BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                      AB 1103


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          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.  










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          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










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          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)  








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          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


















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