BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Senator Wieckowski, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 1045
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|Author: |Irwin |
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|Version: |4/20/2015 |Hearing |7/1/2015 |
| | |Date: | |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Joanne Roy |
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SUBJECT: Organic waste: composting.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1) Requires pursuant to the Integrated Waste Management Act of
1989 (Act) (Public Resources Code §40000 et seq.):
a) Establishes a statewide diversion goal of 75% by 2020.
b) Requires local agencies to divert, through source
reduction, recycling, and composting, 50% of solid waste
disposed by their jurisdictions.
c) Requires a commercial waste generator, including
multi-family dwellings, to arrange for recycling services
and requires local governments to implement commercial
solid waste recycling programs designed to divert solid
waste from businesses.
d) Requires generators of specified amounts of organic
waste (i.e., food waste and yard waste) to arrange for
recycling services for that material.
2) Under the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006
(commonly referred to as AB 32), requires the Air Resources
Board (ARB) to determine the 1990 statewide greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions level and approve a statewide GHG emissions
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limit that is equivalent to that level, to be achieved by
2020, and to adopt GHG emissions reductions measures by
regulation. ARB is authorized to include the use of
market-based mechanisms to comply with these regulations.
(Health and Safety Code §38500 et seq.).
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This bill:
1) States legislative findings and declarations regarding the
state's recycling and composting policies and the
environmental and agricultural benefits of compost development
and application.
2) Requires the California Environmental Protection Agency
(CalEPA), in coordination with the Department of Resources
Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) to develop and implement
policies to aid in diverting organic waste from landfills by
promoting composting, as specified.
3) Requires CalEPA, in developing these policies, to work with
the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to
promote a goal of 5 million metric tons of greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions reductions through development and application
of compost on working lands.
4) Requires CalEPA to convene CalRecycle, the State Water
Resources Control Board (SWRCB), and the Air Resource Board
(ARB) to ensure coordination of goals and policies.
5) Requires CalRecycle, in coordination with the ARB and SWRCB,
to develop a policy to promote streamlined permitting and
regulation of composting facilities while protecting air and
water quality.
Background
1) Statewide waste diversion goals. CalRecycle is tasked with
diverting at least 75% of solid waste statewide by 2020.
Currently, an estimated 35 million tons of waste are disposed
of in California's landfills annually, of which 32% is
compostable organic materials, 29% is construction and
demolition debris, and 17% is paper.
In addition, CalRecycle is charged with implementing Strategic
Directive 6.1, which calls for reducing organic waste disposal
by 50% by 2020. According to CalRecycle, significant gains in
organic waste diversion (through recycling technologies or
organic waste, including composting and anaerobic digestion)
are necessary to meet the 75% goal and to implement Strategic
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Directive 6.1.
2) Recycling organic waste. For purposes of recycling, "organic
waste" is defined as food waste, green waste, landscape and
pruning waste, nonhazardous wood waste, and food-soiled paper
waste that is mixed in with food waste. Organic material,
like food waste and yard waste, represents about one-third of
the solid waste sent to landfills even though a large
percentage can be recycled or composted.
Recycling technologies for organic waste include composting,
anaerobic digestion, and other types of processing that
generate renewable fuels, energy, soil amendments, and mulch.
Anaerobic digestion, which produces biogas that can be
processed into biomethane fuel, is particularly suited to
handle food waste. Green waste is more efficiently processed
through composting.
3) What is compost? According to CalRecycle, compost is the
controlled decomposition of organic material such as leaves,
twigs, grass clippings and food scraps. A wide range of
materials may be composted, but they must consist of
principally organic components (i.e. carbon-containing
remnants or residues of life processes). Compost products may
vary since the properties of any given compost depend on the
nature of the original feedstock and the conditions under
which it was decomposed. However, mature compost is normally
dark brown in color and should have an even texture and a
pleasant, earthy aroma.
Composting is a means of controlling and accelerating the
decomposition process. An overabundance of soil organisms is
responsible for transforming the organic matter in compost
into carbon dioxide, water, humic substances (components of
soil that affect physical and chemical properties and improve
soil fertility) and energy in the form of heat. Most
composting facilities use a thermophilic process, which breaks
down the waste with heat-loving bacteria, and rely on high
temperatures to meet pathogen reduction standards.
