BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                            



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                       AB 1594|
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                                    THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 1594
          Author:   Williams (D)
          Amended:  8/22/14 in Senate
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE  :  5-1, 6/25/14
          AYES:  Hill, Hancock, Jackson, Leno, Pavley
          NOES:  Gaines
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Fuller

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  5-0, 8/14/14
          AYES:  De León, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Walters, Gaines
           
          ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  57-21, 5/29/14 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    Waste management

           SOURCE  :     California Compost Coalition 
                      Californians Against Waste


           DIGEST  :    This bill re-classifies the use of green material as  
          alternative daily cover (ADC) at a landfill as disposal instead  
          of diversion through recycling beginning January 1, 2020, and  
          requires the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery  
          (CalRecycle) to provide in its annual report, an update on the  
          adequacy of funding from the Integrated Waste Management Fund  
          (Fund) for their programs implemented pursuant to the California  
          Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989 (Act).

                                                                CONTINUED





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           Senate Floor Amendments  of 8/22/14 require CalRecycle to provide  
          an update on the adequacy of funding from the Fund for their  
          programs and authorize CalRecycle to make funding mechanism  
          recommendations.

           ANALYSIS  :    Existing law, under the 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.

          2.Establishes a state policy goal that 75% of solid waste  
            generated be diverted from landfill disposal through source  
            reduction, recycling, or composting by 2020. 

          3.Provides that the use of solid waste for beneficial reuse in  
            the construction and operation of a solid waste landfill,  
            including the use of ADC, constitutes diversion through  
            recycling and is not considered disposal.

          4.Requires each operator of a disposal facility to pay a  
            quarterly fee based on the amount of all solid waste disposed  
            of at each disposal site, and sets the fee for solid waste at  
            $1.34 per ton.

          5.Requires CalRecycle to file an annual report, on or before  
            March 1 of each year, with the Legislature, regarding the  
            administration of the Act during the prior calendar year.

          This bill: 

          1.Defines "green material" as any plant material that is either  
            separated at the point of generation, or separated at a  
            centralized facility that employs methods to minimize  
            contamination, and specifies that green waste does not include  
            treated wood waste, materials left over from the composting or  
            material recovery process or construction and demolition  
            waste. 

          2.Specifies that on and after January 1, 2020, the use of green  
            material as ADC does not constitute diversion and shall be  







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            considered disposal.  

          3.Requires jurisdictions, commencing August 1, 2018, to include  
            in their annual reporting, information on how they intend to  
            divert green material that is currently being used as ACD.

          4.Provides that beginning in 2020, if the reclassification of  
            green material used as ADC result in a local jurisdiction  
            missing its diversion targets under the Act, then that local  
            jurisdiction must include in its annual report an  
            identification of barriers to recycling green materials and a  
            plan to address those barriers.

          5.Exempts green waste used as ADC from the tipping fee required  
            for other solid waste disposal.

          6.Requires CalRecycle to include in the annual report, on or  
            before March 1, 2015, a status update on the adequacy of  
            funding from the Fund for programs implemented pursuant to the  
            Act and pursuant to other specified provisions regulating  
            waste management facilities. 

          7.Authorizes CalRecycle to recommend alternative funding  
            mechanisms for the programs, as specified.

           Background
           
           ADC  .  Landfill operators are required to cover all solid waste  
          at the end of each day to control odors, vectors, fires, litter,  
          and scavenging.  Federal regulations require that cover consist  
          of six inches of earthen materials, but also permit operators to  
          use alternative measures, generally referred to as ADC.   
          CalRecycle has 11 approved ADC material types.  Generally, these  
          materials must be processed so that they do not allow gaps in  
          the exposed landfill face.  Specific types of ADC authorized in  
          California include:  geosynthetic fabric (tarps); sewage sludge;  
          ash and cement kiln dust; treated auto shredder waste (auto  
          fluff); foam products; contaminated sediment, dredge soils,  
          foundry sands, and energy exploration and production waste;  
          compost materials; processed construction and demolition waste;  
          shredded tires; and green materials.    

           Solid waste diversion  .  Existing law requires local  
          jurisdictions to divert 50% of solid waste from landfilling by  







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          source reduction, recycling and composting.  

          AB 1647 (Bustamante, Chapter 978, Statutes of 1996) established  
          that local jurisdictions may use ADC as a strategy to achieve  
          their waste diversion goals by deeming ADC recycling, and  
          therefore counting towards the 50% diversion requirement for  
          jurisdictions. 

          While a large number of jurisdictions use green materials as  
          ADC, only 11 of the state's 416 jurisdictions would drop below  
          their required diversion rate if green materials used as ADC no  
          longer counted as diversion. 

          In 2012 (the most recent data available), approximately 1.6  
          million tons of green material was used as ADC.  Use has  
          gradually decreased since 2005, when it peaked at approximately  
          three million tons.

