BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2396
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 11, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Das Williams, Chair
AB 2396
(McCarty) - As Introduced February 18, 2016
SUBJECT: Solid waste: annual reports
SUMMARY: Requires state agencies to include information
relating to commercial recycling and organic waste recycling in
their annual reports to the Department of Resources Recycling
and Recovery (CalRecycle).
EXISTING LAW, pursuant to the Integrated Waste Management Act:
1)Requires local agencies to divert, through source reduction,
recycling, and composting, 50% of solid waste disposed by
their jurisdictions.
2)Requires each jurisdiction to submit a countywide siting
element (CSE) to CalRecycle that includes:
a) A statement of goals for the environmentally safe
transformation and disposal of solid waste;
b) An estimate of the total transformation or disposal
capacity necessary for a 15-year period;
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c) The remaining capacity of existing solid waste
facilities;
d) The identification of areas for the location of new
solid waste facilities that are consistent with the general
plan, if the county determines that existing capacity will
be exhausted within 15 years, or as specified; and,
e) For CSEs submitted after 2003, a description of the
actions taken to solicit public participation by the
affected communities, including low-income populations.
3)Pursuant to AB 876 (McCarty), Chapter 593, Statutes of 2015,
requires local governments to include organic waste recycling
facilities in the planning requirements for CSEs.
4)Establishes a statewide diversion goal of 75% by 2020.
5)Requires state agencies to develop an integrated waste
management plan (plan) by 2000 to lay out how the state agency
or facility would divert 50% of its waste from landfill
disposal by 2004.
6)Requires state agencies to annually report to CalRecycle on
the implementation of the plan.
7)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.
8)Requires generators of specified amounts of organic waste
(i.e., food waste and yard waste) to arrange for recycling
AB 2396
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services for that material.
THIS BILL:
1)Requires state agencies to include a summary of the agency's
compliance with the state's commercial waste recycling and
organic waste recycling requirements in their annual report to
CalRecycle.
2)Repeals an uncodified provision in AB 876 that states that if
the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill
created a state mandate the costs are reimbursable by the
state, and instead states that no reimbursement is required by
AB 876, because a local agency has the ability to pay for any
program costs by levying a service charge, fee, or assessment.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
1)Meeting the state's recycling goals. 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 implementing
Strategic Directive 6.1. Recycling technologies for organic
waste include composting, anaerobic digestion, and other types
of processing that generate renewable fuels, energy, soil
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amendments, and mulch. California's state agencies play an
essential role in meeting the state's waste reduction
requirements.
2)Waste reduction and greenhouse gases (GHGs). Recycling
provides significant GHG reductions over landfilling. The Air
Resources Board's First Update to the Climate Change Scoping
Plan identifies waste management as a key sector for GHG
emissions reductions and states, "Meeting the [state's] 75%
recycling goal is the best path forward to maximizing GHG
emission reductions from the Waste Management Sector and
putting California on the path for even greater GHG emission
reductions in the future." 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 more than 80 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 the Air Resources Board, landfills generated 20%
of the state's methane emissions in 2013. In addition to
organic waste, source reduction and recycling reduce GHG
emissions associated with the production and transportation of
products.
3)Author's statement:
AB 2396 is a cleanup measure for AB 876 and makes other
clarifying changes to annual waste reporting requirements
for state agencies? This bill clarifies that state
agencies subject to Mandatory Commercial Recycling
[requirements] and Mandatory Commercial Organics Recycling
[requirements] must include a summary of their compliance
with those laws in their annual reports on compliance with
state integrated waste management laws.
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
None on file
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Elizabeth MacMillan / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092