BILL NUMBER: AB 1647 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 978
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 27, 1996
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 27, 1996
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 31, 1996
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 29, 1996
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 28, 1996
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 26, 1996
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 8, 1996
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 10, 1996
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 16, 1995
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 20, 1995
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Bustamante
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Olberg)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Alpert and Ackerman)
(Coauthors: Senators Alquist, Costa, Leslie, Lewis, and Polanco)
FEBRUARY 24, 1995
An act to amend Sections 41780 and 41780.1 of, and to add Sections
40124 and 41781.3 to, the Public Resources Code, relating to solid
waste.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1647, Bustamante. Solid waste landfills: alternative daily
cover: diversion.
Existing law, the California Integrated Waste Management Act of
1989, establishes an integrated waste management program administered
by the California Integrated Waste Management Board and defines the
terms "solid waste," "solid waste disposal," and "recycle" for
purposes of the act. The act provides for the permitting of solid
waste disposal facilities, including solid waste landfills, as
defined.
The act requires each city, county, and regional agency, if any,
to develop a source reduction and recycling element of an integrated
waste management plan that includes a prescribed implementation
schedule showing how the city, county, or regional agency will divert
materials from solid waste disposal through source reduction,
recycling, and composting activities.
Materials are applied at, and in the operation of, solid waste
landfills as alternative daily cover for health and safety purposes.
This bill would define "diversion" for purposes of the act and
declare that beneficial reuse in the construction and operation of a
solid waste landfill, including use of alternative daily cover,
constitutes diversion through recycling. The bill would specify
that, pursuant to the board's general regulatory authority, the board
shall adopt rules and regulations prior to December 31, 1997, that
establish conditions for the use of alternative daily cover.
The bill would make clarifying changes in provisions pertaining to
local agency diversion requirements.
The bill would also make related legislative findings and
declarations.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. (a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of
the following:
(1) The diversion of solid waste from disposal at solid waste
landfills and the application of landfill cover materials are matters
of statewide concern and provisions governing those activities must
be applied in a uniform and consistent manner throughout the state.
(2) On January 25, 1995, the California Integrated Waste
Management Board adopted a policy regarding the use of alternative
daily cover at solid waste landfills and subsequently adopted
implementing regulations that were approved by the Office of
Administrative Law.
(3) In Natural Resources Defense Council vs. California Integrated
Waste Management Board, the trial court's opinion interpreted the
meaning of various provisions of the California Integrated Waste
Management Act of 1989 and, in its construction of provisions
pertaining to alternative daily cover and diversion at solid waste
landfills, misinterpreted legislative intent.
(4) The board's policy, as adopted on January 25, 1995, and the
implementing regulations, regarding the use of alternative daily
cover at solid waste landfills are consistent with applicable
statutes.
(5) It is necessary to amend applicable provisions of the act of
1989 to clarify existing law so as to clearly express the legislative
intent and to remove any uncertainty as to the authority of the
board to adopt the implementing regulations specified in paragraph
(4).
(6) It is necessary to amend provisions of the act of 1989 to
clarify the intent of existing law that the diversion of solid waste
from solid waste disposal is diversion under the act of 1989 for
purposes of meeting the requirements of Sections 41780, 41780.1,
41780.2, and 41781 of the Public Resources Code, as distinguished
from diversion of solid waste from a solid waste disposal facility.
(b) (1) The Legislature further finds and declares that, at the
present time, the amount of green materials generated in California
is in excess of the quantity that existing markets can absorb. It is
thus in the interests of the state to encourage the expansion of
markets for green materials.
(2) It is the intent of the Legislature that the California
Integrated Waste Management Board, and other state agencies, continue
their efforts to promote the expansion of compost and other markets
for green materials, including, but not limited to, the compost
market program activities specified in Chapter 5 (commencing with
Section 42230) of Part 3 of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code.
SEC. 2. Section 40124 is added to the Public Resources Code, to
read:
40124. "Diversion" means activities which reduce or eliminate the
amount of solid waste from solid waste disposal for purposes of this
division, including Article 1 (commencing with Section 41780) of
Chapter 6.
