BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1126
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Senator Jerry Hill, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 1126
AUTHOR: Gordon
AMENDED: June 19, 2013
FISCAL: Yes HEARING DATE: June 26, 2013
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Rebecca Newhouse
SUBJECT : MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE CONVERSION
SUMMARY :
Existing law , under the Integrated Waste Management Act of
1989 (Act):
1) Requires each city or county source reduction and recycling
element to include an implementation schedule that shows a
city or county must divert 25% of solid waste from landfill
disposal or transformation by January 1, 1995, and must
divert 50% of solid waste on and after January 1, 2000
through source reduction, recycling, and composting
activities (Public Resources Code §41780).
2) Declares that it is the policy goal of the state to divert
75% of the state's solid waste through source reduction,
recycling and composting by 2020 (PRC §41780.01).
3) Defines "transformation" as incineration, pyrolysis,
distillation, or biological conversion and does not include
composting, gasification, or biomass conversion (PRC
§40201).
4) Defines "transfer or processing station" as those
facilities utilized to receive solid wastes, temporarily
store, separate, convert, or otherwise process the
materials in the solid wastes, or to transfer the solid
waste directly from smaller to larger vehicles for
transport and those facilities utilized for transformation
(PRC §40200).
5) Defines "solid waste disposal" for the purposes of
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preparing integrated waste management plans, as the
management of solid waste through landfill disposal,
transformation (PRC §40192).
6) Defines "disposal facility" to mean a facility or location
where disposal or solid waste occurs (PRC §40121).
7) Specifies that "solid waste facility" include a solid waste
transfer or processing station, a composting facility,
gasification facility and a disposal facility (PRC §40194).
8) Requires each county to prepare a countywide siting element
that provides a description of the areas to be used for
development of adequate transformation or disposal capacity
concurrent and consistent with the development and
implementation of the county and city source reduction
recycling requirements and requires the countywide siting
element to be approved by the county and by a majority of
cities within the county with a majority of the population
(PRC §§41700, 41721).
9) Prohibits a person from disposing of solid waste, arranging
for the disposal of solid waste, transporting solid waste
for purposes of disposal, or accepting solid waste for
disposal, except at a solid waste disposal facility for
which a solid waste facilities permit has been issued, as
specified (PRC §44000.5).
10)Prohibits the establishment or expansion of a solid waste
facility in the county unless the solid waste facility is a
disposal facility or a transformation facility which is
identified in the countywide siting element or amendment to
the element, or is a solid waste facility that is designed
to recover for reuse or recycling at least 5% of the total
volume of material received by the facility and has been
identified in the nondisposal facility element that has
been approved, as specified (PRC §50001).
This bill :
1) Defines "engineered municipal solid waste conversion," or
"EMSW conversion," as the conversion of solid waste through
a process that meets all the following requirements:
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a) The waste to be converted is beneficial and effective
in that it replaces or supplants the use of fossil
fuels.
b) 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
adopted by the Department of Toxic Substances Control,
as specified.
c) The conversion is efficient and maximizes the net
calorific value and burn rate of the waste.
d) The waste to be processed contains less than 25
percent moisture and less than 25 percent noncombustible
waste.
e) The waste to be processed is handled in compliance
with the solid waste handling requirements, as
specified, and no more than a seven-day supply of that
waste, based on the throughput capacity of the operation
or facility, is stored at the facility at any one time.
f) No more than 500 tons per day of waste is converted
at the facility where the operation takes place.
g) The waste has a value of 5,000 BTU per pound after
conversion.
2) Defines an "engineered MSW conversion facility" as a
facility where municipal solid waste conversion that meets
the above requirements takes place.
3) Specifies that "recycling" does not include EMSW
conversion.
4) Specifies that "solid waste disposal" includes processed
EMSW conversion and that a "solid waste facility" or
"disposal facility" includes an EMSW conversion facility.
5) Specifies that a "transfer or processing station" does not
include an EMSW conversion facility.
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6) Specifies that "transformation" does not include processed
EMSW conversion.
7) Requires a countywide siting element to include a
description of areas to be used for MSW conversion and
allows a siting element provided for an MSW conversion
facility to only be approved by the city in which it is
located, or if the MSW is not located in a city, by the
county.
8) Specifies that tires and biomass processed by conversion
facilities are not considered disposal under the Act.
