BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1150
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 20, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Nancy Skinner, Chair
AB 1150 (Gaines) - As Amended: April 20, 2009
SUBJECT : State government: integrated waste management board:
abolishment
SUMMARY : Abolishes the California Integrated Waste Management
Board (CIWMB) and transfers all of its powers, duties, purposes,
responsibilities, and jurisdiction to the Department of
Conservation (DOC) and the Department of Toxic Substances
Control (DTSC).
EXISTING LAW :
1)Pursuant to the Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989,
establishes CIWMB within the California Environmental
Protection Agency (CalEPA) and lays out membership and duties
of the board, including implementation and enforcement of the
Act. A partial list of CIWMB's oversight responsibilities
includes:
a) Compliance with the state's 50% diversion mandate and
local government integrated waste management plans and
implementation of all plan elements, source reduction and
recycling elements, and household hazardous waste elements
;
b) Various market development and recycling programs,
including the Recycled Market Development Loan Program, the
Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003, recycled content
requirements for newsprint, plastic trash bags, rigid
plastic packaging containers (and related program), the
re-treaded tire program and the California Tire Recycling
Act, the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Act of 2006, the
Cell Phone Recycling Act of 2004, telephone directory
recycling, and the large venue recycling program.
c) Permiting, inspecting, regulation, and providing
enforcement for all solid waste facilities and solid waste
disposal facilities, including certifying and overseeing
local enforcement agencies.
AB 1150
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d) Administering numerous grant and loan programs,
including the Solid Waste Disposal and Codisposal Cleanup
Program, the Farm and Ranch Solid Waste Cleanup and
Abatement Program, the Landfill Closure Loan Program, and
the California Used Oil Enhancement Program.
2)Establishes DTSC within CalEPA. DTSC is responsible for the
oversight of hazardous waste management and includes programs
to: Regulate hazardous waste, including permitting and
inspecting hazardous waste disposal facilities; Oversee and
perform cleanup activities at sites contaminated with
hazardous substances; Encourage pollution prevention and the
development of environmentally protective technologies;
Provide regulatory assistance and public education; and,
Implement the Green Chemistry program.
3)Establishes DOC within the Natural Resources Agency (NRA) and
grants DOC oversight over a variety of resource conservation
programs. Pursuant to the California Beverage Container
Recycling and Litter Reduction Act (Bottle Bill), establishes
the Division of Recycling (DOR) within DOC. DOC is charged
with implementing and enforcing the Bottle Bill. DOC also
oversees: the California Geological Survey, the State Mining
and Geology Board, and the Office of Mine Reclamation; the
Division of Land Resource Protection; and, the Oil, Gas, and
Geothermal division.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Background. The Integrated Waste Management Act established
CIWMB with a board structure to provide an open and public
process for all activities related to waste management and
achieving the state's recycling mandate. CIWMB has an
extensive record of stakeholder involvement and holds numerous
workshops in addition to monthly public committee and board
meetings that are governed by open-meeting laws.
In 1994, the Little Hoover Commission published Beyond Bottles
and Cans: Reorganizing California's Recycling Efforts. The
report examined whether an "orphan recycling program" (the
Bottle Bill), which predates the creation of CIWMB, can be as
effective and as efficient as one that is an integral part of
the state's overall solid waste management program. In short,
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the report recommended combining CIWMB and DOR into a new
department under CalEPA.
Since the report, various proposals to merge CIWMB and DOR
have circulated. None have gained traction in Legislature.
The most common proposal has been to incorporate DOR into
CIWMB, which would consolidate all recycling programs under
one entity, it would also preserve the numerous opportunities
for public participation provided by a board structure with
open, public board meetings.
The Governor's 2009-2010 Budget proposes to consolidate the
state's waste and recycling functions and eliminate CIWMB by
moving all recycling programs to DOC and all solid waste
management programs to the Department of Toxic Substances
Control (DTSC). The Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) has
previously recommended (Analysis of the 2005-2006 Budget Bill)
a scheme similar to that proposed by the Little Hoover
Commission in 1994. The LAO raises two issues relating to the
Governor's proposal. First, because solid waste management
and recycling are so closely linked, the LAO recommends
housing these functions within CalEPA. Second, the LAO
questions the efficacy of moving these functions to DOC,
rather than moving the one recycling program within DOC to
CalEPA.
This bill. According to the author, this bill "reflects the
reorganization plan proposed in The Governor's Roadmap for
More Efficient Government issued January 16, 2009." The
author estimates that this bill would provide a special fund
savings of $2 million annually. This bill provides no General
Fund saving; the Integrated Waste Management Fund, which
provides all funding for the CIWMB, is fully funded.
There are significant concerns relating to this proposal.
Many of CIWMB's existing programs deal directly with
permitting, enforcement, source reduction, and recycling of
specific waste types. For example, the waste tire program
regulates and registers waste tire haulers, cleans up waste
tire piles, and provides grants and loans for waste tire
recycling programs. Organic waste is generally collected
separately from solid waste, but is handled and composted at
facilities permitted by CIWMB. These are both solid waste
management and recycling programs. Splitting these programs
based on whether they are deemed waste management or recycling
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is neither effective nor efficient. Waste management and
recycling in California is intended to be a closed loop system
involving source reduction, reuse, and recycling to the extent
feasible with disposal as a last resort. The components are
all interrelated. This bill would additionally eliminate the
significant public access provided by a board structure.
3)Related legislation . SB 44 (Denham) is identical to AB 1150.
SB 44 is scheduled to be heard in the Senate Environmental
Quality Committee on April 27th.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file
Opposition
Californians Against Waste
California Teamsters
County of Santa Clara
International Longshore and Warehouse Union
Safety-Kleen Systems, Inc.
Sierra Club California
Analysis Prepared by : Lawrence Lingbloom / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092