California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 323

Introduced by Assembly Member Chesbro

(Coauthor: Assembly Member Williams)

February 12, 2013

An act to amend Sections 41781.3, 42649.1, and 42649.2 of, and to add Section 41781.4 to, the Public Resources Code, relating to solid waste.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 323, as introduced, Chesbro. Solid waste: recycling: diversion: green materials.

(1) The existing California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, which is administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, establishes an integrated waste management program. Existing law requires each city, county, and regional agency, if any, to develop a source reduction and recycling element of an integrated waste management plan. The act requires the source reduction and recycling element to divert from disposal 50% of all solid waste subject to the element through source reduction, recycling, and composting activities, with specified exceptions. Under the act, the use of solid waste for beneficial reuse in the construction and operation of a solid waste landfill, including the use of alternative daily cover, constitutes diversion through recycling and is not considered disposal.

This bill would require the department to adopt regulations to provide that, no later than January 1, 2020, the use of green material as alternative daily cover or alternative intermediate cover does not constitute diversion through recycling and would be considered disposal for purposes of the act. The bill would authorize the department to delay the effective date of this requirement, as specified. The bill would impose a state-mandated local program by imposing new duties upon local agencies with regard to the diversion of solid waste.

This bill would require the department, by January 1, 2015, to conduct an analysis of the use of residual fines from material recovery facilities and materials left over from the composting process for use as alternative daily cover and other forms of beneficial use in the design and operation of a solid waste landfill. The bill would require the department to adopt regulations, by July 1, 2015, based on this analysis, if the department makes a specified determination that residual fines from material recovery facilities and materials left over from the composting process would serve as adequate daily cover.

(2) The act requires a business, which is defined as a commercial or public entity, that generates more than 4 cubic yards of commercial solid waste per week or is a multifamily residential dwelling of 5 units or more, to arrange for recycling services. Existing law also requires jurisdictions to implement a commercial solid waste recycling program meeting specified elements. Existing law defines the term “commercial solid waste” by reference to a specified regulation.

This bill would instead define commercial solid waste in statute to include all types of solid waste generated by a store, office, or other commercial or public entity source, including a business or a multifamily dwelling of 5 or more units. The bill would also require the department to adopt, by January 1, 2017, regulations to require a large-quantity commercial organics generator, as defined, to arrange for separate organics collection and recycling services, except as specified.

The bill would impose a state-mandated local program by imposing new duties upon local agencies with regard to the commercial solid waste program required to be implemented by local agencies.

(3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(a) With the enactment of the California Integrated Waste
Management Act of 1989 (Division 30 (commencing with Section
40000) of the Public Resources Code), the Legislature declared
that the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery
(CalRecycle) and local agencies shall promote recycling, anaerobic
digestion, and composting over land disposal and transformation.

(b) Since the enactment of the act, local governments and private
industries have worked jointly to create an extensive material
collection infrastructure and have implemented effective programs
to achieve a statewide diversion rate greater than 50 percent.

(c) Although California now leads the nation in waste reduction
and recycling, the state continues to dispose of more than 15
million tons of compostable organics each year in solid waste
landfills.

(d) Composting or anaerobically digesting organic materials
results in substantial environmental and agricultural benefits,
including the reduction of naturally occurring volatile organic
compounds and ammonia.

(e) The Economic and Technology Advancement Advisory
Committee, formed pursuant to the California Global Warming
Solutions Act of 2006 (Division 25.5 (commencing with Section
38500) of the Health and Safety Code), has identified composting
and anaerobic digestion as a cost-effective technology for reducing
greenhouse gas emissions.

(f) The application of compost in agriculture and landscaping
has been shown to offer significant water quality benefits, provide
erosion control, reduce the need for synthetic fertilizers and
pesticides, and conserve water and irrigation-associated energy.

(g) In 2007, the former state agency that preceded CalRecycle
adopted a Strategic Directive 6.1 to reduce the amount of organics
in the waste stream by 50 percent by the year 2020.