9) Prohibits the establishment or expansion of a solid waste
facility in the county unless the solid waste facility is a
disposal facility, transformation, or engineered MSW
facility, which is identified in the countywide siting
element or amendment to the element, or is a solid waste
facility that is designed to recover for reuse or recycling
at least 5% of the total volume of material received by the
facility and has been identified in the nondisposal
facility element that has been approved, as specified.
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of Bill . According to the author, "AB 1126 defines
an Engineered Municipal Solid Waste conversion facility and
properly identifies it as a solid waste facility under
CalReycle's regulatory authority. This permitting pathway
is needed because current statute is outdated and does not
adequately address the new types of waste-to-energy
technologies and processes that have started to be
commercialized in California. Existing state solid waste
rules do not adequately define these facilities to provide
the best-possible environmental protection and oversight
while minimizing unnecessary burdens. Under this bill,
engineered MSW conversion would be clearly defined, and
would allow these facilities to replace fossil fuel energy
sources such as coal, thereby reducing California's GHG
emissions. Properly utilized, AB 1126 would help California
meet the goals outlined in AB 32."
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2)Background .
Municipal solid waste . Municipal solid waste (MSW) refers to
the stream of garbage collected through community sanitation
services. Although MSW consists mainly of renewable
resources such as food, paper, and wood products, it also
includes nonrenewable materials derived from fossil fuels,
such as tires and plastics. According to the 2008 Statewide
Waste Characterization Study, the California waste stream is
composed of primarily food and greenwaste (e.g., lumber,
leaves, etc.) at about 47%, with the next highest
contributors being paper, plastic and metal waste comprising
17.3%, 9.6%, and 4.6%, respectively.
Conversion technologies . According to CalRecycle,
conversion technologies are processes that can convert
organic materials into usable forms of energy including
heat, steam, electricity, natural gas, and liquid fuels.
Thermochemical conversion processes are characterized by
higher temperatures and faster conversion rates and include
combustion, gasification, and pyrolysis. Pyrolysis is the
thermal decomposition of feedstock at high temperatures
(greater than 400?F) in the absence of air, whereas
gasification is a process that uses air or oxygen and high
heat, (typically above 1300?F) to convert feedstock into a
synthetic gas or fuel gas. Gasification uses less air or
oxygen than incineration processes. Thermochemical
conversion is best suited for lower moisture feedstocks.
Biochemical conversion processes include aerobic conversion
(i.e., composting), anaerobic digestion (which occurs in
landfills and controlled reactors or digesters), and
anaerobic fermentation (for example, the conversion of
sugars from cellulose to ethanol). Biochemical conversion
proceeds at lower temperatures and lower reaction rates.
Higher moisture feedstocks are generally good candidates for
biochemical processes.
The definition of transformation in current law captures
many thermochemical and biochemical conversion technologies,
but some processes that would technically qualify as
conversion are specifically excluded by statute, namely
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composting, gasification and biomass conversion (i.e.,
combustion of greenwaste).
AB 1126 specifies that engineered MSW conversion is not
included in the definition of "transformation" and would
instead define MSW conversion based on whether a process
meets a defined set of criteria, as specified in the bill.
Some of the processes defined as "transformation" including
combustion, pyrolysis, distillation, or biological
conversion may be able to meet the performance criteria of
EMSW conversion.
In order to be technology neutral, an amendment is needed to
specify that, notwithstanding the definition of
transformation, a transformation facility that meets the
requirements of an engineered municipal solid waste facility
shall be considered to be an engineered MSW facility.
3)Environmental impacts of MSW conversion . According to
CalRecycle, combustion or incineration is a type of
thermochemical "conversion" technology. There is a variety
of conversion technologies and depending on the technology
and controls they use to mitigate negative environmental
impacts, the environmental impacts of an individual
conversion facility can significantly vary.
The conversion of MSW reduces MSW waste streams, reducing
the creation of new landfills. MSW combustion creates a
solid waste called ash that can contain any of the elements
that were originally present in the waste. MSW conversion
facilities reduce the need for landfill capacity because
disposal of MSW ash requires less land area than does
unprocessed MSW, however, depending on the waste stream, MSW
ash can concentrate toxic constituents that were originally
present in the MSW and can create new toxic chemicals,
depending on the chemical makeup of the feedstock and
reaction conditions. Some conversion processes, such as
gasification, use temperatures that can create a glass-like
or vitreous ash, where potential toxins in the ash are bound
in the glass matrix.