Composting diverts organic materials out of landfills and turns
it into a product that is useful for soil restoration. In
addition to improving the quality of soil, compost prevents
soil erosion, reduces the need for chemical fertilizers,
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herbicides, and pesticides, and enables better soil water
retention.
4) Composting in California. According to CalRecycle, there are
181 composting facilities in the state. However, some of
these facilities may not be involved in waste diversion (e.g.
agricultural residuals, manure, and other material not
destined for disposal). CalRecycle estimates that the top 30
compost facilities that take organics out of the waste stream
handle approximately 80% of the material.
Comments
1) Purpose of Bill. According to the author, "AB 1045
establishes a statewide policy to promote the use of compost
by requiring state entities to work together to establish a
coordinated effort for the development and deployment of
compost in order to achieve multiple state goals."
2) Coordinating efforts. Multiple state agencies are involved
with regulating composting. CalRecycle permits compostable
material handling operations and facilities. ARB is the state
agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of
emissions of GHGs that cause global warming in order to reduce
emissions of GHGs. CDFA annually inspects compost facilities
selling to organic food producers for adherence to National
Organic Program regulations. SWRCB and the regional water
quality control boards issue individual waste discharge
requirements for larger composting facilities. This bill
proposes to provide for improved state agency coordination of
composting efforts and development.
3) Amendments Needed. This bill requires CalRecycle, in
coordination with the ARB and SWRCB, to develop a policy to
promote streamlined permitting and regulation of composting
facilities while protecting air and water quality.
a) Streamlined. "Streamlined" is a term that may connote
cutting corners or favoring speed to the potential
detriment of what has been forsaken. Streamlining
permitting and regulatory processes may more expeditiously
get a facility up and running, but it also may result in
long-term, unintended consequences.
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For example, a streamlined permitting process to authorize a
new composting facility may be on a fast track for approval
because of various factors such as location in an area
zoned for industrial use - However, was that location
analyzed to consider potential environmental impacts, such
as whether the location is upwind to a residential area?
Depending on how the permitting process was expedited, was
the public provided an opportunity to participate; was the
process transparent? Permitting and regulatory
requirements exist to protect public health and safety as
well as the environment; and such purposes should not be
compromised for the sake of speed.
On the other hand, "coordination" of permitting and regulatory
requirements would serve to increase efficiency and ensure
that efforts do not overlap unnecessarily, while preserving
the goal of protecting the public and environment. It
would be prudent for the agencies to coordinate permitting
and regulatory requirements rather than streamline them.
An amendment is needed on page 4, line 31, to delete
"streamlined" and replace with "coordinated."
b) "Protecting air and water quality." Although air and
water quality are certainly worth protecting, they are not
the only environmental impacts that should be considered.
For example, other impacts in permitting and regulating
composting facilities may include land use planning,
natural resources, agricultural resources, biological
resources, noise, transportation/traffic, cultural
resources, and utilities. It would be prudent to broaden
the spectrum of protection beyond air and water only, and
include the environment as a whole.
An amendment is needed on page 4, lines 32-33, to delete "air
and water quality," and replace the term with "the
environment."
Related/Prior Legislation
AB 876 (McCarty) would require a county or regional agency to
include in its annual report to CalRecycle specified information
regarding organic waste recycling. AB 876 is scheduled to be
heard in the Senate Environmental Quality Committee on July 1,
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2015.
AB 1826 (Chesbro, Chapter 727, Statutes of 2014) phased in
requirements for generators of specified amounts of organic waste
to arrange recycling services for that material beginning January
1, 2016, through January 1, 2019.
AB 341 (Chesbro, Chapter 476, Statutes of 2011) required local
businesses and multifamily residential dwellings of five or more
units that generate more than four cubic yards of solid waste per
week to separate recyclable materials from solid waste and
subscribe to a basic level of recycling service that included
collection, self-hauling, or other arrangements for the pickup of
the recyclable materials or subscribe to a recycling service that
may include mixed waste processing that yields diversion results
comparable to source separation.
SOURCE: Author
SUPPORT:
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
(AFSCME),
AFL-CIO
California Compost Coalition
California League of Conservation Voters
California Organics Recycling Council
Californians Against Waste
Carbon Cycle Institute
City and County of San Francisco Department of the Environment
City of Thousand Oaks
Community Alliance with Family Farmers
Planning and Conservation League
Republic Services, Inc.
Rural County Representatives of California
San Francisco Department of the Environment
Stop Waste
West Marin Compost Coalition
1 Individual
OPPOSITION:
None received
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