BILL NUMBER: SB 498	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  JANUARY 27, 2014
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JANUARY 7, 2014
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JANUARY 6, 2014
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 2, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Lara

                        FEBRUARY 21, 2013

   An act to amend Section 40106 of the Public Resources Code,
relating to solid waste.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 498, as amended, Lara. Solid waste: biomass conversion.
   The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, which is
administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery,
requires each city, county, and regional agency, if any, to develop a
source reduction and recycling element of an integrated waste
management plan. With certain exceptions, the source reduction and
recycling element of that plan is required to divert 50% of all solid
waste, through source reduction, recycling, and composting
activities. Existing law allows the 50% diversion requirement to
include not more than 10% through transformation or "biomass
conversion," as defined, if specified conditions are met. The act
defines  various terms, including  "biomass
conversion,"  to mean the controlled   combustion used
for the production of heat or electricity of specified materials
 for the purposes of the act.
   This bill would revise the definition of the term "biomass
conversion" to  include, in addition to controlled
combustion, the use of conversion technology, as defined. 
 mean the production of heat, fuels, or electricity by the
controlled combustion of, or the use of other noncombustion thermal
technologies on, those specified materials. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 40106 of the Public Resources Code is amended
to read:
   40106.  (a) "Biomass conversion" means  the production of
heat, fuels, or electricity by  the controlled combustion
 used for producing heat or electricity  of, or the
use of  other noncombustion thermal  conversion 
technology   technologies  on, the following
 materials   materials,  when separated
from other solid waste:
   (1) Agricultural crop residues.
   (2) Bark, lawn, yard, and garden clippings.
   (3) Leaves, silvicultural residue, and tree and brush pruning.
   (4) Wood, wood chips, and wood waste.
   (5) Nonrecyclable pulp or nonrecyclable paper materials.
   (b) "Biomass conversion" does not include the controlled
combustion of recyclable pulp or recyclable paper materials, or
materials that contain sewage sludge, industrial sludge, medical
waste, hazardous waste, or either high-level or low-level radioactive
waste.
   (c)  (1)    For purposes of this
section, "nonrecyclable pulp or nonrecyclable paper materials" means
either of the following, as determined by the department: 
   (A) 
    (1)  Paper products or fibrous materials that cannot be
technically, feasibly, or legally recycled because of the manner in
which the product or material has been manufactured, treated, coated,
or constructed. 
   (B) 
    (2)  Paper products or fibrous materials that have
become soiled or contaminated and as a result cannot be technically,
feasibly, or legally recycled. 
   (2) For the purposes of this section, "conversion technology"
means a method capable of converting biomass into marketable products
and fuels through a noncombustion thermal, chemical, or biological
process.