By John Justman and Don Coram

As former rural lawmakers, we’re no strangers to the state trying to squeeze us into the same box as the Front Range. But Colorado’s latest regulations take things to a new level: not only are they completely unworkable for our communities, but the rules also reveal a hypocritical double-standard that puts rural Colorado last.

Starting on Wednesday, Colorado’s air quality commission is holding hearings on their roll out of Regulation 31, a mandate that forces even the smallest landfills to install costly methane capture systems, regardless of whether those systems make scientific, environmental, or economic sense.  

The process to get here was rushed and the new rules lack clear written implementation procedures and ignore not only how Colorado landfills already adhere to stringent federal methane rules, but also discount the state’s unique geography, landfill sizes and waste makeup. Even so, the state demands immediate and costly changes from small operators.

Only 1.7% of all methane emissions in Colorado stem from the waste sector. Landfills make a little more than half of that. Small rural landfills — often operating on a shoestring budget of $300,000 a year or less — are a mere sliver of this total. Yet, these are the facilities most heavily impacted by Regulation 31 due to the compliance and operation costs.

For many areas, the new rules would require investments of $2 million to $10 million for gas collection systems, plus $750,000 to $1 million per year in ongoing operations. This is on top of already unsustainable losses.

Local governments and small businesses will be pushed to the brink. Skyrocketing tipping fees and collection rates to cover compliance will hit families and small businesses in every rural town, and illegal dumping will soar, making the environment worse, not better. After Delta County raised tipping fees by 18% in 2024, illegal dumping doubled within a year. Unable to afford compliance, some counties may shut down landfills altogether. Waste would then be trucked across counties, raising costs and increasing carbon emissions from additional transportation.  

Seemingly understanding the massive challenges ahead, the state — in the latest, but familiar, twist — has provided government-owned landfills exemptions to its one-size-fits-all regulations. In other words, the state is fine with layering massive new costs on everyday Coloradans and local businesses, while carving out exceptions for their own landfills.

This is eerily similar to the state-imposed strict energy performance standards on privately owned commercial buildings two years ago. While private property owners faced hefty penalties and expensive upgrades to meet stringent targets, publicly owned buildings were required only to benchmark their energy use and emissions, not to meet the same outcomes or pay similar penalties for noncompliance.

Their message is clear: rules for thee, not for me. It would seem to go without saying regulations should not single out those with the fewest resources while exempting the state itself from its own mandates. But here we are.

The reprieve from these mandates is only three years, which will not meaningfully change the onerous burden these regulations place on small businesses and rural areas. Treating Denver’s mega-landfills the same as rural sites is unfair, counterproductive and will destroy vital local infrastructure.

If Colorado insists on applying Regulation 31 statewide, it must also commit to fully funding compliance for small county and rural landfills. Without funding, the rule will destroy essential waste infrastructure in rural Colorado.

The commission must delay or withdraw Regulation 31 until operators, engineers, and regional officials — those who understand the operational and environmental context on the ground — have the opportunity to be fully heard.

Rural Colorado should not be collateral damage on the path to a cleaner future.

John Justman is a former Mesa County Commissioner. Don Coram is a former Colorado state senator.