In terms of air quality, MSW conversion can produce
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greenhouse gases, criteria air pollutants such as nitrogen
oxides and sulfur dioxides, and trace amounts of toxic air
contaminants such as mercury, dioxins and furans. The GHGs
released from the biomass-derived portion of MSW conversion
facilities is considered to be renewable since the plants
and trees that make up the paper, food, and other biogenic
waste removed carbon dioxide from the air while they were
growing, which is returned to the air when this material is
burned. The types and quantities of air emissions vary
depending on the MSW conversion technology. For example,
combustion of MSW may result in a much larger quantity of
nitrogen oxides then pyrolysis, which does not use oxygen in
the conversion process. A variety of air pollution control
technologies can be used to reduce criteria and toxic air
pollutants. In addition, burning MSW instead of landfilling
can achieve significant GHG benefits due to the prevention
of methane formation, which is approximately 21 times more
powerful in terms of global warming potential than CO2.
Under AB 1126, no MSW conversion process that converted
hazardous waste or resulted in ash that is classified as
hazardous according to DTSC, would qualify as an engineered
MSW conversion process. AB 1126 would not alter existing law
that requires all stationary sources of air pollution to
comply with all local, state and federal air and water
quality rules and regulations, including requirements under
the federal Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, additional local
requirements and state GHG regulations pursuant to AB 32.
4)Solid Waste Facility Permits . In1994, regulations were
adopted implementing a tiered regulatory structure for the
permitting of all solid waste facilities and solid waste
handling operations, including solid waste transfer or
processing stations, composting facilities, transformation
facilities, and disposal facilities. According to
CalRecycle, the structure was designed to provide a level of
regulatory oversight commensurate with the impacts
associated with a particular solid waste handling or
disposal activity. From the highest level of regulation to
the lowest, the tiers are full, standardized, registration,
enforcement agency notification, and facilities that are
excluded from permitting. A full permit is required for
solid waste landfills, large composting operations,
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transformation facilities and other waste operations that
are typically large volume.
Engineered MSW conversion facilities, as defined by AB 1126,
would qualify for the highest level of regulatory compliance
and require full permits approved by CalRecycle.
5)Countywide siting elements . Disposal facilities must obtain
a Solid Waste Facility Permit. One of the requirements to
obtain a permit is for that facility to be identified in the
countywide siting element (CSE) which is one component of an
Integrated Waste Management Plan for a jurisdiction. A CSE
contains a description and identification of areas, numbers,
and types of new or expanded solid waste disposal and
transformation facilities to meet a minimum of 15 years of
combined permitted disposal capacity. If new or expanded
facilities cannot be established, then a discussion of
strategies selected by the local jurisdiction to dispose of
the excess solid waste is included. The element also
includes a discussion and description of the siting criteria
used in the county's siting process for new or expanded
solid waste disposal or transformation facilities. The
siting criteria are required to address environmental
considerations, environmental impacts, socio-economic and
legal considerations, and any other additional criteria
included by jurisdictions that approve the element.
The CSE and any subsequent amendments must be approved by
the county and by the majority of the cities within the
county that contain the majority of the population of the
incorporated area. This approval is known as the
"majority/majority" requirement. More cities within a
particular county make this process more involved and it can
take years before a facility is approved.
AB 1126 requires any engineered MSW conversion facility be
described in the CSE, but its addition would only require
approval by the city where the project will be located, or
if not located in a city, by the county.
6)MSW thermal conversion . There are currently three commercial
facilities in the state that use combustion technology to
combust unprocessed or minimally processed solid waste.
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Collectively, they have the capacity to process 2,500 tons
per day of MSW and produce about 68 MW of electrical power.
In terms of the MSW that they process per day, only one
(Commerce Refuse-to-Energy facility in Commerce, CA) would
meet the criterion for engineered MSW conversion of
processing not more than 500 tons per day of MSW. It is
unclear whether the facility would meet the other
requirements for Engineered MSW, including having a moisture
content and noncombustible waste fraction of less than 25%.
The two other facilities, Covanta Stanislaus and Long Beach
SERRF process 800 and 1,380 tons per day of MSW.