SEC. 3. Section 41780 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
41780. (a) Each city or county source reduction and recycling
element shall include an implementation schedule which shows both of
the following:
(1) For the initial element, the city or county shall divert 25
percent of all solid waste from landfill disposal or transformation
by January 1, 1995, through source reduction, recycling, and
composting activities.
(2) Except as provided in Sections 41783, 41784, and 41785, for
the first revision of the element, the city or county shall divert 50
percent of all solid waste by January 1, 2000, through source
reduction, recycling, and composting activities.
(b) Nothing in this part prohibits a city or county from
implementing source reduction, recycling, and composting activities
designed to exceed these goals.
SEC. 4. Section 41780.1 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
41780.1. (a) Notwithstanding any other requirement of this part,
for the purposes of determining the amount of solid waste that a
regional agency is required to divert from disposal or transformation
through source reduction, recycling, and composting to meet the
diversion requirements of Section 41780, the regional agency shall
use the solid waste disposal projections in the source reduction and
recycling elements of the regional agency's member agencies. The
method prescribed in Section 41780.2 shall be used to determine the
maximum amount of disposal allowable to meet the diversion
requirements of Section 41780.
(b) Notwithstanding any other requirement of this part, for the
purposes of determining the amount of solid waste that a city or
county is required to divert from disposal or transformation through
source reduction, recycling, and composting to meet the diversion
requirements of Section 41780, the city or county shall use the solid
waste disposal projections in the source reduction and recycling
elements of the city or county. The method prescribed in Section
41780.2 shall be used to determine the maximum amount of disposal
allowable to meet the diversion requirements of Section 41780.
(c) To determine achievement of the diversion requirements of
Section 41780 in 1995 and in the year 2000, projections of disposal
amounts from the source reduction and recycling elements shall be
adjusted to reflect annual increases or decreases in population and
other factors affecting the waste stream, as determined by the board.
By January 1, 1994, the board shall study the factors which affect
the generation and disposal of solid waste and shall develop a
standard methodology and guidelines to be used by cities, counties,
and regional agencies in adjusting disposal projections as required
by this section.
(d) The amount of additional diversion required to be achieved by
a regional agency to meet the diversion requirements of Section 41780
shall be equal to the sum of the diversion requirements of its
member agencies. To determine the maximum amount of disposal
allowable for the regional agency to meet the diversion requirements
of Section 41780, the maximum amount of disposal allowable for each
member agency shall be added together to yield the agency disposable
maximum.
SEC. 5. Section 41781.3 is added to the Public Resources Code, to
read:
41781.3. (a) The use of solid waste for beneficial reuse in the
construction and operation of a solid waste landfill, including use
of alternative daily cover, which reduces or eliminates the amount of
solid waste being disposed pursuant to Section 40124, shall
constitute diversion through recycling and shall not be considered
disposal for the purposes of this division.
(b) Prior to December 31, 1997, pursuant to the board's authority
to adopt rules and regulations pursuant to Section 40502, the board
shall, by regulation, establish conditions for the use of alternative
daily cover that are consistent with this division. In adopting the
regulations, the board shall consider, but is not limited to, all of
the following criteria:
(1) Those conditions established in past policies adopted by the
board affecting the use of alternative daily cover.
(2) Those conditions necessary to provide for the continued
economic development, economic viability, and employment
opportunities provided by the composting industry in the state.
(3) Those performance standards and limitations on maximum
functional thickness necessary to ensure protection of public health
and safety consistent with state minimum standards.
(c) Until the adoption of additional regulations, the use of
alternative daily cover shall be governed by the conditions
established by the board in its existing regulations set forth in
paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) of, and paragraph (3) of subdivision
(c) of, Section 18813 of Title 14 of the California Code of
Regulations, as those sections read on the effective date of this
section, and by the conditions established in the board's policy
adopted on January 25, 1995.
(d) In adopting rules and regulations pursuant to this section,
Section 40124, and this division, including, but not limited to, Part
2 (commencing with Section 40900), the board shall provide guidance
to local enforcement agencies on any conditions and restrictions on
the utilization of alternative daily cover so as to ensure proper
enforcement of those rules and regulations.