Bill Text: CA AB323 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Solid waste: recycling: diversion: green materials.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-02-03 - From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [AB323 Detail]
Download: California-2013-AB323-Introduced.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 323 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Chesbro
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Williams)
FEBRUARY 12, 2013
An act to amend Sections 41781.3, 42649.1, and 42649.2 of, and to
add Section 41781.4 to, the Public Resources Code, relating to solid
waste.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 323, as introduced, Chesbro. Solid waste: recycling: diversion:
green materials.
(1) The existing California Integrated Waste Management Act of
1989, which is administered by the Department of Resources Recycling
and Recovery, establishes an integrated waste management program.
Existing law requires each city, county, and regional agency, if any,
to develop a source reduction and recycling element of an integrated
waste management plan. The act requires the source reduction and
recycling element to divert from disposal 50% of all solid waste
subject to the element through source reduction, recycling, and
composting activities, with specified exceptions. Under the act, the
use of solid waste for beneficial reuse in the construction and
operation of a solid waste landfill, including the use of alternative
daily cover, constitutes diversion through recycling and is not
considered disposal.
This bill would require the department to adopt regulations to
provide that, no later than January 1, 2020, the use of green
material as alternative daily cover or alternative intermediate cover
does not constitute diversion through recycling and would be
considered disposal for purposes of the act. The bill would authorize
the department to delay the effective date of this requirement, as
specified. The bill would impose a state-mandated local program by
imposing new duties upon local agencies with regard to the diversion
of solid waste.
This bill would require the department, by January 1, 2015, to
conduct an analysis of the use of residual fines from material
recovery facilities and materials left over from the composting
process for use as alternative daily cover and other forms of
beneficial use in the design and operation of a solid waste landfill.
The bill would require the department to adopt regulations, by July
1, 2015, based on this analysis, if the department makes a specified
determination that residual fines from material recovery facilities
and materials left over from the composting process would serve as
adequate daily cover.
(2) The act requires a business, which is defined as a commercial
or public entity, that generates more than 4 cubic yards of
commercial solid waste per week or is a multifamily residential
dwelling of 5 units or more, to arrange for recycling services.
Existing law also requires jurisdictions to implement a commercial
solid waste recycling program meeting specified elements. Existing
law defines the term "commercial solid waste" by reference to a
specified regulation.
This bill would instead define commercial solid waste in statute
to include all types of solid waste generated by a store, office, or
other commercial or public entity source, including a business or a
multifamily dwelling of 5 or more units. The bill would also require
the department to adopt, by January 1, 2017, regulations to require a
large-quantity commercial organics generator, as defined, to arrange
for separate organics collection and recycling services, except as
specified.
The bill would impose a state-mandated local program by imposing
new duties upon local agencies with regard to the commercial solid
waste program required to be implemented by local agencies.
(3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) With the enactment of the California Integrated Waste
Management Act of 1989 (Division 30 (commencing with Section 40000)
of the Public Resources Code), the Legislature declared that the
Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) and local
agencies shall promote recycling, anaerobic digestion, and
composting over land disposal and transformation.
(b) Since the enactment of the act, local governments and private
industries have worked jointly to create an extensive material
collection infrastructure and have implemented effective programs to
achieve a statewide diversion rate greater than 50 percent.
(c) Although California now leads the nation in waste reduction
and recycling, the state continues to dispose of more than 15 million
tons of compostable organics each year in solid waste landfills.
(d) Composting or anaerobically digesting organic materials
results in substantial environmental and agricultural benefits,
including the reduction of naturally occurring volatile organic
compounds and ammonia.
(e) The Economic and Technology Advancement Advisory Committee,
formed pursuant to the California Global Warming Solutions Act of
2006 (Division 25.5 (commencing with Section 38500) of the Health and
Safety Code), has identified composting and anaerobic digestion as a
cost-effective technology for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
(f) The application of compost in agriculture and landscaping has
been shown to offer significant water quality benefits, provide
erosion control, reduce the need for synthetic fertilizers and
pesticides, and conserve water and irrigation-associated energy.
(g) In 2007, the former state agency that preceded CalRecycle
adopted a Strategic Directive 6.1 to reduce the amount of organics in
the waste stream by 50 percent by the year 2020.
(h) To reduce the landfilling of organics, increase composting and
anaerobic digestion, and meet the organics disposal reduction target
adopted by CalRecycle, the state should reduce barriers to, and
provide incentives for, increasing processing capacity and end-use
markets for compostable organics.
SEC. 2. Section 41781.3 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
41781.3. (a) (1) The use of solid waste for
beneficial reuse in the construction and operation of a solid waste
landfill, including use of alternative daily cover, which reduces or
eliminates the amount of solid waste being disposed pursuant to
Section 40124, shall constitute diversion through recycling and shall
not be considered disposal for the purposes of
this division.
(2) The department shall adopt regulations to provide that, no
later than January 1, 2020, the use of green material, as defined in
regulations by the department, as alternative daily cover or
alternative intermediate cover, does not constitute diversion through
recycling and shall be considered disposal for purposes of this
division.
(3) When adopting regulations pursuant to paragraph (2), the
department may establish requirements for different regions of the
state to be in effect on or before January 1, 2020, but not later
than January 1, 2020.
(4) The department shall provide notice to all operators of
disposal facilities of the requirements in the regulations adopted
pursuant to paragraph (2) one year before the effective date of the
requirements.
(5) The department may, at its sole discretion, delay the
effective date of the regulations required to be adopted pursuant to
paragraph (2) for up to two years if the department determines that
sufficient regional green material processing infrastructure will not
exist to handle this material.
