Amended in Senate September 4, 2015

Amended in Senate September 1, 2015

Amended in Senate July 16, 2015

Amended in Senate July 2, 2015

Amended in Assembly April 20, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 901


Introduced by Assembly Member Gordon

(Coauthor: Assembly Member Williams)

February 26, 2015


An act to amend Section 41821.5 of, to amend, renumber, and add Section 41821.6 of, and to add Sections 41821.7 and 41821.8 to, the Public Resources Code, relating to solid waste.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 901, as amended, Gordon. Solid waste: reporting requirements: enforcement.

The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, generally regulates the disposal, management, and recycling of solid waste. Existing law requires disposal facility operators to submit information to counties from periodic tracking surveys on the disposal tonnages that are disposed of at the disposal facility by jurisdiction or region of origin. Existing law requires solid waste handlers and transfer station operators to provide information to the disposal facility on the origin of the solid waste they deliver to the disposal facility. Existing law requires recycling and composting facilities to submit periodic information to counties on the types and quantities of materials that are disposed of, sold to end users, or sold to exporters or transporters for sale outside of the state, by county of origin. Existing law requires counties to submit periodic reports to the cities within the county, to any regional agency of which the county is a member, and to the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery on the amounts of solid waste disposed of by jurisdiction or region of origin, and on the categories and amounts of solid waste diverted to recycling and composting facilities within the county or region. Existing law authorizes the department to adopt regulations in this regard.

This bill would revise these provisions by, among other things, (1) requiring recycling and composting operations and facilities to submit specified information directly to the department, rather than to counties, (2) requiring disposal facility operators to submit tonnage information to the department, and to counties only on request, and (3) deleting the requirement for counties to submit that information to cities, regional agencies, and the department. The bill would delete references to periodic tracking surveys. The bill would require exporters, brokers, and transporters of recyclables or compost to submit periodic information to the department on the types, quantities, and destinations of materials that are disposed of, sold, or transferred inside or outside of the state, and would authorize the department to provide this information, on an aggregated basis, to jurisdictions, as specified. The bill wouldbegin insert make the aggregated information, other than that aggregated by company, end insertbegin insertpublic information. The bill wouldend insert make other related changes to the various reporting requirements. The bill would provide for imposition of civil penalties on any person who refuses or fails to submit information required by the governing regulations, and on any person who knowingly or willfully files a false report, refuses to permit the department to inspect or examine associated records, or alters, cancels, or obliterates entries in the records, as specified. The bill would provide that the civil penalties may be imposed either in a civil action or administratively pursuant to procedures specified in the bill. The bill would specify the types of waste disposal records that are subject to inspection and copying by the department, and also by an employee of a government entity, as defined, with respect to tonnage received at a disposal facility on or after July 1, 2015, that originates within the government entity’s geographic jurisdiction. The bill, with respect to those records, would prohibit a government entity from disclosing the name of a waste hauler using a specific landfill unless necessary as part of an administrative or judicial proceeding, as specified. The bill would also authorize a government entity to petition the superior court for injunctive or declaratory relief to enforce these provisions. The bill would require recovered civil penalties to be deposited in the Integrated Waste Management Account.

The California Public Records Act provides that public records are open to inspection at all times during the office hours of the state or local agency that retains those records, and that every person has a right to inspect any public record, but exempts certain records from those requirements. Existing law, upon the request of any person furnishing any report, notice, application, plan, or other document required by the California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, provides that neither the department nor an enforcement agency shall make available for inspection by the public any portion of the report, notice, application, plan, or other document that contains a trade secret, as specified.

This bill would exempt certain waste disposal records subject to inspection and copying by the department or a government entity from disclosure under certain California Public Records Act provisions. The bill would also make certain waste disposal records subject to nondisclosure under the trade secrets provisions.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

P3    1

SECTION 1.  

Section 41821.5 of the Public Resources Code
2 is amended to read:

3

41821.5.  

(a) Disposal facility operators shall submit
4information on the disposal tonnages by jurisdiction or region of
5origin that are disposed of at each disposal facility to the
6department, and to counties that request the information, in a form
7prescribed by the department. To enable disposal facility operators
8to provide that information, solid waste handlers and transfer
9station operators shall provide information to disposal facility
10operators on the origin of the solid waste that they deliver to the
11disposal facility.