(h) To reduce the landfilling of organics, increase composting
and anaerobic digestion, and meet the organics disposal reduction
target adopted by CalRecycle, the state should reduce barriers to,
and provide incentives for, increasing processing capacity and
end-use markets for compostable organics.

SEC. 2.  

Section 41781.3 of the Public Resources Code is
amended to read:

41781.3.  

(a)  begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert The use of solid waste for beneficial reuse
in the construction and operation of a solid waste landfill, including
use of alternative daily cover, which reduces or eliminates the
amount of solid waste being disposed pursuant to Section 40124,
shall constitute diversion through recycling and shall not be
considered disposal for begin delete the end delete purposes of this division.

begin insert

(2) The department shall adopt regulations to provide that, no
later than January 1, 2020, the use of green material, as defined
in regulations by the department, as alternative daily cover or
alternative intermediate cover, does not constitute diversion
through recycling and shall be considered disposal for purposes
of this division.

end insert begin insert

(3) When adopting regulations pursuant to paragraph (2), the
department may establish requirements for different regions of the
state to be in effect on or before January 1, 2020, but not later
than January 1, 2020.

end insert begin insert

(4) The department shall provide notice to all operators of
disposal facilities of the requirements in the regulations adopted
pursuant to paragraph (2) one year before the effective date of the
requirements.

end insert begin insert

(5) The department may, at its sole discretion, delay the effective
date of the regulations required to be adopted pursuant to
paragraph (2) for up to two years if the department determines
that sufficient regional green material processing infrastructure
will not exist to handle this material.

end insert

(b)  begin delete Prior to end delete begin insert Before end insert December 31, 1997, pursuant to the begin delete board’s end delete
begin insert department’s end insert authority to adopt rules and regulations pursuant to
Section 40502, the begin delete board end delete begin insert department end insert shall, by regulation, establish
conditions for the use of alternative daily cover that are consistent
with this division. In adopting the regulations, the begin delete board end delete begin insert department end insert
shall consider, but is not limited to, all of the following criteria:

(1) Those conditions established in past policies adopted by the
begin delete board end delete begin insert department end insert affecting the use of alternative daily cover.

(2) Those conditions necessary to provide for the continued
economic development, economic viability, and employment
opportunities provided by the composting industry in the state.

(3) Those performance standards and limitations on maximum
functional thickness necessary to ensure protection of public health
and safety consistent with state minimum standards.

(c)  begin delete Until end delete begin insert Except as provided in paragraph (2) of subdivision
(a), until end insert the adoption of additional regulations, the use of
alternative daily cover shall be governed by the conditions
established by the begin delete board end delete begin insert department end insert in its begin delete existing end delete begin insert former end insert
regulations set forth in paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) of, and
paragraph (3) of subdivision (c) of, Section 18813 of Title 14 of
the California Code of Regulations, as those sections read on begin delete the
effective date of this section end delete begin insert January 1, 1997 end insert , and by the conditions
established in the begin delete board’s end delete begin insert department’s end insert policy adopted on January
25, 1995.

(d) In adopting rules and regulations pursuant to this section,
Section 40124, and this division, including, but not limited to, Part
2 (commencing with Section 40900), the begin delete board end delete begin insert department end insert shall
provide guidance to local enforcement agencies on any conditions
and restrictions on the utilization of alternative daily cover so as
to ensure proper enforcement of those rules and regulations.

SEC. 3.  

Section 41781.4 is added to the Public Resources Code,
to read:

41781.4.  

(a) On or before January 1, 2015, the department
shall conduct an analysis of the effect on public health and safety,
consistent with state minimum standards, of the use of residual
fines from material recovery facilities and materials left over from
the composting process for alternative daily cover and other forms
of beneficial use in the design and operation of a solid waste
landfill.

