BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1126
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 29, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Wesley Chesbro, Chair
AB 1126 (Gordon) - As Amended: April 18, 2013
SUBJECT : Solid waste: conversion: processed municipal solid
waste (MSW) conversion
SUMMARY : Establishes regulatory standards for facilities that
convert MSW for energy generation.
EXISTING LAW establishes the Integrated Waste Management Act
(Act), which is administered by the Department of Resources
Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle). Under the Act:
1)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)Allows the 50 percent diversion requirement to include up to
10 percent through transformation (i.e., combustion).
THIS BILL :
1)Defines terms used in the bill, including:
a) "Processed [MSW] conversion" means the conversion of
solid waste through a process that meets the following
requirements:
i) The waste to be converted is beneficial and
effective in that it replaces or supplements the use of
fossil fuels or other standard commercial fuels.
ii) The waste to be converted, the resulting ash, and
any other products of conversion do not meet the criteria
or guidelines for the identification of a hazardous
waste;
iii) The conversion is efficient and maximizes the net
calorific value and burn rate of the waste;
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iv) The waste to be processed contains less than 25
percent moisture and less than 10 percent noncombustible
waste;
v) The waste to be processed at the facility is handled
in compliance with the requirements for handling solid
waste; and,
vi) No more than 500 tons of waste per day is converted.
b) "Processed MSW conversion facility" (conversion
facility) as a facility that converts the materials that
meet the definition above.
c) Specifies that "biomass conversion" includes "other
thermal conversion."
d) Specifies that "solid waste disposal" includes processed
MSW conversion.
e) Specifies that "solid waste facility" includes a
conversion facility.
f) Specifies that "transformation" does not include
processed MSW conversion.
2)Requires that a county's countywide siting element include a
description of the areas to be used for conversion facilities,
but does not require conversion facilities to be approved by
the "majority of the majority" of local governments located
within the county.
3)Specifies that tires and biomass processed by conversion
facilities are not considered disposal under the Act.
4)Requires that the areas at a biomass conversion facility where
materials are stored prior to conversion be regulated as solid
waste transfer facilities and specifies that these facilities
are subject to the same inspection and enforcement provisions
as permitted solid waste facilities.
5)Authorizes local enforcement agencies (LEAs) to impose fees
for conducting an inspection of a biomass conversion facility
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in the same manner as permitted solid waste facilities.
6)Makes related conforming changes to the Act.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : The term "conversion technologies" generally refers
to a variety of technologies that process solid waste through
chemical, biological, or other "non-combustion" thermal
technologies to produce energy or renewable fuels. These
technologies create energy using three main processes:
thermochemical, biochemical, and physicochemical.
Thermochemical conversion processes include high-heat
technologies like gasification and pyrolysis. Thermochemical
conversion is characterized by higher temperatures and faster
conversion rates. It is best suited for lower moisture
feedstocks. Thermochemical routes can convert the entire
organic portion of suitable feedstocks. The inorganic fraction
(ash) does not contribute to the energy products and may
contribute to fouling of high temperature equipment and
increased nutrient loading in wastewater treatment and disposal
facilities. Generally the ash must be disposed. Inorganic
constituents may also accelerate some of the conversion
reactions. Under current law, pyrolysis is considered
transformation, while gasification is explicitly excluded from
the definition of transformation.
Biochemical conversion processes include aerobic conversion
(i.e., composting), anaerobic digestion, which is currently
regulated as composting, and anaerobic fermentation (for
example, the conversion of sugars from cellulose to ethanol).
Biochemical conversion processes use lower temperatures and
lower reaction rates. Higher moisture feedstocks are generally
good candidates for biochemical processes. The lignin fraction
of biomass cannot be converted by anaerobic biochemical means
and only very slowly through aerobic decomposition. As a
consequence, a significant fraction of woody and some other
fibrous feedstocks exits the process as a residue that may or
may not have market value as a soil amendment. The residue can
be composted.
Physiochemical conversion involves the physical and chemical
synthesis of products from feedstocks (for example, biodiesel
from waste fats, oils, and grease) and is primarily associated
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with the transformation of fresh or used vegetable oils, animal
fats, greases, tallow, and other suitable feedstocks into liquid
fuels or biodiesel.
Dwindling landfill capacity and the infeasibility of siting and
permitting new disposal sites have created a significant demand
for alternative management options for MSW, especially in the
Los Angeles area. However, significant regulatory barriers
exist for the development of these technologies in California,
including the lack of guidance on how these facilities could be
permitted by CalRecycle.
This bill . According to the author, the intent of this bill is
to establish a clear permitting pathway for conversation
facilities that process MSW in a manner that provides a
reasonable approach commensurate with the potential risk to
public health and safety. This bill would allow MSW to be
converted for energy generation, which would offset the need for
traditional fossil fuels. The author states that by reducing
the use of fossil fuels and moving the material away from
landfills, this bill would help California achieve its
greenhouse gas reduction goals.
Are biomass conversion facilities solid waste facilities ? As
drafted, this bill requires the areas at biomass conversion
facilities where biomass materials are stored to be regulated
and potentially permitted as solid waste transfer stations.
This bill also authorizes LEAs to inspect and enforce biomass
conversion facilities in the same manner as permitted solid
waste facilities. This is a significant expansion of
CalRecycle's authority. The author points to examples by
CalRecycle that suggest there may be biomass conversion
facilities that are accepting and processing materials that are
considered solid waste under the Act. Existing law authorizes
LEAs and CalRecycle to inspect and pursue enforcement against
illegal or unpermitted solid waste facilities, including biomass
conversion facilities. It is not clear that the broad
permitting and enforcement provisions in the bill are necessary
to address this concern. The committee may wish to delete the
provisions relating to biomass conversion facilities and direct
the author, CalRecycle, and related stakeholders to develop a
more precise approach to any gaps in existing enforcement
authority.
Additional amendments . The committee may wish to make the
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following clarifying amendments to AB 1126:
1)This bill uses the term "processed MSW" throughout; however,
the bill doesn't require any processing of MSW prior to use in
a conversion facility. The committee may wish to strike out
the term "processed" throughout the language.
2)In order to ensure that the bill does not inadvertently
displace renewable fuels, the committee may wish to strike "or
any other standard commercial fuels" on page 4, lines 19 and
20.
AB 1126
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Elizabeth MacMillan / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092