BILL NUMBER: SB 970 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 28, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Senator Leyva
FEBRUARY 8, 2016
An act to add Section 42649.88 to the Public Resources Code,
relating to solid waste.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 970, as amended, Leyva. Organic food waste diversion.
Existing law requires the Department of Resources Recycling and
Recovery to identify and recommend actions to address permitting and
siting challenges and to encourage the continued viability of the
state's organic waste processing and recycling infrastructure, in
partnership with the California Environmental Protection Agency and
other specified state and regional agencies. Existing law requires
the department to cooperate with local jurisdictions and industry to
provide assistance for increasing the feasibility of organic waste
recycling and to identify certain state financing mechanisms and
state funding incentives and post this information on its Internet
Web site.
This bill would require, by June 1, 2017,
require the department, in consultation with the State Air
Resources Board and the State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Commission, by June 1, 2017, to develop a
pilot demonstration program that encourages
to award matching grant funding for cost
effective and efficient integrated organic food waste diversion
projects. projects at existing wastewater
treatment facilities, as provided.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the
Regional Integrated Organics Diversion and Beneficial Utilization
Act.
SEC. 2. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Division
25.5 (commencing with Section 38500) of the Health and Safety Code)
establishes a policy to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases to 1990
levels by 2020 and to continue those reductions of greenhouse gases
beyond 2020.
(b) The critical role that short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs)
must play in the state's climate efforts is recognized in Chapter 4.2
(commencing with Section 39730) of Part 2 of Division 26 of the
Health and Safety Code, which requires the State Air Resources Board
to develop a strategy to reduce the emissions of SLCPs.
(c) California must achieve deep reductions in the emissions of
SLCPs by 2030 to meet potential or actual future greenhouse gas
emissions targets and air quality goals.
(d) Intensified state and global action to reduce the emissions of
SLCPs is the only way to immediately slow global warming and manage
the damaging effects of climate change.
(e) California has clear goals to reduce waste and to divert
organic materials from landfills and put them to beneficial use. The
state has a target to reduce landfilling of solid waste by 75 percent
by 2020.
(f) Organic waste constitutes more than one-third of California's
waste stream. Food waste alone accounts for about five million tons
of landfilled organics each year.
(g) Efforts to divert organics from landfills and develop
infrastructure that makes best use of the material are key elements
of an integrated strategy.
(g) Conservative estimates suggest that publicly owned wastewater
treatment agencies have existing capacity to codigest up to 75
percent or more of the food waste currently being landfilled.
(h) The diversion of food waste, fats, oils, and grease from
landfills by using existing infrastructure and facilities at
wastewater treatment agencies is recognized by the State Air
Resources Board as an effective and cost-efficient strategy to
maximize the resource recovery of the organic waste. Using existing
facilities also ensures projects can be sited, permitted, and
constructed in a timely fashion to meet the state's ambitious waste
diversion goals.
(h)
(i) Significant efforts to divert organic materials
from landfills and landfills, reduce
methane emissions emissions, and
develop create clean energy, including
low or negative carbon transportation fuels
fuels, should be encouraged by state policies.
(i)
(j) As future clean energy investments are planned and
implemented, state officials should ensure targeted investment,
regional cooperation, and public-private partnerships are utilized
at existing wastewater agencies to maximize the state's
organics diversion efforts and achieve cost effective and
environmentally beneficial reductions in the emissions of greenhouse
gases.
SEC. 3. Section 42649.88 is added to the Public Resources Code, to
read:
42649.88. By June 1, 2017, the department, in consultation with
the State Air Resources Board and the State Energy Resources
Conservation and Development Commission, shall develop a pilot
program that encourages cost-effective and efficient integrated
organic food waste diversion projects. The pilot program shall give
priority to projects that are based on regional cooperation and
provide the following benefits:
(a) Cost-effective utilization of existing anaerobic digestion
capacity at public wastewater agencies.
(b) Making the best use of diverted organics, including the
production of low or negative carbon transportation fuels.
(c) Direct or indirect reduction in the emissions of criteria air
pollutants.
(d) Effective use of public-private partnerships.
(e) Environmental benefits for disadvantaged communities, as
identified pursuant to Section 39711 of the Health and Safety Code.
(f) Local job creation.
42649.88. (a) No later than June 1, 2017, the
department, in consultation with the State Air Resources Board and
the State Water Resources Control Board, shall develop a pilot
demonstration program to provide matching grant funds for cost
effective and efficient regional integrated food waste diversion
projects at existing wastewater treatment facilities. The pilot
demonstration program shall give priority to projects that provide
the following benefits:
(1) Maximize food waste diversion in a cost-effective manner that
uses existing facilities and infrastructure.
(2) Maximize resource recovery of diverted waste, including the
production of clean energy, or low or negative carbon transportation
fuels.
(3) Maximize regional cooperation among publicly owned wastewater
treatment agencies, cities or counties, waste haulers, landfill
operators, and other relevant regional entities.
(4) Demonstrate effective and efficient organics management
strategies that can be duplicated throughout the state.
(b) Projects funded pursuant to the program shall be located at
existing wastewater treatment facilities in California and result in
all of the following:
(1) Permanent, annual, measurable, and verifiable reductions in
the emissions of greenhouse gases from the diversion of food waste
through avoidance of methane release at landfill and capture and use
of methane at wastewater treatment facilities.
(2) Permanent, annual, measurable, and verifiable increases in the
quantity of food waste diverted from landfills to digestion or
composting.
(3) Permanent, annual, measurable, and verifiable environmental
benefits for disadvantaged communities, as identified pursuant to
Section 39711 of the Health and Safety Code.
(c) (1) The department shall give priority to projects with
minimal siting and permitting requirements.
(2) In awarding grants pursuant to the program, the department
shall seek to maximize the reduction in the emissions of greenhouse
gases achieved by a project for each grant dollar awarded.
(d) (1) Projects eligible for matching grant funds pursuant to the
program include, but are not limited to, the modification,
renovation, or expansion of existing wastewater treatment facilities
to accept and process food waste streams.
(2) The department shall identify three to five regional projects
for matching grant funds pursuant to the program. The department,
upon appropriation by the Legislature, may expend moneys from the
Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund established pursuant to Section 16428.8
of the Government Code for awarding grants pursuant to the program.
(3) The department may award matching funds of up to ten million
dollars ($10,000,000) for each project. The amount awarded shall not
exceed 50 percent of the project cost.