BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 997
                                                                  Page 1

          Date of Hearing:  April 1, 2013

                       ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
                                Wesley Chesbro, Chair
                 AB 997 (Chesbro) - As Introduced:  February 22, 2013
           
          SUBJECT  :  Composting:  anaerobic digestion

           SUMMARY  :  Defines anaerobic digestion in the Integrated Waste  
          Management Act of 1989 (Act) and amends the definition of  
          composting to include anaerobic digestion processes.  

           EXISTING LAW:   

          1)Establishes the Act, which is administered by the Department  
            of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle).  The Act  
            requires each county, city, and regional agency, if any, to  
            divert 50 percent of solid waste disposed by their  
            jurisdictions from landfill disposal. 

          2)Establishes a state policy goal that 75 percent of solid waste  
            generated be diverted from landfill disposal by 2020.

          3)Defines the term "composting" as the controlled or  
            uncontrolled biological decomposition of organic wastes.

          4)Defines the term "solid waste facility" to include a  
            composting facility.

           THIS BILL  :

          1)Defines the term "anaerobic digestion" for purposes of the Act  
            as a process using the bacterial breakdown of compostable  
            organic material in a controlled environment that meets the  
            parameters that may be established by CalRecycle.

          2)Authorizes CalRecycle to establish parameters for a controlled  
            environment in which anaerobic digestion processes may occur.

          3)Amends the definition of "composting" to include anaerobic  
            digestion. 

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  Unknown

           COMMENTS  :








                                                                  AB 997
                                                                  Page 2


          Anaerobic digestion refers to the controlled biological  
          decomposition of organic material with little or no oxygen.  The  
          decomposition of organic materials in solid waste landfills  
          produces significant amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse  
          gas.  Anaerobic digestion can help California reduce greenhouse  
          gas emissions under the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB  
          32) by diverting organic materials from landfills, generate  
          low-carbon fuels, and assist with meeting the state's 75 percent  
          recycling goal. 

          In the US, anaerobic digestion is already widely used to manage  
          wastewater treatment wastes and dairy manure.  Municipal solid  
          waste digesters are already common in parts of Europe to produce  
          alternative energy and to manage the solid waste stream. There  
          are a number of new and proposed anaerobic digesters in  
          California that are intended to accept organic materials  
          (primarily food waste and yard trimmings) for recycling.  

          This bill contributes to these objectives by defining anaerobic  
          digestion in the Act and updating the definition of composting  
          to include anaerobic digestion processes.  These changes will  
          ensure that anaerobic digestion facilities are treated  
          comparably to composting facilities under the Act.

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  : 

           Support 
           
          None on file

           Opposition 
           
          None on file
           

          Analysis Prepared by  :  Melissa Sayoc / NAT. RES. / (916)  
          319-2092