BILL NUMBER: HR 20	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Williams

                        APRIL 27, 2015

   Relative to Compost Awareness Week.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
             HOUSE OR SENATE RESOLUTIONS DO NOT CONTAIN A DIGEST



   WHEREAS, Materials, such as yard trimmings, vegetable cuttings,
biosolids, food scraps, manures, and hay shavings, have all been
composted and converted into a beneficial product known as compost;
and
   WHEREAS, Compost is an important soil amendment and is critical to
the state's valuable agricultural industry; and
   WHEREAS, Returning organic resources to the soil decreases
dependence on chemical fertilizers and pesticides, decreases erosion,
reduces greenhouse gas emissions and nonpoint source pollution,
conserves water, and creates drought-resistant crops; and
   WHEREAS, Composting is an effective form of waste reduction,
reuse, and recycling; and since compostable organic materials make up
approximately 42 percent of the material going to landfills,
composting is becoming one of the primary methods used by communities
to reach waste diversion goals; and
   WHEREAS, Anaerobic digestion is a form of organics management that
prepares materials for composting, while capturing methane, a potent
greenhouse gas, which is then used to generate electricity and heat
or processed into an ultra-low carbon transportation fuel; and
   WHEREAS, Composting California's food waste could cut landfill
methane emissions by an amount of up to the equivalent of three
million tons of carbon dioxide per year, and reduce greenhouse gas
emissions by the equivalent of an additional 3.3 million tons,
through the use of finished compost in agriculture; and
   WHEREAS, Communities, through their local governments, highway
departments, soil conservation services and extension offices, and
public works professionals, can have significant impact on clean
water, soil, climate change, and landfill diversion by using compost
for public works projects; and
   WHEREAS, Composting creates green jobs and infrastructure for
cities and states that implement composting programs; and
   WHEREAS, The Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery has
estimated that recovering a significant portion of our organic waste
stream could create 14,000 new jobs in the state by 2020; and
   WHEREAS, The composting councils of the United States, Canada, and
the United Kingdom have all declared the first full week of May as
the annual International Compost Awareness Week; now, therefore, be
it
   Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, That the week
of May 3, 2015, through May 9, 2015, is hereby designated as Compost
Awareness Week; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.