(b) Prior to Befor e
December 31, 1997, pursuant to the board's
department's authority to adopt rules and regulations pursuant
to Section 40502, the board department
shall, by regulation, establish conditions for the use of alternative
daily cover that are consistent with this division. In adopting the
regulations, the board department shall
consider, but is not limited to, all of the following criteria:
(1) Those conditions established in past policies adopted by the
board department affecting the use of
alternative daily cover.
(2) Those conditions necessary to provide for the continued
economic development, economic viability, and employment
opportunities provided by the composting industry in the state.
(3) Those performance standards and limitations on maximum
functional thickness necessary to ensure protection of public health
and safety consistent with state minimum standards.
(c) Until Except as provided in paragraph
(2) of subdivision (a), until the adoption of additional
regulations, the use of alternative daily cover shall be governed by
the conditions established by the board
department in its existing former
regulations set forth in paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) of, and
paragraph (3) of subdivision (c) of, Section 18813 of Title 14 of the
California Code of Regulations, as those sections read on
the effective date of this section January 1, 1997
, and by the conditions established in the board's
department's policy adopted on January 25, 1995.
(d) In adopting rules and regulations pursuant to this section,
Section 40124, and this division, including, but not limited to, Part
2 (commencing with Section 40900), the board
department shall provide guidance to local enforcement
agencies on any conditions and restrictions on the utilization of
alternative daily cover so as to ensure proper enforcement of those
rules and regulations.
SEC. 3. Section 41781.4 is added to the Public Resources Code, to
read:
41781.4. (a) On or before January 1, 2015, the department shall
conduct an analysis of the effect on public health and safety,
consistent with state minimum standards, of the use of residual fines
from material recovery facilities and materials left over from the
composting process for alternative daily cover and other forms of
beneficial use in the design and operation of a solid waste landfill.
(b) On or before July 1, 2015, based on the analysis conducted
pursuant to subdivision (a), if the department determines that fines
from material recovery facilities or materials left over from the
composting process would serve as an adequate daily cover, the
department shall adopt regulations for residual fines from material
recovery facilities or materials left over from the composting
process as an authorized material for use as alternative daily cover
and beneficial reuse at solid waste facility landfills in the state,
which regulations shall include performance standards and limitations
on the maximum functional thickness necessary to ensure protection
of public health and safety, consistent with state minimum standards.
(c) The regulations adopted pursuant to subdivision (b) shall
include performance standards, and may include standards for
screening, processing, and testing material recovery facility fines,
to insure all of the following:
(1) The material does not contain hazardous materials above
approved thresholds.
(2) The material performs adequately in its ability to control
odors, vectors, litter, and scavenging.
(3) The use of the material does not negatively affect the
conditions necessary to provide for the continued economic
development, economic viability, and employment opportunities
provided by the composting and recycling industries in the state.
(d) The regulations adopted pursuant to this section for the use
of residual fines from materials recovery facilities for use as
alternative daily cover or for beneficial reuse in the design and
operation of a solid waste landfill, shall meet both of the following
requirements:
(1) The regulations shall not allow the use of residual fines from
mixed waste processing.
(2) The regulations shall require that any materials left over
from the composting process used as alternative daily cover or
beneficial reuse in the design and operation of a solid waste
landfill not exceed 5 percent of the incoming material at the source
compost facility, by weight.
SEC. 4. Section 42649.1 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
42649.1. For purposes of this chapter, the following
terms mean the following shall apply :
(a) "Business" means a commercial or public entity, including, but
not limited to, a firm, partnership, proprietorship, joint stock
company, corporation, or association that is organized as a
for-profit or nonprofit entity, or a multifamily residential
dwelling.
(b) "Commercial solid waste" has the same meaning as
defined in Section 17225.12 of Title 14 of the California Code of
Regulations includes all types of solid waste
generated by a store, office, or other commercial or public entity
source, including a business or multifamily dwelling of five or more
units .
(c) "Commercial waste generator" means a business subject to
subdivision (a) of Section 42649.2.
(d) "Large-quantity commercial organics generator" means a
business that generates significant amounts of organic waste,
including, but not limited to, food waste and green materials, that
is traditionally disposed of in a solid waste landfill, as determined
by the department.
(d)
(e) "Self-hauler" means a business that hauls its own
waste rather than contracting for that service.
SEC. 5. Section 42649.2 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
42649.2. (a) On and after July 1, 2012, a business that generates
four cubic yards or more of commercial solid waste per week or is a
multifamily residential dwelling of five units or more shall arrange
for recycling services, consistent with state or local laws or
requirements, including a local ordinance or agreement, applicable to
the collection, handling, or recycling of solid waste, to the extent
that these services are offered and reasonably available from a
local service provider.
(b) A commercial waste generator shall take at least one of the
following actions:
(1) Source separate recyclable materials from solid waste and
subscribe to a basic level of recycling service that includes
collection, self-hauling, or other arrangements for the pickup of the
recyclable materials.
(2) Subscribe to a recycling service that may include mixed waste
processing that yields diversion results comparable to source
separation.
(c) A property owner of a multifamily residential dwelling may
require tenants to source separate their recyclable materials to aid
in compliance with this section.
(d) (1) (A) On or before January 1, 2017, the department shall
adopt regulations to require a large-quantity commercial organics
generator to arrange for separate organics collection and recycling
services that may include, but are not limited to, self-hauling.
(B) This paragraph does not apply to green material collected by a
city, county, or other local agency.
(2) When adopting the regulations pursuant to paragraph (1), the
department may establish different timelines for different types of
organic materials, different types of large-quantity commercial
organics generators, and different regions of the state, but the
regulations shall require these requirements to be in effect no later
than January 1, 2017.
SEC. 6. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because a
local agency or school district has the authority to levy service
charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or
level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section
17556 of the Government Code.
