Bill Text: CA AB2514 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Solid waste: organic waste: diversion: biomethane: biosolids.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Engrossed) 2024-08-29 - Ordered to inactive file at the request of Senator Gonzalez. [AB2514 Detail]

Download: California-2023-AB2514-Amended.html

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Amended  IN  Senate  July 03, 2024

Amended  IN  Assembly  May 16, 2024

Amended  IN  Assembly  April 10, 2024

Amended  IN  Assembly  April 01, 2024

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 2514

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Introduced by Assembly Member Aguiar-Curry
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Wood)

February 13, 2024

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An act to amend Sections 42652.5 and 42653 of, and to add Section 40178 to, the Public Resources Code, relating to solid waste.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 2514, as amended, Aguiar-Curry. Solid waste: organic waste: diversion: hydrogen: biomethane.

(1) The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989 generally regulates solid waste disposal, management, and recycling. The act requires each city, county, and regional agency to develop a source reduction and recycling element of an integrated waste management plan. The act requires that element to include a 50% solid waste diversion requirement, as specified, and provides that up to 10% may be achieved through biomass conversion under certain conditions, with biomass conversion defined as the production of heat, fuels, or electricity by certain means from specified materials. One of the conditions for using biomass conversion to satisfy a portion of the solid waste diversion requirement is that pyrolysis not be included in the source reduction and recycling element. Pyrolysis is not defined for that purpose or for other purposes in the act.

This bill would define pyrolysis as the thermal decomposition of organic material at elevated temperatures in the absence or near absence of oxygen.

(2) Existing law requires the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, in consultation with the State Air Resources Board, to adopt regulations, as specified, to achieve the reduction in the organic waste disposed of in landfills. The department’s regulations provide for, among other things, the calculation by the department of recovered organic waste product procurement targets for each local jurisdiction and a list of eligible recovered organic waste products for purposes of the procurement targets.

This bill would require the department, no later than January 1, 2026, to amend those regulations to include, as a recovered organic waste product attributable to a local jurisdiction’s procurement target, hydrogen and pipeline biomethane converted exclusively from organic waste that is separated from other waste, as specified.

(3) Existing law requires the department, in consultation with the state board, to analyze the progress that the waste sector, state government, and local governments have made in achieving the reduction targets for the amounts of organic waste disposed of in landfills. Existing law authorizes the department to provide incentives to facilitate progress toward the reduction targets if the department determines that sufficient progress has not been made.

This bill would require the department, when providing incentives to facilitate progress toward the reduction targets, to consider the life-cycle effects of different projects and then prioritize incentives for landfill diversion projects with the greatest life-cycle benefits. impacts and benefits of different projects.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

 (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(1) Climate scientists agree that reducing methane and other short-lived climate pollutants is the most urgent climate solution because it benefits the climate right away while fossil fuel reductions take decades or centuries to begin to benefit the climate.

(2) Methane is a powerful climate super pollutant that causes 84 times more damage to the climate than carbon dioxide over a 20-year time period.

(3) Methane and black carbon are also harmful air pollutants that damage public health, agricultural productivity, and more.

(4) Reducing methane emissions provides significant and immediate benefits to the climate and to public health.

(5) Existing state law requires a 40-percent reduction in methane emissions by 2030 and diversion of 75 percent of organic landfill waste because landfills emit a significant percentage of California’s methane emissions.

(6) Diverted organic waste can be converted to beneficial products, including renewable energy, compost, and mulch, which benefit the climate and air quality, while providing jobs and economic development.

(7) According to the Legislative Analyst’s Office and the State Air Resources Board, investments in organic waste diversion projects are among the most cost-effective of all climate investments, reducing carbon emissions at a small fraction of the cost of most climate programs.

(8) According to the Little Hoover Commission, the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery must take several steps to accelerate organic waste diversion to meet the methane reduction and landfill diversion requirements of state law.

(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to accelerate the diversion and beneficial reuse of organic landfill waste to meet the requirements of Section 39730.6 of the Health and Safety Code.

(c) It is the intent of the Legislature to support the adoption of additional policies and incentives that maximize the climate, public health, environmental, economic, and community benefits of organic waste diversion and reuse.

SEC. 2.

 Section 40178 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:

40178.

 “Pyrolysis” means the thermal decomposition of material at elevated temperatures in the absence or near absence of oxygen.

SEC. 3.

 Section 42652.5 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:

42652.5.