(b) On or before July 1, 2015, based on the analysis conducted
pursuant to subdivision (a), if the department determines that fines
from material recovery facilities or materials left over from the
composting process would serve as an adequate daily cover, the
department shall adopt regulations for residual fines from material
recovery facilities or materials left over from the composting
process as an authorized material for use as alternative daily cover
and beneficial reuse at solid waste facility landfills in the state,
which regulations shall include performance standards and
limitations on the maximum functional thickness necessary to
ensure protection of public health and safety, consistent with state
minimum standards.

(c) The regulations adopted pursuant to subdivision (b) shall
include performance standards, and may include standards for
screening, processing, and testing material recovery facility fines,
to insure all of the following:

(1) The material does not contain hazardous materials above
approved thresholds.

(2) The material performs adequately in its ability to control
odors, vectors, litter, and scavenging.

(3) The use of the material does not negatively affect the
conditions necessary to provide for the continued economic
development, economic viability, and employment opportunities
provided by the composting and recycling industries in the state.

(d) The regulations adopted pursuant to this section for the use
of residual fines from materials recovery facilities for use as
alternative daily cover or for beneficial reuse in the design and
operation of a solid waste landfill, shall meet both of the following
requirements:

(1) The regulations shall not allow the use of residual fines from
mixed waste processing.

(2) The regulations shall require that any materials left over
from the composting process used as alternative daily cover or
beneficial reuse in the design and operation of a solid waste landfill
not exceed 5 percent of the incoming material at the source
compost facility, by weight.

SEC. 4.  

Section 42649.1 of the Public Resources Code is
amended to read:

42649.1.  

For purposes of this chapter, the following begin delete terms
mean the following end delete begin insert shall apply end insert :

(a) “Business” means a commercial or public entity, including,
but not limited to, a firm, partnership, proprietorship, joint stock
company, corporation, or association that is organized as a
for-profit or nonprofit entity, or a multifamily residential dwelling.

(b) “Commercial solid waste” begin delete has the same meaning as defined
in Section 17225.12 of Title 14 of the California Code of
Regulations end delete begin insert includes all types of solid waste generated by a store,
office, or other commercial or public entity source, including a
business or multifamily dwelling of five or more units end insert .

(c) “Commercial waste generator” means a business subject to
subdivision (a) of Section 42649.2.

begin insert

(d) “Large-quantity commercial organics generator” means a
business that generates significant amounts of organic waste,
including, but not limited to, food waste and green materials, that
is traditionally disposed of in a solid waste landfill, as determined
by the department.

end insert begin delete

(d)

end delete

begin insert (e) end insert  “Self-hauler” means a business that hauls its own waste
rather than contracting for that service.

SEC. 5.  

Section 42649.2 of the Public Resources Code is
amended to read:

42649.2.  

(a) On and after July 1, 2012, a business that
generates four cubic yards or more of commercial solid waste 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.

(b) A commercial waste generator shall take at least one of the
following actions:

(1) Source separate recyclable materials from solid waste and
subscribe to a basic level of recycling service that includes
collection, self-hauling, or other arrangements for the pickup of
the recyclable materials.

(2) Subscribe to a recycling service that may include mixed
waste processing that yields diversion results comparable to source
separation.

(c) A property owner of a multifamily residential dwelling may
require tenants to source separate their recyclable materials to aid
in compliance with this section.

begin insert

(d) (1) (A) On or before January 1, 2017, the department shall
adopt regulations to require a large-quantity commercial organics
generator to arrange for separate organics collection and recycling
services that may include, but are not limited to, self-hauling.

end insert begin insert

(B) This paragraph does not apply to green material collected
by a city, county, or other local agency.

end insert begin insert

(2) When adopting the regulations pursuant to paragraph (1),
the department may establish different timelines for different types
of organic materials, different types of large-quantity commercial
organics generators, and different regions of the state, but the
regulations shall require these requirements to be in effect no later
than January 1, 2017.

end insert

SEC. 6.  

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service
charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or
level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section
17556 of the Government Code.