BILL NUMBER: AB 34	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Williams

                        DECEMBER 6, 2010

   An act to amend Section 42231 of the Public Resources Code,
relating to solid waste.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 34, as introduced, Williams. Solid waste: compost market
program.
   Existing law, the California Integrated Waste Management Act of
1989, establishes a compost market program to increase the use of
compost products, including requiring the Department of General
Services and Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery to
maintain specifications for the purchase of compost by the state and
requiring the Department of Transportation to use compost in place
of, or to supplement, petroleum-based commercial fertilizers in the
state's highway landscape maintenance program. The term compost is
defined, for purposes of this program, as the product resulting from
the controlled biological decomposition of organic wastes that are
source separated from the municipal solid waste stream.
   This bill would specify that these organic wastes include, but are
not limited to, vegetable, yard, and wood wastes that are not
hazardous waste.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION. 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) The Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery estimates
that 32 percent of the solid waste sent to landfills every year is
compostable organic material.
   (b) The department is committed to reducing, by the year 2020, the
amount of organic material in the solid waste stream to 50 percent
of the amount that is currently sent to landfills.
   (c) In order to meet that goal, the department has identified the
need for diverting waste from landfills at a rate of 15 to 18 million
tons per year and increasing compost production and markets.
   (d) According to the department, to achieve a reduction in the
organic waste stream of 50 percent by 2020, the state would need to
increase the capacity to process organic waste materials by as many
as 96 new facilities, resulting in the creation of hundreds of green
jobs.
    (e) Diverting organic materials from landfills results in
substantial environmental benefits, including the reduction of
methane and other volatile organic compounds.
   (f) Further, compost, as an end product, can provide significant
agricultural benefits, such as erosion control and water
conservation.
   (g) Recognizing these benefits, the state should work to increase
the diversion of organic materials from landfills by increasing
processing capacity and end-use markets.
  SEC. 2.  Section 42231 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
   42231.  "Compost" means the product resulting from the controlled
biological decomposition of organic wastes  , including, but not
limited to, vegetable, yard, and wood wastes that are not hazardous
waste, and  that are  sources   source
 separated from the municipal solid waste stream.