CC - Item 5M - Legislative Position Against AB 2640i
ROSEMEAD CITY COUNCIL
STAFF REPORT
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
FROM: OLIVER CHI, CITY MANAGER 6t:.~
DATE: MARCH 25, 2008
SUBJECT: LEGISLATIVE POSITION AGAINST AB 2640
SUMMARY
Greg Nordbak of Consolidated Disposal Service requested the City's formal opposition
to Assembly Bill 2640. Current legislation enables cities to promote green waste
programs and receive diversion credits. AB 2640 would end diversion credits for
recycled green waste.
A sample letter is included for your review as Attachment A. In addition, a copy of the
legislation is included as Attachment B.
Staff Recommendation
Staff recommends that the City Council authorize staff to send a letter to local
legislators expressing our opposition to AB 2640.
PUBLIC NOTICE PROCESS
This item has been noticed through the regular agenda notification process.
Submitted by:
Aileen Flores
Public Affairs Manager
Attachments: A - Sample Letter
B - AB 2640
APPROVED FOR CITY COUNCIL AGENDA: D
•
Not only is this measure ill-timed from a solid waste diversion perspective, it is also ill-
timed from a fiscal standpoint. Our local economy, like those of others throughout the
state, is suffering from a weakening economy. Property tax and other revenues are down
at the state and local level. Local governments are struggling to meet their obligations to
their residences and their employees. One need only look at the City of Vallejo that is
moving to bankruptcy. Other cities and counties in the state face similar problems as the
weakening economy reduces tax revenues.
AB 2640 will require our city to find other ways to meet its AB 939 diversion mandate.
That will cost the city and its residents more. AB 2640 further provides that on January
1, 2009, that a landfill operator shall charge a $1.40/ton tipping fee for all green waste
material used as ADC. This will end up costing our city and its residents more to manage
its green waste.
AB 2640 also directs the CIWMB on or before July 1, 2010 to promulgate regulations
"consistent" with this requirement. Therefore, it is conceivable, that if the CIWMB so
chose, they could end or limit the use of green waste material as ADC for purposes of
diversion well before January 1, 2015.
It is incomprehensible to us for the Legislature to ask us to increase our solid waste
diversion, and then seek to take away a key tool for doing so, while state and local
governments are facing such severe financial difficulties.
We urge you to vote NO on AB 2640 when it comes before you.
Thank you for considering our views.
Sincerely,
cc: The Honorable Jared Huffman
• • ATTACHMENT B
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE-2007-08 REGULAR SESSION
ASSEMBLY BILL No. 2640
Introduced by Assembly Member Huffman
February 22, 2008
An act to amend Sections 41781.3 and 48000 of, to add Section
41781.5 to, and to add Article 3 (commencing with Section 48030) to
Chapter 2 of Part 7 of Division 30 of, the Public Resources Code,
relating to solid waste.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2640, as introduced, Huffman. Solid waste: compostable organics
management.
(1) The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989
establishes an integrated waste management program administered by
the California Integrated Waste Management Board. The act requires
a city, county, city and county, or regional agency to develop a source
reduction and recycling element of an integrated waste management
plan containing specified components.
The act requires the source reduction and recycling element to divert
50% of all solid waste subject to the element from disposal through
source reduction, recycling, and composting activities, with specified
exceptions. Under the act, the use of solid waste for beneficial reuse in
the construction and operation of a solid waste landfill, including the
use of alternative daily cover, constitutes diversion through recycling
and is not considered disposal for purposes of the act. The act requires
the board, prior to December 31, 1997, to adopt rules and regulations
establishing conditions for the use of alternative daily cover that are
consistent with the act and requires, until the board adopts those
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regulations, that the use of alternative daily cover be governed by
specified existing regulations.
This bill would require the board to adopt policies and to develop and
implement programs, to ensure that on and after January 1, 2020, the
amount of compostable organics subject to landfill disposal or otherwise
deposited in landfills is reduced as specified.
This bill would provide that, on and after January 1, 2015, the use of
Green material, as defined, for beneficial reuse in the construction and
operation of a solid waste landfill, including the use of green material
as alternative daily cover, would not constitute diversion and would
require that green material be considered disposal for purposes of the
act. The bill would require the board to notify operators of disposal
facilities of this provision on or before July 1, 2009.
