BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 341
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Senator S. Joseph Simitian, Chairman
2011-2012 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 341
AUTHOR: Chesbro
AMENDED: May 5, 2011
FISCAL: Yes HEARING DATE: June 27, 2011
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Caroll
Mortensen
SUBJECT : SOLID WASTE DIVERSION
SUMMARY :
Existing law :
1) Under the California Integrated Waste Management Act (Act)
of 1989:
a) Requires each city or county source reduction and
recycling element to include an implementation schedule
that shows a city or county must divert 25% of solid
waste from landfill disposal or transformation by
January 1, 1995, through source reduction, recycling,
and composting activities, and must divert 50% of solid
waste on and after January 1, 2000. (Public Resources
Code §41780).
b) Requires the Department of Resources Recycling and
Recovery (DRRR) to determine compliance status for
cities and counties in achieving and maintaining the 50%
diversion rate. Jurisdictions are found to be in
compliance by meeting or exceeding the 50% diversion
rate and implementing the programs described in their
plans or by making a good faith effort to implement
their programs but not achieving the 50% diversion rate.
Jurisdictions who do not meet the above are placed on
compliance orders and are subject to fines. (§41850).
c) Authorizes a local governmental agency to determine
aspects of solid waste handling that are of local
concern, such as frequency of collection, levels of
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service, and fees. (§40059).
d) Provides programs for recycling at certain types of
facilities (e.g., schoolsites, large venues), and
requires model ordinances for certain matters (e.g.,
adequate areas for collection and loading of recyclable
materials in development projects; diversion of
construction and demolition materials; solid waste
reduction, reuse, and recycling at large venues).
e) Prohibits a local agency from issuing a building
permit for a development project unless the project
provides for adequate space for collecting and loading
recyclable materials. (§42905)
f) Authorizes DRRR to designate and certify local
enforcement agencies (LEAs) to carry out local
permitting and enforcement of solid waste facilities.
(§43200 et seq.).
g) Prohibits the operator of a solid waste facility from
making a significant change to the design or operation
of a facility that is not authorized in the existing
solid waste facility permit. (§44004).
h) Requires local jurisdictions to prepare, adopt, and
submit to the DRRR, a Non-Disposal Facility Element
(NDFE) which includes a description of new facilities
and expansion of existing facilities, and all solid
waste facility expansions (except disposal and
transformation facilities) that recover for reuse at
least 5% of the total volume. The NDFE must also be
consistent with the implementation of a local
jurisdiction's Source Reduction and Recycling Element.
(§§41730 to 41736).
2) Under the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006
(CGWSA):
a) Requires ARB to determine the 1990 statewide
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions level and approve a
statewide GHG emissions limit that is the equivalent to
that level, to be achieved by 2020 (Health and Safety
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Code §38500 et seq.). ARB must adopt rules and
regulations to achieve GHG emission reductions to
achieve the maximum technologically feasible and
cost-effective reductions in GHGs, subject to certain
requirements (§38562(h)).
b) Requires ARB to prepare and approve a scoping plan
for achieving the maximum technologically feasible and
cost-effective reductions in GHG emissions from sources
or categories of sources of GHGs by 2020. ARB must
evaluate the total potential costs and total potential
economic and noneconomic benefits of the plan for
reducing GHGs to the state's economy, and public health,
using the best economic models, emission estimation
techniques, and other scientific methods. The plan must
be updated at least once every five years. (§38561).
3) Authorizes the ARB to adopt GHG emission limits or emission
reduction measures prior to January 1, 2011, imposing those
limits or measures prior to January 1, 2012, or providing
early reduction credit where appropriate. (§38563).
This bill :
1) Adds extensive findings and declarations related to
recycling and recycling infrastructure.
2) Requires that the DRRR must ensure that by January 1, 2020,
and annually thereafter, 75% of the solid waste generated
in California is source reduced, recycled or composted.
3) Requires that by January 1, 2012, any owner or operator of
a business that contracts for solid waste services and
generates more than 4 cubic yards of material 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.
4) Requires that each jurisdiction implement a commercial
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solid waste recycling program appropriate for that
jurisdiction designed to divert solid waste generated from
businesses as described.
5) Adds to the list of determinations that a LEA can make when
reviewing a solid waste facility permit. Allows the LEA to
consider whether to require a modification for a proposed
change in maximum tonnage if it is provided for within the
existing design capacity as described in the facility
transfer processing report as well as relevant permits and
environmental review pursuant to the California
Environmental Quality Act.
6) Changes the due date for the State Agency Recycling Program
annual report from September 1st to May 1st.
7) Proposes changes to the amendment process for NDFEs that
would allow changes without approval by the local task
force and instead require the jurisdiction making the
change to provide the information to the local task force
as described.
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of Bill . According to the author, California is a
national leader in diverting waste from landfills by
currently diverting 58% of all waste, which is well above
the state's 50% mandate. The state has achieved this
mandate in part by increasing recycling opportunities
through the Integrated Waste Management Act. Despite the
state's high diversion rate, Californians still dispose more
waste than the national average. There are measures that
can be taken, such as mandatory commercial and multifamily
residential recycling, that will decrease the state's solid
waste disposal and increase its diversion rate.
Additionally, new waste diversion of 75% will help
facilitate more source reduction, recycling, and composting
in the state.
