Amended in Senate June 6, 2016

Amended in Senate June 1, 2016

Amended in Senate May 11, 2016

Amended in Senate July 16, 2015

Amended in Assembly May 19, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 1103


Introduced by Assembly Member Dodd

February 27, 2015


An act to amendbegin delete Sections 41821.5 and 41953 of, to amend and renumber Section 41952 of, and to add Section 41952 to,end deletebegin insert Section 41821.5 ofend insert the Public Resources Code, relating to solid waste.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1103, as amended, Dodd. Solidbegin delete waste: disposal.end deletebegin insert waste disposal: self-end insertbegin inserthaulers.end insert

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 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.

This bill would additionally require abegin delete self-hauler, as specified,end deletebegin insert self-haulerend insert to submit that information to thebegin delete department.end deletebegin insert department and would require the department to develop regulations that define “self-hauler” to include specified persons and entities.end insert

begin delete

Existing law prohibits a person, other than an authorized recycling agent, from removing specified materials that have been segregated from solid waste materials and placed at a designated recycling collection location for residential curbside collection programs authorized by a city, county, or local agency for the purposes of collection and recycling or at a designated recycling collection location by any commercial or industrial entity. Existing law authorizes a court, in a civil action by a recycling agent against a person alleged to have violated these laws, to either allow treble damages or award a civil penalty, as specified, against the unauthorized person removing the recyclable material, and to allow treble damages or award a higher civil penalty, as specified, against a person for a second violation and subsequent violations.

end delete
begin delete

This bill would prohibit a person, subject to these same penalties and damages, from collecting, removing, or transporting solid waste generated by another person on residential, commercial, or industrial premises located within a city, county, or local governmental jurisdiction, except in compliance with applicable law, as defined. The bill would apply those same penalties and damages in any civil action against a person alleged to have violated, or to have knowingly participated in the violation of, the segregated recycling laws specified above. The bill would require a court, if a plaintiff prevails in a civil action brought pursuant to these and related provisions, to award to the plaintiff reasonable attorneys’ fees, expert witness fees, and costs incurred in the course of the litigation.

end delete

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

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

P2    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
P3    1station operators shall provide information to disposal facility
2operators on the origin of the solid waste that they deliver to the
3disposal facility.

4(b) (1) Recycling and composting operations and facilities shall
5submit periodic information to the department on the types and
6quantities of materials that are disposed of, sold, or transferred to
7other recycling or composting facilities, end users inside of the
8state or outside of the state, or exporters, brokers, or transporters
9for sale inside of the state or outside of the state.

10(2) Exporters, brokers, self-haulers, and transporters of
11recyclables or compost shall submit periodic information to the
12department on the types, quantities, and destinations of materials
13that are disposed of, sold, or transferred. The department shall
14develop regulations implementing this section that define
15“self-hauler” to include, at a minimum, a person or entity that
16generates and transports, utilizing its own employees and
17equipment, more than one cubic yard per week of its own food
18waste to a location or facility that is not owned and operated by
19that person or entity.

20(3) The information in the reports submitted pursuant to this
21subdivision may be provided to the department on an aggregated
22facility-wide basis and may exclude financial data, such as contract
23terms and conditions (including information on pricing, credit
24terms, volume discounts and other proprietary business terms), the
25jurisdiction of the origin of the materials, or information on the
26entities from which the materials are received. The department
27may provide this information to jurisdictions, aggregated by
28company, upon request. The aggregated information, other than
29that aggregated by company, is public information.

30(c) The department shall adopt regulations pursuant to this
31section requiring practices and procedures that are reasonable and
32necessary to implement this section, and that provide a
33 representative accounting of solid wastes and recyclable materials
34that are handled, processed, or disposed. Those regulations
35approved by the department shall not impose an unreasonable
36burden on waste and recycling handling, processing, or disposal
37operations or otherwise interfere with the safe handling, processing,
38and disposal of solid waste and recyclables. The department shall
39include in those regulations both of the following:

P4    1(1) Procedures to ensure that an opportunity to comply is
2provided prior to initiation of enforcement authorized by Section
341821.7.

4(2) Factors to be considered in determining penalty amounts
5that are similar to those provided in Section 45016.

6(d) Any person who refuses or fails to submit information
7required by regulations adopted pursuant to this section is liable
8for a civil penalty of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) and
9not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each violation of
10a separate provision or, for continuing violations, for each day that
11the violation continues.

12(e) Any person who knowingly or willfully files a false report,
13or any person who refuses to permit the department or any of its
14representatives to make inspection or examination of records, or
15who fails to keep any records for the inspection of the department,
16or who alters, cancels, or obliterates entries in the records for the
17purpose of falsifying the records as required by regulations adopted
18pursuant to this section, is liable for a civil penalty of not less than
19five hundred dollars ($500) and not more than ten thousand dollars
20($10,000) for each violation of a separate provision or, for
21continuing violations, for each day that the violation continues.

22(f) Liability under this section may be imposed in a civil action,
23or liability may be imposed administratively pursuant to this article.

