BILL ANALYSIS Ó ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 818| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ THIRD READING Bill No: AB 818 Author: Blumenfield (D), et al Amended: 7/1/11 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE : 6-1, 6/27/11 AYES: Simitian, Blakeslee, Hancock, Kehoe, Lowenthal, Pavley NOES: Strickland ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 51-25, 5/19/11 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Solid waste: multifamily dwellings: SOURCE : Author DIGEST : This bill enacts the Renters' Right to Recycle Act which requires an owner of a multifamily dwelling (MFD) with five or more living units to arrange for recycling services that are appropriate and available for the MFD, as specified. ANALYSIS : Existing Law : 1. Local agencies to divert 50 percent of solid waste disposed by their jurisdictions on and after the year 2000 through source reduction, recycling, and composting. CONTINUED AB 818 Page 2 2. Local enforcement agencies for solid waste (generally cities or counties) to enforce statewide minimum enforcement standards for solid waste handling and disposal. 3. Local agencies to annually submit a report to the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) summarizing progress in reducing and diverting solid waste as part of their diversion mandates. 4. Local agencies, on and after September 1, 1994, to adopt ordinances relating to adequate areas for collecting and loading recyclable materials in development projects and prohibits a local agency from issuing a building permit after July 1, 2005, for a building that does not comply with this requirement. This bill: 1. Requires an owner of a MFD to arrange for recycling services that are appropriate and available for the MFD. For the purposes of the bill an MFD is a residential facility that consists of five or more living units. 2. States that an owner of an MFD is not required to arrange for recycling services if: A. There is inadequate space for recycling containers, as certified by a solid waste enterprise that would otherwise serve the MFD. The certification is to be valid for no more than five years and is to include the following: (1) Address of the multifamily dwelling. (2) Name, address, telephone number, a d email address of the multifamily dwelling owner. (3) Name, address, telephone number, business license number, and email address of the solid CONTINUED AB 818 Page 3 waste enterprise making the required certification. (4) Date of certification. (5) Name and title of the person making the certification. B. The above shall not apply to a multifamily dwelling for which a building permit is required on or after either of the following dates whichever is later: The effective date of an ordinance required pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 42911 of the Public Resources Code that was adopted prior to September 1, 1994, if the effective date of the ordinance is prior to September 1, 1996. C. The cost of recycling services creates a financial hardship for the MFD owner. An owner can claim a financial hardship if the recycling services result in a cost increase of 30 percent or more over the cost of providing solid waste service alone. As part of the claim, the owner must include the contact information of the solid waste enterprise that provided the information on which the claim is made. The claim is valid for no more than five years. This bill does not interfere with or prevent a local jurisdiction from requiring recycling services for multifamily dwellings. 3. Will not become operative only if AB 341 (Chesbro), 2011-12 Session, is not enacted and does not become effective on or before January 1, 2012. Comments According to the author's office, more than 7.1 million Californians live in approximately 2.4 million MFDs. Most of these residents are renters, but fewer than 40 percent of them have access to recycling services where they live. CONTINUED AB 818 Page 4 While a homeowner can choose to recycle, a renter who wants to recycle is not able to when his/her landlord does not provide the opportunity to do so. In California, about eight percent of the disposed waste stream (3.3 million tons) comes from MFDs. Additionally, MFDs account for nearly 45 percent of housing units in San Francisco, 34 percent in Los Angeles, and 29 percent in San Diego--significantly higher than the national average of 16 percent. Successful recycling programs in multifamily housing require the education, participation, and commitment of residents, the cooperation of local agencies, and the participation of solid waste haulers. A 2001 report prepared by the Integrated Waste Management Board, "Recycling in Multifamily Dwellings," concludes that much of the cost associated with recycling at MFDs is offset by reduced disposal fees. Regulations requiring commercial recycling . Under the California Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA), the California Air Resource Board (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 ARB, the scoping plan "contains the main strategies California will use to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) 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. CalRecycle