BILL ANALYSIS �
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 498|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|1020 N Street, Suite 524 | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 498
Author: Lara (D)
Amended: 1/27/14
Vote: 21
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE : 5-1, 1/15/14
AYES: Hill, Corbett, Fuller, Jackson, Leno
NOES: Pavley
NO VOTE RECORDED: Gaines, Hancock, Vacancy
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 6-0, 1/23/14
AYES: De Le�n, Gaines, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
NO VOTE RECORDED: Walters
SUBJECT : Solid waste: biomass conversion
SOURCE : California State Association of Counties
County of Los Angeles
DIGEST : This bill includes conversion technologies in the
definition of "biomass conversion" and defines "biomass
conversion" to mean the production of heat, fuels, or
electricity by the controlled combustion of, or the use of other
noncombustion thermal conversion technologies on specified
materials, when separated from other solid waste.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law, under the California Integrated Waste Management
Act:
CONTINUED
SB 498
Page
2
1.Requires each city or county source reduction and recycling
element to include an implementation schedule that shows a
city or county must divert 50% of solid waste from landfill
disposal or transformation by January 1, 2000, through source
reduction, recycling, and composting activities.
2.Establishes a state policy goal that 75% of solid waste
generated be diverted from landfill disposal through source
reduction, recycling, or composting by 2020.
3.Defines "transformation" to mean incineration, pyrolysis,
distillation, or biological conversion other than composting
and specifies that "transformation" does not include
composting, gasification, or biomass conversion.
4.Defines "biomass conversion" to mean the controlled
combustion, when separated from other solid waste and used for
producing electricity or heat of specified biomass, including,
agricultural crop residues, bark, lawn, yard, garden
clippings, leaves, silvicultural residue, tree and brush
pruning, wood, wood chips, and wood waste and nonrecyclable
pulp or nonrecyclable paper materials.
5.Specifies that "biomass conversion" does not include the
controlled combustion of recyclable pulp or recyclable paper
materials, or materials that contain sewage sludge, industrial
sludge, medical waste, hazardous waste, or either high-level
or low-level radioactive waste.
This bill:
1.Includes conversion technologies in the definition of "biomass
conversion."
2.Defines "biomass conversion" to mean the production of heat,
fuels, or electricity by the controlled combustion of or the
use of, other noncombustion thermal conversion technologies on
specified materials, when separated from other solid waste.
Background
Conversion technologies . According to the California Department
of Resources, Recycling and Recovery, conversion technologies
CONTINUED
SB 498
Page
3
are processes that can convert organic materials into usable
forms of energy including heat, steam, electricity, natural gas,
and liquid fuels.
Thermochemical conversion processes are characterized by higher
temperatures and faster conversion rates and include combustion,
gasification, and pyrolysis. Pyrolysis is the thermal
decomposition of feedstock at high temperatures (greater than
400?F) in the absence of air, whereas gasification is a process
that uses air or oxygen and high heat, (typically above 1300?F)
to convert feedstock into a synthetic gas or fuel gas.
Gasification uses less air or oxygen than incineration
processes. Thermochemical conversion is best suited for lower
moisture feedstocks.
Biochemical conversion processes include aerobic conversion
(i.e., composting), anaerobic digestion (which occurs in
landfills and controlled reactors or digesters), and anaerobic
fermentation (for example, the conversion of sugars from
cellulose to ethanol). Biochemical conversion proceeds at lower
temperatures and lower reaction rates. Higher moisture
feedstocks are generally good candidates for biochemical
processes.
Physiochemical conversion involves the physical and chemical
synthesis of products from feedstocks (for example, biodiesel
from waste fats, oils, and grease-known as FOG) and is primarily
associated with the transformation of fresh or used vegetable
oils, animal fats, greases, tallow, and other suitable
feedstocks into liquid fuels or biodiesel.
The definition of transformation in current law captures many
thermochemical and biochemical conversion technologies, but some
processes that would technically qualify as conversion are
specifically excluded by statute, namely composting,
gasification and biomass conversion (i.e., combustion of green
waste).
Solid waste diversion credit for biomass at conversion
facilities . Existing law requires jurisdictions to divert 50%
of solid waste from landfill disposal or transformation through
source reduction, recycling, and composting activities. Prior
to 2008, diversion estimates to determine compliance with the
50% diversion mandate were performed by calculating the quantity
CONTINUED
SB 498
Page
4
of solid waste generation and estimating the amount of
diversion. SB 1016 (Wiggins, Chapter 343, Statutes of 2008),
changed the diversion calculation by only considering the
quantity of disposal, as reported by disposal facilities
(transformation facilities and landfills) and the jurisdiction's
population, and comparing that value to a baseline rate of
disposal.
Biomass conversion, currently defined as the controlled
combustion of specified biomass feedstocks when separated from
municipal solid waste, is excluded from the definition of
transformation, and therefore, biomass that is combusted at a
biomass conversion facility is not counted as disposal.
Biomass in California . According to data from the California
Biomass Collective, there are 28 operational facilities in the
state using wood or agriculture biomass with a net generation of
565 megawatts (MW). In addition to these larger scale, biomass
combustion facilities, there are a handful of small scale,
demonstration and/or research projects in the state that use a
noncombustion conversion technology, which generate or plan to
generate anywhere from a fraction of an MW to several MWs using
biomass. Of these facilities, the Dixon Ridge Farms in Dixon,
CA uses a gasification technology to generate 0.1 MW of
electricity from woody and agricultural biomass, and the Cabin
Creek Biomass Facility Project in Placer County is proposing to
construct a two-megawatt wood-to-energy biomass facility that
would also use gasification technology.
Biomass and Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) . Existing law
identifies electrical generation facilities that use biomass as
renewable electrical generation facilities and can be certified,
if they meet fuel specific requirements, by the California
Energy Commission (CEC) as RPS-eligible, and therefore may be
used by retail sellers of electricity, and publicly owned
utilities to satisfy their RPS procurement goals.
The CEC defines biomass as any organic material not derived from
fossil fuels, including the feedstocks eligible under biomass
conversion.
Related legislation
SB 804 (Lara, 2013) included conversion technologies in the
CONTINUED
SB 498
Page
5
definition of biomass conversion and added requirements for
those facilities. SB 804 was vetoed by the Governor.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 1/27/14)
California State Association of Counties (co-source)
County of Los Angeles (co-source)
Los Angeles County Solid Waste Management Committee/Integrated
Waste Management Task Force
Rural County Representatives of California
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
"Existing California law defines "biomass conversion" as the
direct combustion of certain listed types of biomass materials
such as yard clippings, wood waste, and agricultural residues.
This definition excludes conversion technologies that can more
efficiently generate electricity from those same biomass
materials with lower air emissions. SB 498 will help facilitate
cleaner and more efficient technologies to develop in California
for converting organic waste to electricity and help the state
reach its 75% waste reduction goal. Specifically, SB 498
includes conversion technologies (CT) within the definition of
biomass conversion. While CT could potentially have positive
environmental impacts in California, our ability to use CTs as a
potential 'tool in our tool box' of waste diversion technologies
is hindered by a lack of inclusion of CT in current conversion
definitions."
RM:e 1/27/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
**** END ****
CONTINUED