This bill would require the board, on or before July 1, 2010, to adopt
or revise regulations that establish conditions for the use of alternative
daily cover that are consistent with the act. The bill also would delete
an obsolete reference to the board's existing regulations.
This bill would impose a state-mandated local program by imposing
new duties upon local agencies related to implementing those provisions.
(2) The act requires an operator of a solid waste disposal facility to
pay a quarterly fee of up to $1.40 per ton based on the amount of all
solid waste disposed of at each disposal site and requires the State Board
of Equalization to collect the fees and deposit the fees in the Integrated
Waste Management Account in the Integrated Waste Management Fund
(fund) in the State Treasury. The act requires the Integrated Waste
Management Board to use the moneys in the account, upon appropriation
by the Legislature, for specified purposes.
This bill, with regard to green material used for beneficial reuse,
including use as alternative daily cover, at a disposal site, would instead
require an operator of a solid waste disposal facility to pay a quarterly
fee of $1.40 per ton, would establish the Organics Management Account
in the fund, and would require the State Board of Equalization to collect
and deposit the fees imposed on that green material in the account. The
bill would require the California Integrated Waste Management Board
to expend the moneys in the account, upon appropriation by the
Legislature, for competitive grants and loans for compostable organics
management projects and commencing on July 1, 2010, for a program
adopted by the board for compostable organics management.
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(3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state.
Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act
for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows
1 SECTION I. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
2 following:
3 (a) With the enactment of the California Integrated Waste
4 Management Act of 1989 (the act), the Legislature declared that
5. the California Integrated Waste Management Board and local
6 agencies shall promote recycling and composting over land disposal
7 and transformation.
8 (b) Since the enactment of the act, local governments and private
9 industries have worked jointly to create an extensive material
10 collection infrastructure and have implemented effective programs
I I to achieve a statewide diversion rate greater than 50 percent.
12 (c) Although California now leads the nation in waste reduction
13 and recycling, the state continues to dispose of more than 10
14 million tons of compostable organics each year in solid waste
15 landfills.
16 (d) The landfilling of compostable organics, including organic
17 materials used as landfill cover, squanders dwindling disposal
18 capacity, adds to landfill volatility, and results in the emission of
19 greenhouse gases, volatile organic compounds, and ammonia.
20 (e) Composting organic materials results in substantial
21 environmental and agricultural benefits, including the reduction
22 of methane gas and naturally occurring volatile organic compounds
23 and ammonia.
24 (f) The Economic and Technology Advancement Advisory
25 Committee, formed pursuant to the California Global Warming
26 Solutions Act of 2006 (A.B. 32, 2005-06 Reg. Sess.), has identified
27 composting as a cost-effective technology for reducing greenhouse
28 gas emissions and has recommended providing financial incentives
29 to assist compost operators to offset the cost of complying with
30 new and existing environmental regulations.
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(g) The application of compost in agriculture and landscaping
has been shown to offer significant water quality benefits, provide
erosion control, reduce the need for synthetic fertilizers and
pesticides, and conserve water and irrigation-associated energy.
(h) The use of compostable organics as alternative daily cover
in the construction and operation of solid waste landfills deprives
California agriculture and the environment of compostable organic
material for compost and other higher and better uses.
(i) The California Integrated Waste Management Board has
adopted a Strategic Directive to reduce the amount of organics in
the waste stream by 50 percent by the year 2020 and has identified
the need for as many as 100 additional facilities in the state to
process compostable organics.
0) In order to reduce the landfilling of organics, increase
composting, and meet the organics disposal reduction target
adopted by the California Integrated Waste Management Board,
the state should reduce barriers to, and provide incentives for,
increasing processing capacity and end-use markets for
compostable organics.
SEC. 2. Section 41781.3 of the Public Resources Code is
amended to read:
41781.3. (a) (1) The use of solid waste for beneficial reuse
in the construction and operation of a solid waste landfill, including
the 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.
(2) On and after January 1, 2015, the use of green material, as
defined in regulations adopted by the board pursuant to Section
40502, for beneficial reuse in the construction and operation of a
solid waste landfill, including the use of green material as
alternative daily cover, shall not constitute diversion through
recycling and shall be considered disposal for purposes of this
division.