 (a) The department, in consultation with the State Air Resources Board, shall adopt regulations to achieve the organic waste reduction goals for 2020 and 2025 established in Section 39730.6 of the Health and Safety Code. The regulations shall comply with all of the following:

(1) May require local jurisdictions to impose requirements on generators or other relevant entities within their jurisdiction and may authorize local jurisdictions to impose penalties on generators for noncompliance.

(2) Shall include requirements intended to meet the goal that not less than 20 percent of edible food that is currently disposed of is recovered for human consumption by 2025.

(3) Shall not establish a numeric organic waste disposal limit for individual landfills.

(4) May include different levels of requirements for local jurisdictions and phased timelines based upon their progress in meeting the organic waste reduction goals for 2020 and 2025 established in Section 39730.6 of the Health and Safety Code. The department shall base its determination of progress on relevant factors, including, but not limited to, reviews conducted pursuant to Section 41825, the amount of organic waste disposed of compared to the 2014 level, per capita disposal rates, the review required by Section 42653, and other relevant information provided by a local jurisdiction.

(5) (A) May include penalties to be imposed by the department for noncompliance. If penalties are included, they shall not exceed the amount authorized pursuant to Section 41850.

(B) Notwithstanding any other law, administrative civil penalties for a local jurisdiction that fails to procure a quantity of recovered organic waste products that meets or exceeds its recovered organic waste product procurement target established by the department pursuant to Section 18993.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations shall be imposed pursuant to the following schedule:

(i) On or after January 1, 2023, each jurisdiction shall procure a quantity of recovered organic waste products that meets or exceeds 30 percent of its recovered organic waste product procurement target.

(ii) On or after January 1, 2024, each jurisdiction shall procure a quantity of recovered organic waste products that meets or exceeds 65 percent of its recovered organic waste product procurement target.

(iii) On or after January 1, 2025, each jurisdiction shall procure a quantity of recovered organic waste products that meets or exceeds 100 percent of its recovered organic waste product procurement target.

(6) Shall take effect on or after January 1, 2022, except the imposition of penalties pursuant to paragraph (1) shall not take effect until two years after the effective date of the regulations.

(7) Jurisdictions in possession of a rural exemption pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 18984.12 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, as that section read on January 1, 2022, are exempt from the procurement requirement of this subdivision until December 31, 2026. Beginning January 1, 2027, the department may, in its discretion, provide rural counties and jurisdictions located within rural counties that are exempt from organic waste collection requirements an extended recovered organic waste product procurement target schedule similar to the schedule set forth in this subdivision, which shall be exempt from the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code).

(8) The department may, in its discretion, create an adjusted recovered organic waste product procurement target schedule, not to exceed the requirements of the schedule set forth in this subdivision, which shall be exempt from the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code).

(9) No later than January 1, 2026, the department shall amend subdivision (f) of Section 18993.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations to include in the recovered organic waste products that a jurisdiction may procure to comply with Article 12 (commencing with Section 18993.1) of Chapter 12 of Division 7 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations both hydrogen converted exclusively from organic waste that is separated from other waste at the source, a centralized processing facility, an advanced pretreatment facility, or a high diversion organic waste processing facility and pipeline biomethane converted exclusively from organic waste that is separated from other waste at the source, a centralized processing facility, an advanced pretreatment facility, or a high diversion organic waste processing facility, waste, as defined and described in Article 10 (commencing with Section 650) of Chapter 3 of Part 1 of Division 1 of the Public Utilities Code.

(b) A local jurisdiction may charge and collect fees to recover the local jurisdiction’s costs incurred in complying with the regulations adopted pursuant to this section.

(c) A local jurisdiction facing continuing violations of the regulations adopted pursuant to subdivision (a) that commence during the 2022 calendar year may submit to the department a notification of intent to comply, as described in this section. Upon approval by the department, and implementation by the local jurisdiction, of a notification of intent to comply that meets the requirements of subdivision (e), a local jurisdiction may be eligible for both of the following:

(1) Administrative civil penalty relief for the 2022 calendar year pursuant to subdivision (d).

(2) A corrective action plan pursuant to Section 18996.2 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.

(d) (1) For violations of the regulations that are disclosed in a notification of intent to comply that is approved by the department as meeting the requirements of subdivision (e), the department shall waive administrative civil penalties under paragraph (5) of subdivision (a) during the 2022 calendar year if, and administrative civil penalties shall not accrue under paragraph (5) of subdivision (a) during the 2022 calendar year if, the local jurisdiction implements the proposed actions according to the schedule proposed pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (e).