began workshops for the mandatory commercial recycling measure rulemaking process in August 2009. CONTINUED AB 818 Page 5 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. Related legislation AB 399 (Montanez) of 2005 and AB 2206 (Montanez) of 2006, amended the California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989 to address various multifamily recycling matters (e.g., development of a multifamily model ordinance for local agencies; development of model multifamily owner tenant notification documents on how tenants can reduce, reuse, and recycle solid waste materials; multifamily dwelling owner notice to new tenants regarding recycling services). Both bills were vetoed. According to Governor Schwarzenegger in vetoing AB 2206, "While I support efforts to reduce the amount of solid waste going to our landfills, the mandates in this measure are overly prescriptive and create significant state, local and private compliance costs." The Governor encouraged the California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB) "to continue in its efforts to provide adequate tools and resources to local jurisdictions in order to make available increased recycling opportunities for multifamily dwelling residents." AB 3056 (Assembly Natural Resources Committee) Chapter 907, Statutes of 2006, makes various amendments to the Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act, including authorization to fund up to $5 million in grants from January 1, 2007, to January 1, 2008, to local governments or nonprofit agencies to place multifamily housing source separated beverage container recycling receptacles in low-income communities. SB 1021 (Padilla) Chapter 724, Statutes of 2007, continues this program from January 1, 2008, to January 1, 2009, increased the authorized funding for the year to $15 million, and did not limit the program to low-income communities. AB 548 (Levine) of 2007 required an owner or operator of a multifamily dwelling to arrange for recycling services appropriate for the multifamily dwelling, consistent with CONTINUED AB 818 Page 6 state or local law or requirements applicable to the collection, handling, or recycling of solid waste. In vetoing AB 548, Governor Schwarzenegger cited increased multifamily dwelling owner costs and local government authority to require recycling at these dwellings, while again encouraging CIWMB efforts, as noted in the AB 2206 veto message. AB 822 (Levine) was amended in 2008 to mirror AB 548 and remained on the Senate Inactive File. AB 473 (Blumenfield) of 2009 mirrored AB 548 and AB 822, except that AB 473 was amended on the Senate Floor after approval by the Senate Environmental Quality Committee June 22, 2009 (5-2), to require the recycling services to be available, while also adding exceptions to the requirement. Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed AB 473, citing concerns similar to those raised in the AB 548 veto message. AB 341 (Chesbro) of 2011 requires CalRecycle to ensure that 75 percent of solid waste to be source reduced, recycled, or composted; enacts the Recycling of Commercial Solid Waste Law; and amends other provisions of the California Integrated Waste Management Act. The AB 341 Recycling of Commercial Solid Waste Law requires the owner or operator of a business or a multifamily residential dwelling of five units or more to arrange for recycling services. Previous bills addressing commercial recycling include SB 25 (Padilla) of 2009-10 that was subsequently amended to address rendering issues and an Assembly Natural Resources Committee hearing was canceled at the author's request; AB 479 of 2009 (Chesbro) (Senate Appropriations Committee August 17, 2009, amendments applied the commercial recycling requirements to multifamily dwellings of 5 units or more) that 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 in 2010. In vetoing AB 737, Governor Schwarzenegger indicated that the bill is "unnecessary and duplicative of actions already being undertaken by state agencies" - including CalRecycle's development of commercial recycling regulations in accordance with the CGWSA scoping plan. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No CONTINUED AB 818 Page 7 Local: No SUPPORT : (Verified 6/27/11) (per Senate Environmental Quality Committee analysis) (Unable to verify at the time of writing) California State Association of Counties City of Oakland Ecology Action ASSEMBLY FLOOR : AYES: Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Davis, Dickinson, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani, Gatto, Gordon, Hall, Hayashi, Roger Hernández, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Lara, Bonnie Lowenthal, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Portantino, Skinner, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez NOES: Achadjian, Bill Berryhill, Conway, Cook, Donnelly, Beth Gaines, Garrick, Hagman, Halderman, Harkey, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Logue, Mansoor, Miller, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Silva, Smyth, Valadao, Wagner NO VOTE RECORDED: Alejo, Gorell, Grove, Ma DLW:do 7/1/11 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED