Befuddled by the complexity of proposed landfill rules, and lobbied hard with dense data from both sides, the Air Quality Control Commission punted on new methane regulations until December.

A couple of days of testimony and the beginning of complex deliberations were not enough to get commissioners aligned with the state health department staff, who had recommended tight new monitoring and controls of methane produced by rotting landfill garbage. While environmental groups and Air Pollution Control Division staff argued the rules would capture methane that is intensely destructive as a greenhouse gas, the waste industry said the measures were far too expensive.

Now the commission’s final deliberations and vote are put off until the monthly meetings beginning Dec. 17.

“My read on the si

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