the Board adopted the updated rule unanimously (I might have shed a tear or two). 

The Board’s unanimous vote mattered because the updated LMR is not symbolic. It meaningfully strengthens how landfill emissions are monitored and addressed in California. The adopted rule includes several long-overdue improvements that our coalition fought hard for and that will change how emissions are detected and managed across the state. 

Some of the most exciting outcomes of the update regulation include: 

• Integration of remote plume detection, including satellite data, into enforcement, with required operator response when CARB identifies major methane releases.
• Stronger surface leak monitoring, expanded coverage, shorter repair timelines, and required follow-up monitoring to ensure fixes actually work.
• More rigorous gas collection and control system monitoring
• A clear temperature monitoring and enforcement framework designed to catch subsurface issues early and prevent disasters like Chiquita Canyon before they escalate.
• Improved reporting and new requirements for data transparency to support enforcement and give communities better access to information about what is happening at nearby landfills.

Taken together, these changes make the LMR the strongest in the country. Once again setting a national benchmark for landfill methane mitigation! Seeing these priorities reflected in the final direction, especially after years of advocacy and community engagement, made the unanimous vote feel both hard-earned and deeply meaningful to me and the amazing people I work with.

What I Learned

I learned so much throughout this process. For the sake of keeping this already long blog post short, here are the top three takeaways: 

1. Policy change is built through steady, consistent engagement. CARB held three workshops on the rule update. After each one, we drafted a coalition comment letter that responded to staff proposals and offered recommendations. At each subsequent workshop, I saw our recommendations appear in the staff presentation. It showed that the work mattered and that our message was being heard.
2. Effective communication is powerful. Landfill methane monitoring is technical and complex, but it becomes understandable when it is explained in a grounded and accessible way. Helping decision-makers and community members make sense of that information was one of the most rewarding parts of this project for me. It reminded me that good communication can shift the direction of any policy conversation.
3. Never underestimate the power of lived experience. Data and technical analysis are important, but stories from people living near landfills changed the tone and direction of nearly every conversation. Policy is the strongest when it is shaped by the people who live with its outcomes. 

What Comes Next

CARB staff will now develop the final round of amendments, and our coalition will remain closely engaged throughout the process. We will continue meeting with staff and Board Members, tracking changes, and preparing for the final public comment period. Once the rule is finalized, the focus will shift to implementation, transparency, and ensuring that communities receive the protections they fought for.

I am so grateful to the EPM community for the foundation that helped me do this work, and to all the community members who trusted me with their stories, and advocated alongside me. While our coalition is proud of what we have achieved so far, our work is not over! We are better advocates because of this experience, and I will carry these lessons forward in everything I do.

For a complete list of resources from the LMR campaign, click here!

The views, opinions and recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Graduate Program of Environmental Policy and Management at UC Davis.