BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 900
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 2, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Wesley Chesbro, Chair
AB 900 (Swanson) - As Amended: April 26, 2011
SUBJECT : Public school campuses: recycling and composting bins
SUMMARY : Requires, commencing with the 2012-2013 school year, a
school district to provide recycling bins and composting bins,
to the extent feasible, on each elementary and secondary school
campus
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires local governments to divert 50% of solid waste
disposed by their jurisdictions through source reduction,
recycling, and composting.
2)Establishes as a goal of the Legislature to have school
districts and individual schoolsites cooperate with cities and
counties in developing plans and programs to meet and exceed
the state's 50% solid waste diversion mandate.
3)Encourages every school district and schoolsite to implement
source reduction, recycling, and composting programs that
reduce waste, conserve resources, provide publics with
hands-on learning experiences, and minimize the expenditure of
taxpayer and education dollars on solid waste collection and
disposal.
4)Requires the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery
(Department) to develop and implement a source reduction and
recycling program for school districts that includes, among
other things, development of a model waste reduction and
recycling program.
THIS BILL :
1)Requires, commencing with the 2012-2013 school year, a school
district to provide composting bins, to the extent feasible,
and recycling bins on each elementary and secondary school
campus.
2)Requires each school district to determine the number of bins
AB 900
Page 2
to be located on a campus on the basis of the size of both the
pupil population and the surface area of that campus.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Background. According to the California Statewide Waste
Characterization Study (December, 1999), education, as an
industry, produces 763,917 tons of waste per year, comprised
predominantly of organic materials (food, leaves and grass)
and paper products. School waste reduction programs can have
economic, environmental, and educational benefits.
In 2003, the state conducted a survey of school districts to
assess their level of efforts in implementing waste reduction
programs. Forty-two percent of school districts responded to
the survey, representing 55% of all schools. The survey found
that "92% of districts appear to be participating in some
level of recycling programs. Of the districts that reported
participating in recycling activities, the most commonly
recycled materials include: aluminum cans, white paper, and
cardboard. Based upon survey results, implementation of a
formalized district-wide recycling program appears to relate
to school district size. A greater percentage of larger
school districts reported having the district coordinate
district-wide recycling activities as well as having a service
contract for collection of recyclables than reported by
smaller districts." The survey also indicated that 44% of
school districts had some type of composting program, with the
most common type of composting material being grass clippings,
landscape trimmings and garden trimmings.
This bill requires school districts to provide all elementary
and secondary schoolsites with recycling bins and composting
bins, to the extent feasible. The bill, however, does not
specify the type(s) of composting or recycling bins required
to be placed on each schoolsite. For example, if a school
district provides bins only for paper recycling and landscape
composting, is it in compliance? In order to help school
districts understand the intention of this bill, the author
may wish to consider specifying the type(s) of recycling and
composting a district is required to maintain.
2)Previous Legislation. A related prior bill, SB 1321 (Correa),
AB 900
Page 3
introduced in 2008, would have required a school district,
only to the extent that it does not incur costs, to consult
with a local Community Conservation Corps or another recycler
to provide and maintain a sufficient number of beverage
container recycling bins at each school site and district
office. The bill was held in the Assembly Appropriations
Committee suspense file.
3)Double referral . This bill passed out of the Assembly
Education Committee on April 13, 2011 with a vote of 7-3.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Communities for a Better Environment
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Mario DeBernardo / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092