BILL ANALYSIS �
------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 818|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|1020 N Street, Suite 524 | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
------------------------------------------------------------
THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 818
Author: Blumenfield (D), et al
Amended: 7/1/11 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE : 6-1, 6/27/11
AYES: Simitian, Blakeslee, Hancock, Kehoe, Lowenthal,
Pavley
NOES: Strickland
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 51-25, 5/19/11 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Solid waste: multifamily dwellings:
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill enacts the Renters' Right to Recycle
Act which requires an owner of a multifamily dwelling (MFD)
with five or more living units to arrange for recycling
services that are appropriate and available for the MFD, as
specified.
ANALYSIS :
Existing Law :
1. Local agencies to divert 50 percent of solid waste
disposed by their jurisdictions on and after the year
2000 through source reduction, recycling, and
composting.
CONTINUED
AB 818
Page
2
2. Local enforcement agencies for solid waste (generally
cities or counties) to enforce statewide minimum
enforcement standards for solid waste handling and
disposal.
3. Local agencies to annually submit a report to the
Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery
(CalRecycle) summarizing progress in reducing and
diverting solid waste as part of their diversion
mandates.
4. Local agencies, on and after September 1, 1994, to adopt
ordinances relating to adequate areas for collecting and
loading recyclable materials in development projects and
prohibits a local agency from issuing a building permit
after July 1, 2005, for a building that does not comply
with this requirement.
This bill:
1. Requires an owner of a MFD to arrange for recycling
services that are appropriate and available for the MFD.
For the purposes of the bill an MFD is a residential
facility that consists of five or more living units.
2. States that an owner of an MFD is not required to
arrange for recycling services if:
A. There is inadequate space for recycling
containers, as certified by a solid waste
enterprise that would otherwise serve the MFD.
The certification is to be valid for no more than
five years and is to include the following:
(1) Address of the multifamily dwelling.
(2)
Name, address, telephone number, a d email
address of the multifamily dwelling owner.
(3)
Name, address, telephone number, business
license number, and email address of the solid
CONTINUED
AB 818
Page
3
waste enterprise making the required
certification.
(4)
Date of certification.
(5)
Name and title of the person making the
certification.
B. The above shall not apply to a multifamily dwelling
for which a building permit is required on or after
either of the following dates whichever is later: The
effective date of an ordinance required pursuant to
subdivision (a) of Section 42911 of the Public
Resources Code that was adopted prior to September 1,
1994, if the effective date of the ordinance is prior
to September 1, 1996.
C. The cost of recycling services creates a
financial hardship for the MFD owner. An owner
can claim a financial hardship if the recycling
services result in a cost increase of 30 percent
or more over the cost of providing solid waste
service alone. As part of the claim, the owner
must include the contact information of the solid
waste enterprise that provided the information on
which the claim is made. The claim is valid for
no more than five years.
This bill does not interfere with or prevent a
local jurisdiction from requiring recycling
services for multifamily dwellings.
3. Will not become operative only if AB 341 (Chesbro),
2011-12 Session, is not enacted and does not become
effective on or before January 1, 2012.
Comments
According to the author's office, more than 7.1 million
Californians live in approximately 2.4 million MFDs. Most
of these residents are renters, but fewer than 40 percent
of them have access to recycling services where they live.
CONTINUED
AB 818
Page
4
While a homeowner can choose to recycle, a renter who wants
to recycle is not able to when his/her landlord does not
provide the opportunity to do so.
In California, about eight percent of the disposed waste
stream (3.3 million tons) comes from MFDs. Additionally,
MFDs account for nearly 45 percent of housing units in San
Francisco, 34 percent in Los Angeles, and 29 percent in San
Diego--significantly higher than the national average of 16
percent. Successful recycling programs in multifamily
housing require the education, participation, and
commitment of residents, the cooperation of local agencies,
and the participation of solid waste haulers. A 2001
report prepared by the Integrated Waste Management Board,
"Recycling in Multifamily Dwellings," concludes that much
of the cost associated with recycling at MFDs is offset by
reduced disposal fees.
Regulations requiring commercial recycling . Under the
California Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA), the
California Air Resource Board (ARB) must prepare and
approve a scoping plan for achieving the maximum
technologically feasible and cost-effective reductions in
GHG emissions from sources or categories of sources of GHGs
by 2020. According to ARB, the scoping plan "contains the
main strategies California will use to reduce greenhouse
gases (GHGs) that cause climate change. The scoping plan
has a range of GHG reduction actions which include direct
regulations, alternative compliance mechanisms, monetary
and non-monetary incentives, voluntary actions,
market-based mechanisms such as a cap-and-trade system, and
�a CGWSA] program implementation regulation to fund the
program."
The scoping plan identifies the solid waste sector as a
significant source of GHG emissions, and a scoping plan
measure to reduce GHG emissions in this sector includes
mandatory commercial recycling. The mandatory commercial
recycling measure is expected to achieve a reduction in GHG
emissions of 5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide
equivalents.
