BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1063
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
1063 (Williams)
As Amended April 20, 2015
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes |Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+---------------------+---------------------|
|Natural |7-1 |Williams, Cristina |Harper |
|Resources | |Garcia, Hadley, | |
| | |McCarty, Rendon, | |
| | |Mark Stone, Wood | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+---------------------+---------------------|
|Appropriations |12-4 |Gomez, Bloom, Bonta, |Bigelow, Chang, |
| | |Calderon, Daly, |Jones, Wagner |
| | |Eggman, Eduardo | |
| | |Garcia, Holden, | |
| | |Quirk, Rendon, | |
| | |Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Requires the Department of Resources Recycling and
Recovery (CalRecycle) to hold public hearings and workshops to
develop a proposal to revise the state's solid waste tipping fee.
Specifically, this bill:
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1)On or before July 1, 2016, requires CalRecycle to hold a public
hearing and a workshop to develop a proposal for the Legislature
regarding a new solid waste management fee to provide CalRecycle
adequate funding to:
a) Develop financial incentives to promote the recycling of
organic material;
b) Provide resources to develop infrastructure and incentives
necessary to achieve the statewide policy goal of 75%; and,
c) Provide a sustainable funding structure that ensures
CalRecycle's ability to carry out its responsibilities under
the California Integrated Waste Management Act.
2)Requires CalRecycle to seek public input from interested groups,
including, but not limited to, representatives of the solid
waste industry, local government, disadvantaged communities, and
environmental groups.
3)Within six months of the public hearing and workshop, requires
CalRecycle to submit the proposal to the Legislature.
EXISTING LAW, pursuant to the California Integrated Waste
Management Act:
1)Specifies a state policy goal that 75% of solid waste generated
be diverted from landfill disposal by 2020 through source
reduction, recycling, or composting.
2)Requires each local jurisdiction to divert 50% of solid waste
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from landfill disposal.
3)Authorizes CalRecycle to collect a solid waste tipping fee of up
to $1.40 per ton of solid waste disposed of in California.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, this bill has absorbable costs for CalRecycle to
develop the proposal and report to the Legislature.
COMMENTS: According to the author:
Achieving California's 75% recycling goal will eliminate 50% of
CalRecycle's revenue, while demanding additional resources to
expand and oversee additional recycling and waste management
infrastructure. Specifically, achieving 75% recycling will
reduce CalRecycle's current revenue by $29 million annually.
The immediate loss of revenue does not account for the statewide
investment that will be needed to develop the infrastructure and
capacity necessary to recycle an additional 22 million tons of
material by 2020. CalRecycle estimates that at least $125
million will be needed annually to develop the market and
infrastructure necessary to achieve the 75% goal. Finally,
CalRecycle will need an additional $11 million to properly
manage and regulate the new infrastructure.
The current cap on the tipping fee was established over two
decades ago in 1993. At that time, the tipping fee was set at
$1.34 per ton, and authorized the California Integrated Waste
Management Board (now CalRecycle) to increase the fee as needed,
to a maximum of $1.40, beginning with the 1995-1996 Fiscal Year.
CIWMB acted on this authority six years later, and raised the
state tipping fee to the maximum $1.40 on July 1, 2001.
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Over the last few years, a number of bills have increased
recycling requirements in the state. CalRecycle is tasked with
diverting at least 75% of solid waste statewide by 2020.
Currently, organic materials make up one-third of the waste stream
and food continues to be the highest single item disposed at over
15% of disposal. 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 implement 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. Other states have
taken similar actions, and 23 have banned the disposal of green
waste (i.e., yard trimmings and landscape waste) in landfills.
Recycling organic waste also has substantial greenhouse gas
emissions reduction benefits. According to the Air Resources
Board, landfills emit nearly 8 million tons of carbon dioxide
equivalent every year produced by the decomposition of organic
materials. A recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change states that the global warming impact of methane is
34 times that of carbon dioxide over a 100-year period.
While increasing diversion has significant environmental benefits,
it results in decreasing revenues for CalRecycle, which is funded
by the state's solid waste tipping fee on waste disposed of in
landfills. In order to address this combination of increasing
challenges and decreasing revenues, CalRecycle will need to
reevaluate its options for ongoing funding that will be
sustainable as the state moves toward 75% recycling.
The total median tipping fee in California for landfill disposal
is $45 per ton, which includes the state fee of $1.40, local fees,
and landfill charges. (California's average landfill charge is
$54 per ton, but according to CalRecycle that figure is "inflated
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due to skewed data" based on the survey methods used. CalRecycle
states that the median cost is more representative of the state as
a whole.) While this is fairly consistent with the national
average of $49 per ton, California's recycling rate of 66% far
exceeds states with similarly low disposal costs. For example,
the New England area has average tipping fees of $77 per ton and a
76% diversion rate. Areas of the country with disposal fees
similar to California's have much lower rates of recycling; the
Great Lakes area has average disposal costs of $45 per ton, and a
recycling rate of only 24%.
Several states have higher state tipping fees, including
Pennsylvania ($7.25 per ton), Wisconsin ($7.00 recycling fee
assessed on each ton of solid waste disposed), Ohio ($4.75 per
ton), and Missouri ($2.11 per ton).
Analysis Prepared by:
Elizabeth MacMillan / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092
FN:
0000326