(2) For violations that commence during the 2022 calendar year and continue into the 2023 calendar year, administrative civil penalties may begin accruing as of January 1, 2023. Those administrative civil penalties accruing on and after January 1, 2023, shall be waived upon complete compliance with the terms of a corrective action plan pursuant to Section 18996.2 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.

(3) If a local jurisdiction fails to adhere to the proposed actions and schedule described in a notification of intent to comply pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (e), the department may revoke its approval of the notification of intent to comply and impose administrative civil penalties for violations occurring during the 2022 calendar year retroactive to the date of violation.

(4) Notwithstanding any proposed actions and schedule provided by a local jurisdiction in an approved notification of intent to comply pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (e), the department may instead address through a corrective action plan any violations disclosed in that notification that may take more than 180 days to correct. Under those circumstances, the proposed actions and schedule provided pursuant to an approved notification of intent to comply pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (e) shall control until a corrective action plan is finalized.

(e) The department shall approve a notification of intent to comply if the department determines the notification meets the requirements of this subdivision. A notification of intent to comply shall be in writing, adopted by formal resolution by the governing body of the local jurisdiction, and filed with the department no later than March 1, 2022. The notification of intent to comply shall include, at a minimum, all of the following:

(1) A description, with specificity, of the continuing violations.

(2) A detailed explanation of the reasons, supported by documentation, why the local jurisdiction is unable to comply.

(3) A description of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on compliance.

(4) A description of the proposed actions the local jurisdiction will take to remedy the violations within the timelines established in Section 18996.2 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations with a proposed schedule for doing so. The proposed actions shall be tailored to remedy the violations in a timely manner.

(f) The department shall respond in writing to a local jurisdiction within 45 business days of receiving a notification of intent to comply with an approval, disapproval, request for additional information, or timeline for a decision on approval or disapproval. If the department disapproves the notification of intent to comply due to the notification not meeting the requirements of subdivision (e), the department shall include in the response a justification for the disapproval.

(g) Notwithstanding Section 18996.2 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, the department may establish any maximum compliance deadline in a corrective action plan that it determines to be necessary and appropriate under the circumstances for the correction of a violation of the regulations adopted pursuant to subdivision (a).

(h) (1) The department may adopt regulations it determines to be necessary to implement and enforce the changes made to this section by Chapter 508 of the Statutes of 2021 as emergency regulations.

(2) Emergency regulations adopted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be adopted in accordance with Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, and for purposes of that chapter, including Section 11349.6 of the Government Code, the adoption of these regulations is an emergency and shall be considered by the Office of Administrative Law as necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, safety, and general welfare. Notwithstanding Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, emergency regulations adopted by the department pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be filed with, but not be repealed by, the Office of Administrative Law and shall remain in effect until January 1, 2024.

SEC. 4.

 Section 42653 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:

42653.

 (a) No later than July 1, 2020, the department, in consultation with the State Air Resources Board, shall analyze the progress that the waste sector, state government, and local governments have made in achieving the organic waste reduction goals for 2020 and 2025 established in Section 39730.6 of the Health and Safety Code. The analysis shall include all of the following:

(1) The status of new organics recycling infrastructure development, including the commitment of state funding and appropriate rate increases for solid waste and recycling services to support infrastructure expansion.

(2) The progress in reducing regulatory barriers to the siting of organics recycling facilities and the timing and effectiveness of policies that will facilitate the permitting of organics recycling infrastructure.

(3) The status of markets for the products generated by organics recycling facilities, including cost-effective electrical interconnection and common carrier pipeline injection of digester biomethane and the status of markets for compost, biomethane, and other products from the recycling of organic waste.

(b) If the department determines that significant progress has not been made on the items analyzed pursuant to subdivision (a), the department may include incentives or additional requirements in the regulations described in Section 42652.5 to facilitate progress toward achieving the organic waste reduction goals for 2020 and 2025 established in Section 39730.6 of the Health and Safety Code. When providing incentives, the department shall, in coordination with the State Air Resources Board, consider the life-cycle effects impacts and benefits of different projects and then prioritize incentives for landfill diversion projects with the greatest life-cycle benefits. projects. The department may, upon consultation with stakeholders, recommend to the Legislature revisions to those organic waste reduction goals.