12(b) begin insert(1)end insertbegin insertend insert Recycling and composting operations and facilities
13shall submit periodic information to the department on the types
14and quantities of materials that are disposed of, sold, or transferred
P4    1to other recycling or composting facilities, end users inside of the
2state or outside of the state, or exporters, brokers, or transporters
3for sale inside of the state or outside of the state.begin delete Exporters,end delete

4begin insert(2)end insertbegin insertend insertbegin insertExporters,end insert brokers, and transporters of recyclables or
5compost shall submit periodic information to the department on
6the types, quantities, and destinations of materials that are disposed
7of, sold, or transferred.begin delete Theend delete

8begin insert(3)end insertbegin insertend insertbegin insertTheend insert information inbegin delete theseend deletebegin insert theend insert reportsbegin insert submitted pursuant to
9this subdivisionend insert
may be providedbegin insert to the departmentend insert on an
10aggregated facility-wide basis and may exclude financial data,
11such as contract terms and conditions (including information on
12pricing, credit terms, volume discounts and other proprietary
13business terms), the jurisdiction of the origin of the materials, or
14information on the entities from which the materials are received.
15The department may provide this information to jurisdictions,
16aggregated by company, upon request.begin insert The aggregated information,
17other than that aggregated by company, is public information.end insert

18(c) The department shall adopt regulations pursuant to this
19section requiring practices and procedures that are reasonable and
20necessary to implement this section, and that provide a
21representative accounting of solid wastes and recyclable materials
22that are handled, processed, or disposed. Those regulations
23approved by the department shall not impose an unreasonable
24burden on waste and recycling handling, processing, or disposal
25operations or otherwise interfere with the safe handling, processing,
26and disposal of solid waste and recyclables. The department shall
27include in those regulations both of the following:

28(1) Procedures to ensure that an opportunity to comply is
29provided prior to initiation of enforcement authorized by Section
3041821.7.

31(2) Factors to be considered in determining penalty amounts
32that are similar to those provided in Section 45016.

33(d) Any person who refuses or fails to submit information
34required by regulations adopted pursuant to this section is liable
35for a civil penalty of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) and
36not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each violation of
37a separate provision or, for continuing violations, for each day that
38the violation continues.

39(e) Any person who knowingly or willfully files a false report,
40or any person who refuses to permit the department or any of its
P5    1representatives to make inspection or examination of records, or
2who fails to keep any records for the inspection of the department,
3or who alters, cancels, or obliterates entries in the records for the
4purpose of falsifying the records as required by regulations adopted
5pursuant to this section, is liable for a civil penalty of not less than
6five hundred dollars ($500) and not more than ten thousand dollars
7($10,000) for each violation of a separate provision or, for
8continuing violations, for each day that the violation continues.

9(f) Liability under this section may be imposed in a civil action,
10or liability may be imposed administratively pursuant to this article.

11(g) (1) Notwithstanding Title 5 (commencing with Section
123426) of Part 1 of Division 4 of the Civil Code and Article 11
13(commencing with Section 1060) of Chapter 4 of Division 8 of
14the Evidence Code, all recordsbegin insert that the facility or operator isend insert
15 reasonably required tobegin delete be keptend deletebegin insert keep end insert to allowbegin delete forend deletebegin insert the department
16to verify information in, orend insert
verificationbegin delete ofend deletebegin insert of,end insert the reports required
17pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b) and implementing regulations
18shall be subject to inspection and copying by the department, but
19shall be confidential and shall not be subject to disclosure under
20the California Public Records Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with
21Section 6250) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code).

22(2) Notwithstanding Title 5 (commencing with Section 3426)
23of Part 1 of Division 4 of the Civil Code and Article 11
24(commencing with Section 1060) of Chapter 4 of Division 8 of
25the Evidence Code, an employee of a government entity may, at
26the disposal facility, inspect and copy records related to tonnage
27received at the facility on or after July 1, 2015, and originating
28within the government entity’s geographic jurisdiction. Those
29records shall be limited to weight tags that identify the hauler,
30vehicle, quantity, date, type, and origin of waste received at a
31disposal facility. Those records shall be available to those
32government entities for the purposes of subdivision (a) and as
33necessary to enforce the collection of local fees, but those records
34shall be confidential and shall not be subject to disclosure under
35the California Public Records Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with
36Section 6250) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code).
37Names of haulers using specific landfills shall not be disclosed by
38a government entity unless necessary as part of an administrative
39or judicial enforcement proceeding to fund local programs or
40enforce local franchises.

P6    1(3) A government entity may petition the superior court for
2injunctive or declaratory relief to enforce its authority under
3paragraph (2). The times for responsive pleadings and hearings in
4these proceedings shall be set by the judge of the court with the
5object of securing a decision as to these matters at the earliest
6possible time.

