BILL NUMBER: SB 970 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 25, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 28, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Senator Leyva
FEBRUARY 8, 2016
An act to add Section 42649.88 to amend
Section 42999 of the Public Resources Code, relating to
solid waste. greenhouse gases.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 970, as amended, Leyva. Organic food waste diversion.
Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund: grant program:
recyclable materials.
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the
State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with
monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases.
The act authorizes the state board to include the use of market-based
compliance mechanisms. Existing law requires all moneys, except for
fines and penalties, collected by the state board from the
market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited in the Greenhouse
Gas Reduction Fund and to be available upon appropriation by the
Legislature.
Existing law requires certain moneys appropriated by the
Legislature from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to be used by the
Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery for a grant program to
provide financial assistance to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by
promoting in-state development of infrastructure to process organic
and other recyclable materials into new, value-added products.
This bill would require the department, in awarding a grant under
the program, to consider, among other things, the amount of
greenhouse gas emissions reductions that may result from the project
and the amount of organic material that may be diverted from
landfills as a result of the project.
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 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 to award matching grant funding for cost
effective and efficient integrated organic food waste diversion
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. Section 42999 of the Public
Resources Code is amended to read:
42999. (a) Any additional funds appropriated by the Legislature
from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, established pursuant to
Section 16428.8 of the Government Code, to the department shall be
used to administer a grant program to provide financial assistance to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions by promoting in-state development of
infrastructure to process organics and other recyclable materials
into new value-added products. The moneys shall be expended
consistent with the requirements of Article 9.7 (commencing with
Section 16428.8) of Chapter 2 of Part 2 of Division 4 of Title 2 of
the Government Code and Chapter 4.1 (commencing with Section 39710)
of Part 2 of Division 26 of the Health and Safety Code.
(b) For a grant made pursuant to From
moneys appropriated for purposes of this section,
the department shall expend the moneys to provide
grants, incentive payments, contracts, or other funding mechanisms to
public and private entities located in the state for any of the
following:
(1) Organics composting.
(2) Anaerobic digestion.
(3) Recyclable material manufacturing infrastructure projects or
other related activities that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
(c) For purposes of this section, eligible infrastructure projects
that reduce greenhouse gas emissions include, but are not limited
to, any of the following:
(1) Capital investments in new facilities and increased throughput
at existing facilities for activities, such as converting windrow
composting to aerated-static-pile composting to use food waste as
feedstock.
(2) Designing and constructing anaerobic digestion facilities to
produce biofuels and bioenergy.
(3) Designing and constructing facilities for processing
recyclable materials.
(d) In awarding a grant pursuant to this section, the department
shall consider all of the following:
(1) The amount of greenhouse gas emissions reductions that may
result from the project.
(2) The amount of organic material that may be diverted from
landfills as a result of the project.
(3) If, and how, the project may benefit disadvantaged
communities.
(4) Project readiness and permitting that the project may require.
(5) Air and water quality benefits that the project may provide.
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) 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.
(i) Significant efforts to divert organic materials from
landfills, reduce methane emissions, and create clean energy,
including low or negative carbon transportation fuels, should be
encouraged by state policies.
(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. (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.