In order to meet the criteria of an engineered MSW
conversion under AB 1126, traditional stream MSW conversion
would most likely have to be processed or engineered in some
way in order to remove certain organic waste or
noncombustibles, as well as other materials that do not
readily undergo conversion into electricity, heat or fuel to
meet the requirements of a moisture content below 25% and
noncombustible waste below 25%, as well as ensuring the
conversion is efficient and maximizes the net calorific
value and burn rate of the waste.
However, certain MSW waste streams, depending on where they
are generated from, may be able to meet the requirements
without being mechanically processed before conversion. In
addition, some of this MSW may contain chlorinated plastics,
such as polyvinylchloride (PVC), which may release certain
toxic air contaminants when converted.
An amendment is needed to require that MSW be mechanically
processed at some type of transfer and processing station
before conversion in order to prevent raw MSW from
qualifying as EMSW, and to reduce the fraction of
chlorinated plastics and other materials that do not
maximize the net calorific value and burn rate of the waste.
7)Solid waste diversion . Prior to 2008, diversion estimates of
solid waste for jurisdictions were performed by calculating
the quantity of solid waste generation and estimating the
amount of diversion. SB 1016 (Wiggins) Chapter 343, Statutes
of 2008, changed the diversion calculation by only
considering the quantity of disposal, as reported by
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disposal facilities and the population of the jurisdiction,
and comparing that value to a baseline rate of disposal
determined from the disposal rate as of January 1, 1990.
All waste converted at an engineered MSW conversion facility
would be counted as disposal for the purpose of determining
the diversion rate, excluding tires and biomass.
Tires and biomass excluded ? The bill would exempt any tires
or biomass from being counted as solid waste for the
purposes of determining diversion rates when converted at
engineered MSW conversion facilities.
Biomass incinerated at biomass conversion facilities is not
counted as disposal under current law.
Tires are counted as disposal under current law if they are
disposed of at a disposal facility or a transformation
facility. However, tires that are burned at facilities that
are not permitted as disposal or transformation facilities,
such as cement kilns, are not regulated by CalRecycle, and
therefore, have not counted as disposal under current law.
To the extent that entities previously unregulated by
CalRecycle meet the criteria of an engineered MSW conversion
facility, the exemption for counting tires as disposal will
be consistent with current practice. One impetus for
facilities previously unregulated by CalRecycle, such as
cement manufacturers, for potentially seeking classification
and permitting as "engineered MSW conversion facilities" is
so that they might reduce their emissions under AB 32 and
cap-and-trade. Cement manufacturers currently primarily burn
coal and switching to MSW represents a significant reduction
in GHG emissions, since the biogenic portion of any
engineered MSW that they convert is not counted toward their
GHG emissions under cap-and-trade, and therefore reduces
their costs associated with purchasing allowances and
offsets to meet their compliance obligation under the
cap-and-trade program.
8)Energy content . One of the criteria in order to meet the
definition of EMSW conversion specified in AB 1126 is that,
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after conversion, the waste have an energy value of 5,000
BTU per pound. As written, this requirement does not make
sense, since it is the conversion of the engineered waste,
and not the waste after conversion (which is typically ash),
that has an energy value that can be expressed in terms of
BTU.
An amendment is needed to strike the language that
references "after conversion" and instead require that the
engineered waste must have an energy content equal to or
greater than 5,000 BTU per pound.
9)Engineered MSW conversion does not qualify for RPS credit .
Under the Renewable Portfolio Standard, investor-owned
utilities (IOUs) and publicly owned utilities must achieve
33% of their energy sales from an eligible renewable
electrical generation facility by December 31, 2020.
Municipal solid waste conversion, in order to qualify as a
renewable electrical generation facility, must meet numerous
conditions, one of which being that it does not use air or
oxygen in the conversion process, except ambient air to
maintain temperature control, and that it produces no
discharges of air contaminants or emissions, including
greenhouse gas emissions and does not produce any discharges
to surface or groundwaters of the state. No current
technology can meet those stringent statutory requirements.
Meeting the requirements of an engineered MSW conversion as
defined by AB 1126, is not sufficient to be considered MSW
conversion for the RPS credit. In fact, only if technology
advances to a point where no criteria or toxic air
pollutants or GHGs are released through MSW conversion will
any type of conversion using MSW potentially qualify for RPS
credit.
SOURCE : Author
SUPPORT : None on file
OPPOSITION : None on file
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