24(g) (1) Notwithstanding Title 5 (commencing with Section
253426) of Part 1 of Division 4 of the Civil Code and Article 11
26(commencing with Section 1060) of Chapter 4 of Division 8 of
27the Evidence Code, all records that the facility or operator is
28reasonably required to keep to allow the department to verify
29information in, or verification of, the reports required pursuant to
30subdivisions (a) and (b) and implementing regulations shall be
31subject to inspection and copying by the department, but shall be
32confidential and shall not be subject to disclosure under the
33California Public Records Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with
34Section 6250) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code).

35(2) Notwithstanding Title 5 (commencing with Section 3426)
36of Part 1 of Division 4 of the Civil Code and Article 11
37(commencing with Section 1060) of Chapter 4 of Division 8 of
38the Evidence Code, an employee of a government entity may, at
39the disposal facility, inspect and copy records related to tonnage
40received at the facility on or after July 1, 2015, and originating
P5    1within the government entity’s geographic jurisdiction. Those
2records shall be limited to weight tags that identify the hauler,
3vehicle, quantity, date, type, and origin of waste received at a
4disposal facility. Those records shall be available to those
5government entities for the purposes of subdivision (a) and as
6necessary to enforce the collection of local fees, but those records
7shall be confidential and shall not be subject to disclosure under
8the California Public Records Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with
9Section 6250) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code).
10Names of haulers using specific landfills shall not be disclosed by
11a government entity unless necessary as part of an administrative
12or judicial enforcement proceeding to fund local programs or
13enforce local franchises.

14(3) A government entity may petition the superior court for
15injunctive or declaratory relief to enforce its authority under
16paragraph (2). The times for responsive pleadings and hearings in
17these proceedings shall be set by the judge of the court with the
18object of securing a decision as to these matters at the earliest
19possible time.

20(4) For purposes of this section, a government entity is an entity
21identified in Section 40145 or an entity formed pursuant to Section
2240976.

23(5) For purposes of this subdivision, “disposal” and “disposal
24facility” have the same meanings as prescribed by Sections 40120.1
25and 40121, respectively.

26(6) Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to limit or
27expand the authority of a government entity that may have been
28provided by this section and implementing regulations as they read
29on December 31, 2015.

30(7) The records subject to inspection and copying by the
31department pursuant to paragraph (1) or by an employee of a
32government entity pursuant to paragraph (2) may be redacted by
33the operator before inspection to exclude confidential pricing
34information contained in the records, such as contract terms and
35conditions (including information on pricing, credit terms, volume
36discounts, and other proprietary business terms), if the redacted
37information is not information that is otherwise required to be
38reported to the department.

39(h) Notwithstanding the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act
40(Title 2.5 (commencing with Section 1633.1) of Part 2 of Division
P6    13 of the Civil Code), reports required by this section shall be
2submitted electronically, using an electronic reporting format
3system established by the department.

4(i) All records provided in accordance with this section shall be
5subject to Section 40062.

begin delete
6

SEC. 2.  

Section 41952 of the Public Resources Code is
7amended and renumbered to read:

8

41957.  

Nothing in this chapter limits the right of any person
9to donate, sell, or otherwise dispose of his or her recyclable
10materials.

11

SEC. 3.  

Section 41952 is added to the Public Resources Code,
12to read:

13

41952.  

No person shall collect, remove, or transport solid waste
14generated by another person on residential, commercial, or
15industrial premises located within a city, county, or local
16governmental jurisdiction, except in compliance with applicable
17law. For purposes of this section, “applicable law” includes, but
18is not limited to, a municipal ordinance regulating the handling of
19solid waste.

20

SEC. 4.  

Section 41953 of the Public Resources Code is
21amended to read:

22

41953.  

(a) In any civil action by a person, including, but not
23limited to, a local governmental agency or its recycling agent,
24against a person alleged to have violated Section 41950 or 41951,
25or by a person, including, but not limited to, a local governmental
26agency or a solid waste enterprise authorized by the local
27governmental agency to handle solid waste, against a person
28alleged to have violated, or to have knowingly participated in the
29violation of, Section 41952, the court may either allow treble
30damages, as measured by the market value of the recyclable
31material removed, or award a civil penalty of not more than two
32thousand dollars ($2,000), whichever is greater, for each
33unauthorized removal, against the unauthorized person removing
34the recyclable material or solid waste.

35(b) In any civil action by a person, including, but not limited
36to, a local governmental agency or its recycling agent, against a
37person alleged to have violated Section 41950 or 41951, or by a
38person, including, but not limited to, a local governmental agency
39or a solid waste enterprise authorized by the local governmental
40agency to handle solid waste, against a person alleged to have
P7    1violated, or to have knowingly participated in the violation of,
2Section 41952, for a second, or subsequent, time in any 12-month
3period, the court may either allow treble damages, as measured by
4the market value of the recyclable material removed, or award a
5civil penalty of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000),
6whichever is greater, for each unauthorized removal against the
7unauthorized person removing the recyclable material or solid
8waste.

9(c) If a plaintiff prevails in a civil action brought pursuant to
10this chapter, the court shall award to the plaintiff reasonable
11attorneys’ fees, expert witness fees, and costs incurred in the course
12of the litigation.

end delete


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