           75% Directive  .  CalRecycle is tasked with diverting at least 75%  
          of solid waste statewide by 2020.  Currently, organic materials,  
          including green waste, make up one-third of the waste stream  
          (approximately 11 million tons) and food continues to be the  
          highest single category of disposal at over 15%.  Green  
          materials, such as lumber, cardboard, and leaves and grass  
          comprise over 20%. 

          CalRecycle is also charged with implementing its Strategic  
          Directive 6.1, which calls for reducing organic waste disposal  
          by 50% by 2020.  According to CalRecycle, significant gains in  
          organic waste diversion (through recycling technologies for  
          organic waste including composting and anaerobic digestion) are  
          necessary to meet the 75% goal and to implement Strategic  
          Directive 6.1.  Anaerobic digestion, which produces biogas that  
          can be processed to biomethane fuel, is particularly suited to  
          handle food waste.  Green waste is more efficiently processed  
          through composting.  Compost, in addition to improving the  
          quality of soil, prevents soil erosion, reduces the need for  
          chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and enables better soil  
          water retention.

           Tip fees  .  The Act requires that each ton of solid waste  
          deposited in a landfill be subject to a fee of $1.40 per ton.   
          Tipping fees are generally used to fund daily operational and  
          closure costs of a landfill, but may also be used to fund  







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          recycling programs, litter abatement, public education efforts  
          and other programs.  A local tipping fee can act as an incentive  
          to encourage certain practices or disincentive so as to  
          discourage other practices.  Previous legislation capped the  
          tipping fee at this level. 

          The application of ADC is considered recycling under California  
          law and is not subject to CalRecycle's $1.40 per ton disposal  
          fee.

          Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) and Green Material ADC  .  Landfill gas is  
          generated by the anaerobic decomposition of organic materials  
          such as food, paper, wood, and green material.  50% of landfill  
          gas is methane, a GHG that is 25 times more efficient at  
          trapping heat than carbon dioxide (CO2). 

          Under AB 32 (Nunez, Chapter 488, Statutes of 2006), landfill  
          methane capture regulations were adopted as a discrete early  
          action item, and requires owners and operators of certain  
          uncontrolled municipal solid waste landfills to install gas  
          collection and control systems, and requires existing and newly  
          installed gas and control systems to operate in an optimal  
          manner.  Often, these systems involve a combustion step as a way  
          to reduce the emissions of methane and other organics.  However,  
          significant amounts of methane from landfills continue to escape  
          into the atmosphere.  According to Air Resources Board's updated  
          Scoping Plan, approximately eight million tons of CO2 equivalent  
          are released annually by landfills.  That number is expected to  
          increase to 8.5 million tons of CO2 equivalent by 2020.

          Recycling organic waste provides significant GHG reductions over  
          landfilling.  Composting and other organics processing  
          technologies, including anaerobic digestion, reduce GHGs by  
          avoiding the emissions that would be generated by the material's  
          decomposition in a landfill.
            
           Good Faith Effort  .  Under existing law, CalRecycle reviews  
          disposal information from jurisdictions at regular intervals.   
          If a jurisdiction is not able to comply with the 50% diversion  
          mandate, CalRecycle makes a determination whether that  
          jurisdiction made a "good faith effort" to meet the requirement.  
           If a good faith effort is determined by CalRecycle to have been  
          made by the jurisdiction, they are deemed in compliance.  In  
          order for CalRecycle to pursue enforcement action, they must  







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          determine that the city or county failed to make a good faith  
          effort to meet the state's diversion requirements.

          FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes    
          Local:  Yes

          According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, there will be  
          potential revenue losses of no more than $2 million, and  
          possibly significantly less, to the Integrated Waste Management  
          Fund as a result of excluding green material used as ADC from  
          the tipping fee.

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  8/25/14)

          California Compost Coalition (co-source)
          Californians Against Waste (co-source)
          Agromin
          American Biogas Council
          Association of Compost Producers
          Biodegradable Products Institute
          Bioenergy Association of California
          Breathe California
          California Biomass Energy Alliance
          California Climate and Agriculture Network
          California Coastal Protection Network
          California Compost Coalition
          California League of Conservation Voters
          California Organics Recycling Council
          California Refuse Recycling Council
          California Releaf
          California Resource Recovery Association
          Center for Biological Diversity
          Cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Thousand Oaks
          CleanPower Campaign
          CleanWorld
          Coalition for Clean Air
          Community Alliance with Family Farmers
          Costa Mesa Sanitary District Board of Directors
          Counties of San Francisco and Santa Barbara
          CR&R Environmental Services
          Ecology Center
          Environment California
          Frank M. Booth Design Build Co.
          GAIA







