BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                     AB 876


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          Date of Hearing:  April 29, 2015


                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS


                                 Jimmy Gomez, Chair


          AB  
          876 (McCarty) - As Amended April 6, 2015


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          Urgency:  No  State Mandated Local Program:  YesReimbursable:   
          Yes


          SUMMARY:


          This bill requires local governments to include organic waste  
          recycling facilities in existing planning requirements for  
          countywide solid waste management.  Specifically, this bill:  








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          1)Requires that each county siting element (CSE) include an  
            estimate of the total organics processing capacity that will  
            be needed for a 15-year period to safely handle organic wastes  
            generated within the county.  


          2)Requires that the identification of areas for new solid waste  
            facilities to specifically include the identification of  
            organic waste processing facilities.  


          FISCAL EFFECT:


          1)Increased initial implementation costs of approximately  
            $380,000 (special fund) annually for two years for CalRecyle  
            to advise counties, verify and approve siting elements, and  
            enforce the new requirements.


          2)Ongoing costs to CalRecyle of approximately $200,000 (special  
            fund) annually.


          3)Potential reimbursable state mandated costs in the hundreds of  
            thousands of dollars (GF) range to counties if this bill is  
            determined to be a reimbursable state-mandate.


          COMMENTS:


          1)Purpose.  According to the author, without proper planning  
            California will lose an opportunity to divert millions of tons  
            of organic waste from landfills.  This bill would ensure that  
            compostable organic waste is properly processed by requiring  
            municipalities to create a 15-year plan to estimate the amount  








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            of compostable waste and to plan for facilities to process  
            that waste.  

          2)Background.  CalRecycle is tasked with diverting at least 75%  
            of solid waste statewide by 2020.  Organic materials make up  
            one-third of the waste stream and food continues to be the  
            greatest single item disposed, making up over 15% of materials  
            landfilled.  



            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 are necessary to meet the 75% goal and  
            implementing Strategic Directive 6.1.  Recycling technologies  
            for organic waste include composting, anaerobic digestion, and  
            other types of processing that generate renewable fuels,  
            energy, soil amendments, and mulch.  

            Compost and other soil amendments that can be produced from  
            organic materials have been shown to improve soil health by  
            incorporating organic matter, beneficial micro-organisms, and  
            nutrients and reduce the need for chemical pesticides and  
            fertilizers.  These products also conserve water by allowing  
            water to penetrate the soil more quickly, decreasing runoff.


          Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081

















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