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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