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          Global Green USA
          Grassroots Recycling Network
          Greenaction
          Greenwaste Recovery
          Integrated Waste Management Consulting
          Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy
          Napa Recycling and Waste Services
          Natural Resources Defense Council
          Natureworks, LLC
          Northern California Recycling Association
          Northern Recycling and Waste Services
          Novamont, North America, Inc.
          Peabody Engineering
          Planning and Conservation League
          Quackenbush Mountain Resource Recovery & Compost Facility
          Recology
          Republic Services
          Rethink Waste
          Sierra Club California
          Sonoma Compost Co.
          Tracy Material Recovery and Transfer Facility
          Upper Valley Disposal Recycling
          US Composting Council
          Vasko Electric, Inc.
          Waste Management
          Z-Best Composting

           OPPOSITION  :    (Verified  8/25/14)

          Cities of Diamond Bar and Monrovia
          Committee/Integrated Waste Management Task Force
          Los Angeles County Solid Waste Management 

          ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    The Community Alliance with Family  
          Farmers (CAFF) writes that this bill, "which will reclassify the  
          use of green waste as daily cover at a landfill as disposal  
          instead of recycling.  CAFF promotes the greater use of compost  
          by farmers as an excellent tool to improve soil fertility,  
          reduce fertilizer costs, improve soil water retention, and  
          reduce environmental impacts. 

          "While there may have been historical reasons for green waste  
          ADC as recycling, we believe it is no longer justified.  Green  
          waste is an essential feedstock for the production of compost,  







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          and compost as a product and an industry has greatly matured in  
          the 25 years since ADC was first classified as recycling.   
          Today's compost industry has an unmet demand for more feedstock  
          to produce compost.  We believe that AB 1594, in conjunction  
          with AB 1826 (Chesbro), will significantly increase the  
          availability of green waste as a feedstock for compost  
          production, and for this reason CAFF supports AB 1594."

           ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION  :    Los Angeles County Solid Waste  
          Management writes: 

            Elimination of recycling credit for the use of green materials  
            as a landfill alternative daily cover (ADC) would necessitate  
            development of new composting and/or anaerobic digestion (AD)  
            facilities.  Currently, the 89 jurisdictions in Los Angeles  
            County generate over 5 million tons of organics (including  
            green materials) per year and our preliminary estimates  
            indicate that County jurisdictions would need over 36  
            facilities with a processing capability of 250 tons-per-day  
            each.  A similarly sized facility in San Jose cost  
            approximately $40 million; therefore the total cost to build  
            this infrastructure in Los Angeles County could be as high as  
            $2 billion.  This is essentially a new industry for Los  
            Angeles County and there are currently no AD facilities in the  
            County which are open to the public.  We believe  
            state-administered grant and loan programs are critical to  
            helping this industry get off the ground and become  
            successful.  Significant funding will be required to build the  
            necessary processing infrastructure for organics waste  
            recycling, which should not be limited to one or two  
            processes. 

            Many thermal, chemical, biological, and mechanical conversion  
            technologies could be utilized to process organic material  
            into a wide spectrum of resources which can be used to produce  
            electricity and fuels.  However, these technologies are  
            stifled by antiquated legislative and regulatory barriers.   
            These technologies can diversify our approach to organics  
            management and help jurisdictions comply with the State's  
            direction to divert these materials from landfill disposal. 

            We encourage the State to take a technology neutral position  
            or, at a minimum, not prohibit technologies that can provide  
            equal or greater greenhouse gas reductions than anaerobic  







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            digestion and composting.  Although anaerobic digestion is at  
            present the most widely used technology in California to  
            convert biodegradable organic waste to energy, biomass  
            gasification and other conversion technologies can manage a  
            broader array of organic waste and have much less residual  
            that may still need to be disposed.  Moreover, the  
            technologies provide comparable or greater greenhouse gas  
            reductions, which must be the primary emphasis of the State's  
            effort to divert organics from landfills through source  
            separated collection.  
           

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  57-21, 5/29/14
          AYES:  Alejo, Ammiano, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta,  
            Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau,  
            Chesbro, Cooley, Dababneh, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox,  
            Frazier, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray,  
            Hall, Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones-Sawyer, Levine,  
            Lowenthal, Maienschein, Medina, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian,  
            Pan, Perea, John A. Pérez, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk,  
            Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner,  
            Stone, Ting, Weber, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, Atkins
          NOES:  Achadjian, Allen, Bigelow, Chávez, Conway, Dahle,  
            Donnelly, Beth Gaines, Grove, Hagman, Jones, Linder, Logue,  
            Mansoor, Melendez, Nestande, 
          Olsen, Patterson, Wagner, Waldron, Wilk
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Harkey, Vacancy


          RM:k  8/25/14   Senate Floor Analyses 

                           SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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