BILL NUMBER: AB 876 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 6, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member McCarty
FEBRUARY 26, 2015
An act to add amend Section
40512 to 41701 of the Public Resources Code,
relating to solid waste.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 876, as amended, McCarty. Compostable organics.
The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, which is
administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery,
establishes an integrated waste management program. Existing law
requires each city, county, and regional agency, if any, to develop a
source reduction and recycling element of an integrated waste
management plan. Existing law requires each county to prepare a
countywide siting element that provides, among other things, for an
estimate of the total transformation or disposal capacity that will
be needed for a 15-year period to safely handle solid wastes
generated with the county that cannot be reduced, recycled, or
composted, and to identify areas for the location of new or expanded
solid waste transformation or disposal facilities, if needed or
desired.
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates
the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with
monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases.
The state board is required to adopt a statewide greenhouse gas
emissions limit equivalent to the statewide greenhouse gas emissions
level in 1990, to be achieved by 2020, and to adopt rules and
regulations to achieve the maximum technologically feasible, and
cost-effective greenhouse gas emissions reductions.
This bill would require the Department of Resources
Recycling and Recovery, in coordination with the State Air Resources
Board, to promote the use of compostable organics for critically
needed alternatives to agricultural amendments and for low-carbon
fuel manufacturing to reduce fugitive methane emissions associated
with landfill and other waste operations. each
countywide siting element to provide an estimate of the total
organics processing capacity that will be needed over a 15-year
period to safely handle organic wastes generated with the county and
to identify areas for the location of organics processing facilities,
if needed or desired, thereby imposing a state-mandated local
program. The bill would also make legislative findings and
declarations.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no yes .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:
(a) With the enactment of the California Integrated Waste
Management Act of 1989 (Division 30 (commencing with Section 40000)
of the Public Resources Code), the Legislature required the
Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery and local agencies to
promote recycling, anaerobic digestion, and composting over land
disposal and transformation.
(b) Since the enactment of the act, local governments and private
industries have worked jointly to create an extensive material
collection infrastructure and have implemented effective programs to
achieve a statewide diversion rate of greater than 50 percent.
(c) Although California now leads the nation in waste reduction
and recycling, the state continues to dispose of more than 15 million
tons of compostable organics each year in solid waste landfills.
(d) To reduce the landfilling of organics, increase composting and
anaerobic digestion, and meet the state's organic diversion goals,
cities and counties must plan for organics processing facilities that
can process organics diverted from landfills and organics waste
generators.
SEC. 2. Section 41701 of the Public
Resources Code is amended to read:
41701. Each countywide siting element and revision thereto shall
include, but is not limited to, all of the following:
(a) A statement of goals and policies for the environmentally safe
transformation or disposal of solid waste that cannot be reduced,
recycled, or composted.
(b) An estimate of the total transformation or disposal capacity
in cubic yards that will be needed for a 15-year period to safely
handle solid wastes generated with the county that cannot be reduced,
recycled, or composted.
(c) An estimate of the total organics processing capacity in cubic
yards that will be needed for a 15-year period to safely handle
organic wastes generated with the county.
(c)
(d) The remaining combined capacity of existing solid
waste transformation or disposal facilities existing at the time of
the preparation of the siting element, or revision thereto, in cubic
yards and years.
(d)
(e) The identification of an area or areas for the
location of new solid waste transformation or disposal facilities,
or new organics processing facilities, or the expansion of
existing solid waste or organics facilities, that are
consistent with the applicable city or county general plan, if the
county determines that existing capacity will be exhausted within 15
years or additional capacity is desired.
(e)
(f) For countywide elements submitted or revised on or
after January 1, 2003, a description of the actions taken by the city
or county to solicit public participation by the affected
communities, including, but not limited to, minority and low-income
populations.
SEC. 3. If the Commission on State Mandates
determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs
shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of
Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
SECTION 1. Section 40512 is added to the Public
Resources Code, to read:
40512. The department, in coordination with the State Air
Resources Board, shall promote the use of compostable organics for
critically needed alternatives to agricultural amendments and for
low-carbon fuel manufacturing to reduce fugitive methane emissions
associated with landfill and other waste operations.