California can help lead on climate by cleaning up our landfills

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OPINION – On hot summer days just north of the San Fernando Valley and Santa Clarita, our small community of Val Verde knows the smell of rotting garbage all too well. Take the words of former Val Verde resident Toye Davis: “When I first began to notice the landfill, it was approximately seven years ago…and then slowly but surely, a couple years passed by and now I could smell it going to Val Verde. It was probably around three years ago that I started to smell it at my home.”

That’s why November’s vote by the California Air Resources Board to adopt stronger landfill methane standards for the first time in 15 years is such an important step forward for cleaner air and healthier communities. Next year, I’m working to build on this progress by introducing legislation to tackle landfill mismanagement – and the underground fires that result – head on.

It’s hard to imagine a 90 acre dumpster fire in our beautiful state. Yet, California ranks second in the nation for estimated methane emissions from municipal solid waste landfills, with a reported 22 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in methane in 2023 – the same climate impact as putting 5.1 million cars on the road for a full year. California can cut these landfill methane emissions 23% by 2030 simply by pursuing many of the common-sense measures included in the recently-approved landfill rules.

Methane isn’t just a climate problem — it’s often accompanied by other toxic gases that poison our neighborhoods, disproportionately impacting children, the elderly, and those with health conditions. Approximately 59% of California’s landfills are in areas where particulate pollution ranks in the 90th percentile nationwide, and nearby communities struggle with disproportionately high rates of respiratory illness, cancer, depression, and chronic conditions like COPD.

In Val Verde — a largely Latino community with a rich African American history — the Chiquita Canyon Landfill reported more than 656,000 metric tons of methane in carbon dioxide equivalent in 2023 alone. According to a community health survey, 80% of residents report frequent headaches linked to the pollution. One resident was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer. She can point to every neighbor – they all have cancer. Another has a child with a rare autoimmune disease. These aren’t isolated stories, as residents have filed more than 14,000 odor and health complaints in 2024 alone, an average of 38 a day. My community has endured years of unbearable air, leading some to move. This is the direct result of decades of neglect and poor landfill oversight at a facility that until recently took in about a third of all garbage disposed of in Los Angeles County.

That’s why California’s new landfill methane rule – one of the strongest in the nation – is real progress for communities like mine. With these updates, we’ll finally have quicker detection of methane leaks, faster repairs, more frequent monitoring, and the use of tools like satellite imaging to identify problems early. In Val Verde, that means real relief for our neighbors and holding corporate operators accountable for an environmental disaster they allowed to spiral out of control. These landfill methane rules bring overdue transparency, stronger accountability for operators, and clearer pathways to protect the public. We’re glad the Governor and CARB are making landfill pollution the priority it needs to be.

But even with this major progress, one serious danger remains: subsurface landfill fires like the one still burning in Val Verde. These fires expose communities to toxic emissions for months or years, and without statewide standards, the risk remains unacceptably high.

That’s why I introduced Assembly Bill 28 — to create statewide standards for detecting and responding to underground fires, require action when temperatures rise, and ensure landfill operators can’t ignore warning signs. CARB’s new rules address methane leaks; AB 28 ensures we prevent the next Chiquita Canyon.

Cleaning up California’s landfills is a low-hanging fruit that benefits the planet and the communities that have been forced to shoulder the burden of pollution for decades. These new methane regulations are a huge step forward. It’s time to keep building on this momentum. Cleaning up the landfills right in our backyard is a climate win we can’t afford to miss.

Pilar Schiavo is a member of the California State Assembly, representing the state’s 40th District as a member of the Democratic Party since 2022.