CalRecycle began workshops for the mandatory commercial
recycling measure rulemaking process in August 2009.
CONTINUED
AB 818
Page
5
January 1, 2012, is the planned effective date of the
recycling regulation, and July 1, 2012, is the planned
effective date for jurisdictions and businesses to
implement the commercial recycling programs. Some sources
indicate that these dates may be adjusted.
Related legislation
AB 399 (Montanez) of 2005 and AB 2206 (Montanez) of 2006,
amended the California Integrated Waste Management Act of
1989 to address various multifamily recycling matters
(e.g., development of a multifamily model ordinance for
local agencies; development of model multifamily owner
tenant notification documents on how tenants can reduce,
reuse, and recycle solid waste materials; multifamily
dwelling owner notice to new tenants regarding recycling
services). Both bills were vetoed. According to Governor
Schwarzenegger in vetoing AB 2206, "While I support efforts
to reduce the amount of solid waste going to our landfills,
the mandates in this measure are overly prescriptive and
create significant state, local and private compliance
costs." The Governor encouraged the California Integrated
Waste Management Board (CIWMB) "to continue in its efforts
to provide adequate tools and resources to local
jurisdictions in order to make available increased
recycling opportunities for multifamily dwelling
residents."
AB 3056 (Assembly Natural Resources Committee) Chapter 907,
Statutes of 2006, makes various amendments to the Beverage
Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act, including
authorization to fund up to $5 million in grants from
January 1, 2007, to January 1, 2008, to local governments
or nonprofit agencies to place multifamily housing source
separated beverage container recycling receptacles in
low-income communities. SB 1021 (Padilla) Chapter 724,
Statutes of 2007, continues this program from January 1,
2008, to January 1, 2009, increased the authorized funding
for the year to $15 million, and did not limit the program
to low-income communities.
AB 548 (Levine) of 2007 required an owner or operator of a
multifamily dwelling to arrange for recycling services
appropriate for the multifamily dwelling, consistent with
CONTINUED
AB 818
Page
6
state or local law or requirements applicable to the
collection, handling, or recycling of solid waste. In
vetoing AB 548, Governor Schwarzenegger cited increased
multifamily dwelling owner costs and local government
authority to require recycling at these dwellings, while
again encouraging CIWMB efforts, as noted in the AB 2206
veto message. AB 822 (Levine) was amended in 2008 to
mirror AB 548 and remained on the Senate Inactive File. AB
473 (Blumenfield) of 2009 mirrored AB 548 and AB 822,
except that AB 473 was amended on the Senate Floor after
approval by the Senate Environmental Quality Committee June
22, 2009 (5-2), to require the recycling services to be
available, while also adding exceptions to the requirement.
Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed AB 473, citing concerns
similar to those raised in the AB 548 veto message.
AB 341 (Chesbro) of 2011 requires CalRecycle to ensure that
75 percent of solid waste to be source reduced, recycled,
or composted; enacts the Recycling of Commercial Solid
Waste Law; and amends other provisions of the California
Integrated Waste Management Act. The AB 341 Recycling of
Commercial Solid Waste Law requires the owner or operator
of a business or a multifamily residential dwelling of five
units or more to arrange for recycling services. Previous
bills addressing commercial recycling include SB 25
(Padilla) of 2009-10 that was subsequently amended to
address rendering issues and an Assembly Natural Resources
Committee hearing was canceled at the author's request; AB
479 of 2009 (Chesbro) (Senate Appropriations Committee
August 17, 2009, amendments applied the commercial
recycling requirements to multifamily dwellings of 5 units
or more) that was held on the Committee's suspense file;
and AB 737 (Chesbro) was amended on the Senate Floor
September 4, 2009, to include the commercial recycling and
other provisions, and was re-referred to the Senate
Appropriations Committee, approved by the Committee and the
Senate, and vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger in 2010. In
vetoing AB 737, Governor Schwarzenegger indicated that the
bill is "unnecessary and duplicative of actions already
being undertaken by state agencies" - including
CalRecycle's development of commercial recycling
regulations in accordance with the CGWSA scoping plan.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
CONTINUED
AB 818
Page
7
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/27/11) (per Senate Environmental
Quality Committee analysis) (Unable to verify at the time
of writing)
California State Association of Counties
City of Oakland
Ecology Action
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Block, Blumenfield,
Bonilla, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles
Calderon, Campos, Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Davis,
Dickinson, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani,
Galgiani, Gatto, Gordon, Hall, Hayashi, Roger Hern�ndez,
Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Lara, Bonnie Lowenthal,
Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel P�rez,
Portantino, Skinner, Solorio, Swanson, Torres,
Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. P�rez
NOES: Achadjian, Bill Berryhill, Conway, Cook, Donnelly,
Beth Gaines, Garrick, Hagman, Halderman, Harkey,
Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Logue, Mansoor, Miller, Morrell,
Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Silva, Smyth, Valadao,
Wagner
NO VOTE RECORDED: Alejo, Gorell, Grove, Ma
DLW:do 7/1/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
**** END ****
CONTINUED