BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2812
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB
2812 (Gordon)
As Amended August 15, 2016
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: | 80-0 |(June 1, 2016) |SENATE: |39-0 |(August 17, |
| | | | | |2016) |
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Original Committee Reference: NAT. RES.
SUMMARY: Requires state agencies to provide and maintain
recycling receptacles in state buildings and large state
facilities based on standards adopted by the Department of
Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle).
The Senate amendments add language to avoid chaptering out
issues with AB 2396 (McCarty) of the current legislative
session, which relates to state agency commercial and organics
recycling.
EXISTING LAW, pursuant to the Integrated Waste Management Act:
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
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disposal by 2004.
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.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, this bill has minor additional state costs. State
agencies are already required to report annually to CalRecycle
on their waste diversion programs. This bill clarifies that
mandatory commercial recycling and mandatory organics are a part
of the waste diversion programs that agencies must include in
their annual reports.
COMMENTS: CalRecycle is tasked with diverting at least 75% of
solid waste statewide by 2020. Recycling reduces disposal
costs, creates jobs, reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and
conserves resources. According to CalRecycle, this represents
the next phase of waste management in California that makes
current landfill diversion programs equal partners with
materials management programs to achieve the highest and best
use of all materials in California. These goals cannot be met
without motivation and actions at multiple levels within the
public and private sectors. California's state agencies play an
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essential role in meeting the state's waste reduction
requirements.
In 2011, AB 341 (Chesbro), Chapter 476, Statutes of 2011,
required businesses, including state agencies, that generate
four cubic yards or more of commercial solid waste per week to
arrange for recycling services.
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. Source reduction and recycling reduce GHG emissions
associated with the production and transportation of products.
This bill is intended to ensure that state employees have
adequate opportunity to recycle their solid waste in the
workplace, which will enable the state will lead by example and
play a major role in contributing to the state's ambitious
diversion goals.
Analysis Prepared by:
Elizabeth MacMillan / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092
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