2)Right Timing for New Policy Direction . With the elimination
of the Integrated Waste Management Board (IWMB) concerns
have been raised that the mission and direction of the
policies under the purview of the new DRRR are stagnate. AB
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341 provides renewed policy direction that the new
department needs to focus on implementing its existing
legislatively mandated programs toward ensuring 75%
diversion. This bill moves the state toward even more
aggressive diversion efforts that are necessary to
compensate for population growth and increases in per capita
generation of waste by requiring DRRR to ensure that by
2020, 75% of the solid waste generated is diverted from
landfill disposal. This also represents a shift toward
statewide diversion efforts to complement the efforts
already being accomplished by local jurisdictions.
3)Regulations requiring commercial recycling . Under the
CGWSA, ARB must prepare and approve a scoping plan for
achieving the maximum technologically feasible and
cost-effective reductions in GHG emissions from sources or
categories of sources of GHGs by 2020. According to the
ARB, the scoping plan "contains the main strategies
California will use to reduce ÝGHGs] that cause climate
change. The scoping plan has a range of GHG reduction
actions which include direct regulations, alternative
compliance mechanisms, monetary and non-monetary incentives,
voluntary actions, market-based mechanisms such as a
cap-and-trade system, and Ýa CGWSA] program implementation
regulation to fund the program."
The scoping plan identifies the solid waste sector as a
significant source of GHG emissions, and a scoping plan
measure to reduce GHG emissions in this sector includes
mandatory commercial recycling. The mandatory commercial
recycling measure is expected to achieve a reduction in GHG
emissions of 5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide
equivalents.
The DRRR began workshops for the mandatory commercial
recycling measure rulemaking process in August 2009.
January 1, 2012, is the planned effective date of the
recycling regulation, and July 1, 2012, is the planned
effective date for jurisdictions and businesses to implement
the commercial recycling programs. Some sources indicate
that these dates may be adjusted.
4) Non-disposal Facility Element (NDFE) . A NDFE is one of a
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local jurisdiction's planning documents required by the
Act. It identifies IWMB permitted "non-disposal"
facilities used by a jurisdiction to help reach the
diversion mandates. Non-disposal facilities that require a
solid waste facility permit are primarily materials
recovery facilities (MRF) that accept mixed municipal solid
waste, compost facilities, and transfer stations. A
jurisdiction's NDFE may also include other facilities not
defined as non-disposal facilities, such as recycling
centers and drop-off centers.
A jurisdiction must amend its NDFE when siting a new
non-disposal facility within its jurisdiction that was not
previously identified in its NDFE. The NDFE is linked to
the solid waste permitting process by a conformance finding,
made first by the LEA for the county, and corroborated by
the DRRR. A conformance finding is verification that the
location of a permitted disposal facility is identified in
the appropriate county's siting element or that a
non-disposal facility is identified in the appropriate NDFE.
5)Changes to a Solid Waste Facility Permit . An operator of a
solid waste facility cannot make a significant change to
design or operation unless specified criteria are met and
approved by the LEA. And, depending on the modification,
the IWMB must also approve the change. This bill attempts
to clarify that if an operator is proposing changes to the
facility that are within the permitted parameters that those
changes would trigger a permit modification rather than a
full permit revision. However, the language proposed in the
bill requires clarification to accomplish this.
6)Related Legislation .
a) AB 818 (Blumenfeld) of 2011 enacts the Renters Right
to Recycle Act that requires a multifamily dwelling
owner, on and after July 1, 2010, to arrange for
recycling services that are appropriate and available for
the multifamily dwelling, consistent with state or local
law or requirements, including a local ordinance or
agreement applicable to the collection, handling, or
recycling of solid waste. A "multifamily dwelling" is
defined as a residential facility consisting of five or
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more living units.
b) AB 479 (Chesbro) of 2009 (Senate Appropriations
Committee August 17, 2009, amendments applied the
commercial recycling requirements to multifamily
dwellings of 5 units or more) was held on the Committee's
suspense file; and AB 737 (Chesbro) was amended on the
Senate Floor September 4, 2009, to include the commercial
recycling and other provisions, and was re-referred to
the Senate Appropriations Committee, approved by the
Committee and the Senate, and vetoed by Governor
Schwarzenegger.
c) SB 25 (Padilla) of 2009-10 increased the diversion
rate mandate for local jurisdictions for solid waste from
50% to 60% by 2015. The bill mandates commercial
recycling for entities that generate more than 4 cubic
yards of solid waste per week. This bill also made a
variety of changes to existing laws relating to permit
review, solid waste tipping fees, illegal dumping and
refuse service providers. A June 28, 2010, hearing of
the Assembly Natural Resources Committee was canceled at
the author's request.
d) SB 1020 (Padilla) of 2007, required IWMB to develop a
plan to achieve a 75% statewide rate of solid waste
diversion from landfills and other disposal facilities by
January 1, 2020. This bill was held in the Assembly
Appropriations Committee.
7)Amendment needed . The author has indicated that it is not
the intent of AB 341 to place further diversion requirements
on local governments. An amendment is needed to clarify that
the 75% diversion obligation is a statewide effort for DRRR
and does not place additional diversion responsibility on
local jurisdictions. Also, due to conflicts with AB 818
(Blumenfield), AB 818 cannot be approved if AB 341 is
approved unless either: a) the provisions of AB 818 are
replaced with the AB 341 commercial recycling provisions
(Public Resources Code §§42649.1 and 42649.2); or b) a new
section is added to AB 341 (SEC. 11.5) striking a reference
to multifamily residential dwellings in §42649.2(a) that
would become law only if both bills are signed.
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SOURCE : Californians Against Waste
SUPPORT : California League of Conservation Voters
Center for Biological Diversity
Ecology Action
Environment California
Planning and Conservation League
National Resources Defense Council
Sierra Club California
OPPOSITION : County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors
Los Angeles County Solid Waste Management
Committee
Orange County Board of Supervisors