(3) On January I, 2009, the board shall provide notice to all
operators of disposal facilities of the requirements of paragraph
(2).
(b) Prior Deeember ' 1997 On or before July 1, 2010,
pursuant to the board's authority to adopt rules and regulations
pursuant to Section 40502, the board shall, by regulatien,, adopt
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or revise regulations that 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
e€Regttlxtiens, as those seetions regulations read on the effective
date of the amendments to this section, ftnd by the eanditions
established in the board's poliey adopted on ganuary 25, 1995 as
enacted by the Statutes oj2008.
(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.
SEC. 3. Section 41781.5 is added to the Public Resources Code,
to read:
41781.5. The board shall adopt policies and develop and
implement programs to ensure that, on and after January 1, 2020,
the amount of compostable organics subject to landfill disposal or
otherwise deposited in landfills in the state annually is 50 percent
or less of the amount of compostable organics disposed or
otherwise deposited in landfills during the 2008 calendar year.
SEC. 4. Section 48000 of the Public Resources Code is
amended to read:
48000. (a) Ezteh-An operator of a disposal facility shall pay a
fee quarterly to the State Board of Equalization whieh that is based
on the amount, by weight or volumetric equivalent, as determined
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by the board, of all solid waste disposed of at each disposal site,
except solid waste for which the payment of a fee is required
pursuant to Section 48030.
(b) The fee for solid waste disposed of shall be one dollar and
thirty-four cents ($1.34) per ton. Commencing with the 1995-96
fiscal year, the amount of the fee shall be established by the board
at an amount that is sufficient to generate revenues equivalent to
the approved budget for that fiscal year, including a prudent
reserve, but shall not exceed one dollar and forty cents ($1.40) per
ton.
(c) The board shall notify the State Board of Equalization on
the first day of the period in which the rate shall take effect of any
rate change adopted pursuant to this section.
(d) The board and the State Board of Equalization shall ensure
that all the fees for solid waste imposed pursuant to this section
that are collected at a transfer station are paid to the State Board
of Equalization in accordance with this article.
SEC. 5. Article 3 (commencing with Section 48030) is added
to Chapter 2 of Part 7 of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code,
to read:
Article 3. Organics Management Account
48030. (a) On and after January 1, 2009, an operator of a
disposal facility shall pay a fee quarterly to the State Board of
Equalization that is based on the amount, by weight or volumetric
equivalent, as determined by the board, of all green material, as
defined in regulations adopted by the California Integrated Waste
Management Board pursuant to Section 40502, that is used for
beneficial reuse, including use as alternative daily cover, at each
disposal site.
(b) The fee imposed pursuant to this section shall be one dollar
and forty cents ($1.40) per ton.
(c) The board and the State Board of Equalization shall ensure
that all fees for green material imposed pursuant to this section
that are collected at a transfer station are paid to the State Board
of Equalization in accordance with this article.
48031. (a) The revenue from the fees paid pursuant to Section
48030 shall, after payment of refunds and administrative costs of
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collection, be deposited in the Organics Management Account,
which is hereby created in the Integrated Waste Management Fund.
(b) For purposes of this article, "account" means the Organics
Management Account, created pursuant to subdivision (a).
48032. The state board shall adopt rules and regulations to
carry out Section 48030, including, but not limited to, provisions
governing collections, reporting, refunds, and appeals.
48033. The state board shall not spend more than one-half of
1 percent of the total revenues deposited, or anticipated to be
deposited, in the account during a fiscal year for the administration
of this article during that fiscal year.
48034. (a) The board shall expend the moneys in the account,
upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the administration and
implementation of this article.
(b) The board shall adopt rules and regulations governing the
expenditure of the moneys in the account, in accordance with the
purposes set forth in this article.
48035. (a) (1) The board shall develop a program of grants
and loans for compostable organics management projects.
(2) In expending the moneys in the account pursuant to
paragraph (1), the board shall support only projects that meet or
exceed new or existing state environmental standards.
(b) The board shall adopt a program, to commence on July 1,
2010, for compostable organics management. The program shall
be administered by the board pursuant to regulations adopted by
the board.
SEC. 6. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service
charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or
level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section
17556 of the Government Code.
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