BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1103
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
1103 (Dodd)
As Introduced February 27, 2015
Majority vote
-------------------------------------------------------------------
|Committee |Votes |Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+---------------------+---------------------|
|Natural |6-1 |Williams, Cristina |Harper |
|Resources | |Garcia, McCarty, | |
| | |Rendon, Mark Stone, | |
| | |Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
-------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Defines "food soiled paper" and "food waste" within the
Integrated Waste Management Act (IWMA). Specifically, this bill
defines:
1)"Food-soiled paper" as including, but not limited to, food
soiled napkins, towels, egg cartons, pizza boxes, waxed or
unwaxed cardboard containers, or paper food and beverage
containers or wrappers, paper bags, coffee filters, tea bags,
and plates and cups that do not have a plastic coating.
AB 1103
Page 2
2)"Food waste" as discarded putrescible (i.e., capable of rotting
in a manner that causes a nuisance due to odors, vectors,
gasses, etc.) solid, semisolid, and liquid food, including, but
not limited to, fruit, vegetables, cheese, meat, bones, poultry,
seafood, bread, rice, pasta, oils, and herbs and any other
putrescible matter produced from human food production and
preparation activities. Specifies that food waste includes
food-soiled paper. Specifies that food waste does not include
materials regulated by the California Department of Food and
Agriculture.
EXISTING LAW, pursuant to the IWMA:
1)Requires local agencies to divert, through source reduction,
recycling, and composting, 50% of solid waste disposed by their
jurisdictions.
2)Establishes a statewide diversion goal of 75% by 2020.
3)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.
4)Requires generators of specified amounts of organic waste to
arrange for recycling services for that material.
5)Defines "organic waste" as food waste, green waste, landscape
and pruning waste, nonhazardous wood waste, and food-soiled
paper that is mixed in with food waste.
FISCAL EFFECT: None
AB 1103
Page 3
COMMENTS: According to the author:
AB 1103 defines "food waste" to create a statewide
standard definition. Presently, there is no definition
in state law and there are scores of local definitions.
The bill will assist both California commercial
generators and local governments in clarifying what is
meant by "food waste" in order to help monitor what is
being recycled and what is being dumped in landfills,
which is necessary to protect public health and safety.
The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery
(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 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.
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.
According to the Air Resources Board (ARB), a total reduction of
80 million metric tons (MMT), or 16% compared to business as
usual, is necessary to reduce statewide greenhouse gas (GHG)
AB 1103
Page 4
emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. ARB intends to achieve
approximately 78% of the reductions through direct regulations.
ARB proposes to achieve the balance of reductions necessary to
meet the 2020 limit (approximately 18 MMT) through its
cap-and-trade program.
Recycling organic waste provides significant GHG reductions over
landfilling. Composting and other organics processing
technologies, including anaerobic digestion, reduce GHGs by
avoiding the emissions that would be generated by the material's
decomposition in a landfill. Landfill gas is generated by the
decomposition of organic materials such as food, paper, wood, and
yard waste. Fifty percent of landfill gas is methane, a GHG that
is 34 times more efficient at trapping heat than carbon dioxide.
While most modern landfills have systems in place to capture
methane, significant amounts continue to escape into the
atmosphere. According to ARB's GHG inventory, approximately 7
million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent are released annually by
landfills. That number is expected to increase to 8.5 million
tons of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2020.
Analysis Prepared by:
Elizabeth MacMillan / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092
FN:
0000459
AB 1103
Page 5