7(4) For purposes of this section, a government entity is an entity
8identified in Section 40145 or an entity formed pursuant to Section
940976.

10(5) For purposes of this subdivision, “disposal” and “disposal
11facility” have the same meanings as prescribed by Sections 40120.1
12and 40121, respectively.

13(6) Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to limit or
14expand the authority of a government entity that may have been
15provided by this section and implementing regulations as they read
16on December 31, 2015.

17(7) The records subject to inspection and copying by the
18department pursuant to paragraph (1) or by an employee of a
19government entity pursuant to paragraph (2) may be redacted by
20the operator before inspection to exclude confidential pricing
21information contained in the records, such as contract terms and
22conditions (including information on pricing, credit terms, volume
23discounts, and other proprietary business terms), if the redacted
24information is not information that is otherwise required to be
25reported to the department.

26(h) Notwithstanding the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act
27(Title 2.5 (commencing with Section 1633.1) of Part 2 of Division
283 of the Civil Code), reports required by this section shall be
29submitted electronically, using an electronic reporting format
30system established by the department.

31(i) All records provided in accordance with this section shall be
32subject to Section 40062.

33

SEC. 2.  

Section 41821.6 of the Public Resources Code is
34amended and renumbered to read:

35

41821.9.  

To assist market development efforts by the
36department, local agencies, and the private sector, the department
37shall use existing data resources.

38

SEC. 3.  

Section 41821.6 is added to the Public Resources Code,
39to read:

P7    1

41821.6.  

In order to ensure that records required pursuant to
2this article are properly maintained, in addition to inspecting all
3relevant records, the department may conduct audits, perform site
4inspections, observe facility operations, and otherwise investigate
5the recordkeeping and reporting of persons subject to the
6requirements of this article. Any records, reports, notes, studies,
7drawings, schematics, photographs, or trade secrets, as defined in
8Section 3426.1 of the Civil Code, obtained, produced, or created
9by the department in connection with or arising from such audits,
10inspections, or observations are confidential and shall not be subject
11to disclosure under the California Public Records Act (Chapter
123.5 (commencing with Section 6250) of Division 7 of Title 1 of
13the Government Code).

14

SEC. 4.  

Section 41821.7 is added to the Public Resources Code,
15to read:

16

41821.7.  

(a) The department may issue an administrative
17complaint to any person on whom civil liability may be imposed
18pursuant to this article. The complaint shall allege the acts or
19failures to act that constitute the basis for liability and the amount
20of the proposed civil liability. The complaint shall be served by
21personal service or certified mail and shall inform the party so
22served that a hearing shall be conducted within 60 days after the
23party has been served, unless the party waives the right to a hearing.

24(b) If the party waives the right to a hearing, the department
25shall issue an order setting liability in the amount proposed in the
26complaint unless the department and the party have entered into
27a settlement agreement, in which case the department shall issue
28an order setting liability in the amount specified in the settlement
29agreement. If the party has waived the right to a hearing or if the
30department and the party have entered into a settlement agreement,
31the order shall not be subject to review by any court or agency.

32(c) Any hearing required under this section shall be conducted
33by an independent hearing officer according to the procedures
34specified in Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 11500) of Part
351 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, except as
36otherwise specified in this section.

37

SEC. 5.  

Section 41821.8 is added to the Public Resources Code,
38to read:

39

41821.8.  

(a) Orders setting civil liability issued under this
40article shall become effective and final upon issuance thereof, and
P8    1payment shall be made within 30 days of issuance. Copies of these
2orders shall be served by personal service or by certified mail upon
3the party served with the complaint and upon other persons who
4appeared at the hearing and requested a copy.

5(b) Within 30 days after service of a copy of a decision, any
6person so served may file with the superior court a petition for
7writ of mandate for review of the decision. Any person who fails
8to file the petition within the 30-day period may not challenge the
9reasonableness or validity of a decision or order of the hearing
10officer in any judicial proceedings brought to enforce the decision
11or order or for other remedies.

12(c) Except as otherwise provided in this section, Section 1094.5
13of the Code of Civil Procedure governs any proceedings conducted
14pursuant to this subdivision.

15(d) This section does not prohibit the court from granting any
16appropriate relief within its jurisdiction.

17(e) All penalties collected under this article shall be deposited
18in the Integrated Waste Management Account created pursuant to
19Section 48001.



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