BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 341|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 341
Author: Chesbro (D), et al.
Amended: 9/2/11 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE : 6-1, 6/27/11
AYES: Simitian, Blakeslee, Hancock, Kehoe, Lowenthal,
Pavley
NOES: Strickland
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 6-3, 8/25/11
AYES: Kehoe, Alquist, Lieu, Pavley, Price, Steinberg
NOES: Walters, Emmerson, Runner
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 48-28, 5/31/11 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Solid waste: diversion
SOURCE : Californians Against Waste
DIGEST : This bill requires a commercial waste generator
to arrange for recycling services; requires a local
government to implement a commercial solid waste recycling
program designed to divert solid waste from businesses; and
also requires the Department of Resources and Recycling and
Recovery, on or before January 1, 2014 to submit a report
to the Legislature that provides strategies to achieve the
state's policy goal that not less than 75 percent of added
waste generated be source reduced, recycle, or composted by
the year 2020, and annually thereafter which is to include
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specified information.
Senate Floor Amendments of 9/2/11 make technical and
clarifying changes to the proposed commercial recycling
program for improved implementation. Specifically the
amendments (1) move the effective date of the commercial
recycling program back six months to July 1, 2012; (2)
clarify that owners of multifamily dwellings may require
tenants to separate recyclable; (3) require that local
jurisdictions report on their commercial recycling program
through their existing reporting requirements as part of
the Act; (4) clarify how a local jurisdiction would meet a
'good faith effort', as defined, for purposes of
implementing its commercial recycling program; and (5) make
other related, technical and clarifying changes.
ANALYSIS : Existing Law :
1. Requires local governments to divert 50 percent of solid
waste disposed by their jurisdictions through source
reduction, recycling, and composting.
2. Requires a local government to have a source reduction
and recycling plan that places primary emphasis on
implementation of all feasible source reduction,
recycling, and composting programs while identifying the
amount of landfill and transformation capacity that will
be needed for solid waste that cannot be reduced at the
source, recycled, or composted.
3. Requires a local government to have a nondisposal
facility plan that includes all solid waste facilities
and solid waste facility expansions that will help the
local government reach its waste diversion mandate.
4. Requires, as of 1994, a local government to have
ordinances relating to adequate areas for collection and
loading of recyclable materials at commercial,
industrial, and multifamily development projects.
Prohibits, as of 2005, a local government from issuing a
building permit to a development project unless the
development project provides adequate space for
collecting and loading recyclable materials.
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This bill:
1. Makes a legislative declaration that it is the policy
goal of the state that not less than 75 percent of solid
waste generated by source reduced, recycled, or
composted by the year 2020, and requires DRRR, by
January 1, 2014, to provide a report to the Legislature
that provides strategies to achieve that policy goal and
also includes other specified information and
recommendations. Allows DRRRR to provide the report
required by this bill the annual progress report if the
combined report is submitted by January 1, 2014.2.
2. Requires a city, county, city and county, or regional
agency to update all information required to be included
in the nondisposal facility element, and provides that
the update is not subject to approval by DRRR or comment
and review by a local task force.
3. Requires a business, defined to include a commercial or
public entity that generates more than four cubic yards
of commercial solid waste per week or is a multifamily
residential dwelling of five units or more to arrange
for recycling services, on and after July 1, 2012.
Requires a commercial waste generator to take specified
actions with regard to recyclable materials. Requires a
jurisdiction, on and after July 1, 2012, to implement a
commercial solid waste recycling program meeting
specified elements but does not require the jurisdiction
to revise its source reduction and recycling element if
the jurisdiction adds or expands a commercial solid
waste recycling program to meet this requirement.
Authorizes a local agency to charge and collect a fee
from a commercial waste generator to recover the local
agency's costs incurred in complying with the commercial
solid waste recycling program requirements. Requires
DRRR to review a jurisdiction's compliance with the 50
percent solid waste diversion requirement and authorizes
DRRR to review a jurisdiction's compliance pursuant to a
specified procedure.
4. Changes the due date for the State Agency Recycling
Program annual report from September 1st to May 1st.
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5. Proposes changes to the amendment process for
non-disposal facility elements that allows changes
without approval by the local task force and instead
requires the jurisdiction making the change to provide
the information to the local task force as described.
Prior/Related Legislation
AB 818 (Blumenfield), 2011-12 Session, requires owners of
multifamily residential buildings to provide recycling
services. That bill is on the Governor's desk.
SB 1020 (Padilla), 2007-08 Session, would have required the
Integrated Waste Management Board to develop a plan to
achieve a 75 percent diversion rate by 2020. That bill was
held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
SB 25 (Padilla), 2009-10 Session, would have increased the
required diversion rate to 60 percent by 2015 and also
generally required businesses to contract for recycling
services. That bill was held in the Assembly Natural
Resources Committee.
AB 479 (Chesbro), 2009-10 Session, was substantially
similar to this bill. AB 479 was held on this committee's
suspense file.
AB 737 (Chesbro), 2009-10 Session, would have implemented a
commercial recycling program and required the Department to
report to the Legislature on potential strategies to
achieve a 75 percent diversion rate. That bill was vetoed
by Governor Schwarzenegger.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
Unknown with latest amendments.
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/6/11)
Californians Against Waste (source)
California League of Conservation Voters
California Refuse Recycling Council
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Center for Biological Diversity
City and County of San Francisco
City of San Jose
City of Oakland
Commercial Recycling and Waste Diversion
Environment California
Marin Resource Recovery
Marin Sanitary Service
Natural Resources Defense Council
Planning and Conservation League
Republic Services, Inc.
Sierra Club California
Varner Bros., Inc.
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/30/11)
Orange County Board of Supervisors
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the sponsor of the
bill, the Californians Against Waste and the author's
office, diversion of solid waste from landfill benefits
California in numerous ways. The author's office notes
California's success at reducing the portion of its solid
waste it buries in the ground, highlighting that, according
to Cal Recycle, the state diverts from landfill 58 percent
of the solid waste it generates each year. The author's
office also notes, however, the amount of waste generated
in California per person continues to climb and that it is
important for the state to work towards further reducing
the amount of solid waste going to landfill. The author's
office contends the waste diversion goal established in
this bill will help the state achieve further waste
reduction and that the mandatory commercial waste reduction
will provide opportunities to do so.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Block,
Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan,
Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, Carter, Cedillo,
Chesbro, Davis, Dickinson, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes,
Furutani, Galgiani, Gatto, Gordon, Hall, Hayashi, Roger
Hernández, Hill, Hueso, Huffman, Lara, Bonnie Lowenthal,
Ma, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, V. Manuel Pérez,
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Portantino, Skinner, Solorio, Swanson, Wieckowski,
Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
NOES: Achadjian, Bill Berryhill, Conway, Cook, Donnelly,
Fletcher, Beth Gaines, Garrick, Grove, Hagman, Halderman,
Harkey, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Logue, Mansoor, Miller,
Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Perea, Silva,
Smyth, Valadao, Wagner
NO VOTE RECORDED: Gorell, Huber, Pan, Torres
DLW:do 9/6/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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