BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2812|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2812
Author: Gordon (D)
Amended: 8/15/16 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE: 7-0, 6/29/16
AYES: Wieckowski, Gaines, Bates, Hill, Jackson, Leno, Pavley
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 8/11/16
AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza, Nielsen
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 80-0, 6/1/16 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Solid waste: recycling: state agencies and large
state facilities
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill requires the Department of Resources
Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle), on or before July 1, 2017,
to develop guidelines for adequate receptacles and staffing for
collecting and recycling recyclable materials in state office
buildings. This bill also requires state agencies, on or after
July 1, 2018, to provide and maintain recycling receptacles in
state buildings and large facilities based on standards adopted
by CalRecycle.
ANALYSIS: Existing law, pursuant to the Integrated Waste
Management Act (Public Resources Code §40000):
1)Requires state agencies to develop an integrated waste
management plan (plan) by 2000 to describe how the state
agency or facility would divert 50% of its waste from landfill
disposal by 2004.
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2)Requires state agencies and large state facilities
(facilities), which include California state universities and
community colleges, prisons, Department of Transportation
facilities, and other facilities as determined by CalRecycle,
to divert at least 50% of their waste from landfill disposal.
3)Requires state agencies to annually report to CalRecycle on
the implementation of the plan.
4)Requires a commercial waste generator, including state
agencies, to arrange for recycling services and requires local
governments to implement commercial solid waste recycling
programs designed to divert solid waste from businesses.
5)Requires generators of specified amounts of organic waste
(i.e., food waste and yard waste), including state agencies,
to arrange for recycling services for that material.
This bill requires state agencies to provide and maintain
recycling receptacles in state buildings and large facilities
based on standards adopted by CalRecycle. Specifically, this
bill:
1)Requires, on or before July 1, 2017, CalRecycle to develop
guidelines for adequate receptacles and staffing for
collecting and recycling recyclable materials in state office
buildings.
2)Defines "recyclable materials" as including, but not limited
to, paper, plastic, metal, and organic waste.
3)Requires, on or after July 1, 2018, state agencies and
facilities, for each office building of the state agency or
large state facility, to provide adequate receptacles,
signage, education, and staffing and arrange for recycling
services. Exempts community colleges.
4)Requires state agencies and facilities to review the adequacy
and condition of receptacles for recyclable materials and
associated signage at least annually.
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5)Requires state agencies to include a summary of the agency's
compliance with the bill's requirements in their annual report
to CalRecycle.
6)Includes chaptering out language should this bill and AB 2396
both become law.
Background
1)Statewide waste diversion goals. CalRecycle is tasked with
diverting at least 75% of solid waste statewide by 2020.
Currently, an estimated 31 million tons of waste are disposed
of in California's landfills annually, of which 37% is
compostable organic materials, 20% is inert and other
construction and demolition debris, and 17% is paper and
paperboard, 10% plastics, 3% metal, with the remaining 12%
consisting of various materials such as glass and other waste.
In addition, CalRecycle is charged with implementing Strategic
Directive 6.1, which calls for reducing organic waste disposal
by 50% by 2020. According to CalRecycle, significant gains in
organic waste diversion (through recycling technologies or
organic waste, including composting and anaerobic digestion)
are necessary to meet the 75% goal and to implement Strategic
Directive 6.1.
2)Waste reduction and GHGs. According to the California 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 GHG 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.
Landfill gas is generated by the anaerobic decomposition of
organic materials such as food, paper, wood, and green
material. 50% of landfill gas is methane, a GHG with a much
shorter life (also known as a short-lived climate pollutant),
but much higher global warming potential than carbon dioxide
(methane is approximately 25 times more efficient at trapping
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heat than carbon dioxide over a 100-year time span).
Depending on the types of solid waste, the chemical makeup of
landfill biogas can vary greatly from the biogas produced from
dairy farms, municipal solid waste, and wastewater treatment
facilities. 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 seven 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.
Comments
Purpose of Bill. According to the author, "The Integrated Waste
Management Act requires that local governments divert at least
50% of solid waste from landfill disposal and establishes a
statewide policy goal that 75% of solid waste generated be
source-reduced, recycled, or composted by the year 2020.
According to CalRecycle, in order to achieve the state's policy
goal, an additional 23 million tons will need to be recycled,
reduced, or composted.
"AB 2812 would direct CalRecycle to develop requirements to
ensure recycling containers are made available to employees of
the state. By ensuring that state employees have adequate
opportunity to recycle their solid waste in the workplace, the
state will lead by example, and play a major role in
contributing to the state's ambitious diversion goals."
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
1)Increased administrative costs of approximately $145,000 per
year for two years for CalRecyle to gather information, adopt
requirements, conduct outreach and update the electronic
annual report to reflect new reporting requirements. Ongoing
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absorbable costs for monitoring.
2)Unknown, potentially significant state costs to provide
receptacles, staff, and establish a collection schedule at
each state agency and facility.
3)Unknown, likely minor, state costs to incorporate the new
requirement into the existing report to CalRecycle.
SUPPORT: (Verified8/11/16)
Californians Against Waste
Northern California Recycling Agency
Rural County Representatives of California
Solid Waste Association of North America
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/11/16)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 80-0, 6/1/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,
Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke,
Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley,
Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth
Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto,
Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper,
Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim,
Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis,
Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte,
O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez,
Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting,
Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
Prepared by:Joanne Roy / E.Q. / (916) 651-4108
8/15/16 20:22:31
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