BILL NUMBER: AB 876 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 1, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 6, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member McCarty
FEBRUARY 26, 2015
An act to amend add Section
41701 of 41821.4 to the Public Resources Code,
relating to solid waste.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 876, as amended, McCarty. Compostable organics.
The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, which is
administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery,
establishes an integrated waste management program. Existing law
requires each city, county, and regional agency, if any, to develop a
source reduction and recycling element of an integrated waste
management plan. Existing law requires each county to
prepare a countywide siting element that provides, among other
things, for an estimate of the total transformation or disposal
capacity that will be needed for a 15-year period to safely handle
solid wastes generated with the county that cannot be reduced,
recycled, or composted, and to identify areas for the location of new
or expanded solid waste transformation or disposal facilities, if
needed or desired. On and after January 1, 2000, the
element is required to provide for the diversion of 50% of the solid
waste subject to the element, except as specified, through source
reduction, recycling, and composting activities. Existing law
requires each city, county, and regional agency to submit an annual
report to the department summarizing its progress in reducing solid
waste.
This bill would require each countywide siting element to
provide require, commencing August 1, 2017, a county
or regional agency to include in its annual report to the department
an estimate of the total organics processing capacity
that will be needed amount of organic waste
in cubic yards that will be generated in the county or region
over a 15-year period to safely handle organic wastes
generated with the county period, an estimate of the
additional organic waste recycling facility capacity in
cubic yards that will be needed to process that amount of waste,
and to identify areas for the
location of organics processing facilities, if needed or desired,
identified by the county or regional agency as
locations for new or expanded organic waste recycling facilities
capable of safely meeting that additional need, thereby
imposing a state-mandated local program. The bill would also make
legislative findings and declarations.
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, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) With the enactment of the California Integrated Waste
Management Act of 1989 (Division 30 (commencing with Section 40000)
of the Public Resources Code), the Legislature required the
Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery and local agencies to
promote recycling, anaerobic digestion, and composting over land
disposal and transformation.
(b) Since the enactment of the act, local governments and private
industries have worked jointly to create an extensive material
collection infrastructure and have implemented effective programs to
achieve a statewide diversion rate of greater than 50 percent.
(c) Although California now leads the nation in waste reduction
and recycling, the state continues to dispose of more than 15 million
tons of compostable organics each year in solid waste landfills.
(d) To reduce the landfilling of organics, increase composting and
anaerobic digestion, and meet the state's organic diversion goals,
cities and counties must plan for organics processing facilities that
can process organics diverted from landfills and organics waste
generators.
SEC. 2. Section 41701 of the Public Resources
Code is amended to read:
41701. Each countywide siting element and revision thereto shall
include, but is not limited to, all of the following:
(a) A statement of goals and policies for the environmentally safe
transformation or disposal of solid waste that cannot be reduced,
recycled, or composted.
(b) An estimate of the total transformation or disposal capacity
in cubic yards that will be needed for a 15-year period to safely
handle solid wastes generated with the county that cannot be reduced,
recycled, or composted.
(c) An estimate of the total organics processing capacity in cubic
yards that will be needed for a 15-year period to safely handle
organic wastes generated with the county.
(d) The remaining combined capacity of existing solid waste
transformation or disposal facilities existing at the time of the
preparation of the siting element, or revision thereto, in cubic
yards and years.
(e) The identification of an area or areas for the location of new
solid waste transformation or disposal facilities, or new organics
processing facilities, or the expansion of existing solid waste or
organics facilities, that are consistent with the applicable city or
county general plan, if the county determines that existing capacity
will be exhausted within 15 years or additional capacity is desired.
(f) For countywide elements submitted or revised on or after
January 1, 2003, a description of the actions taken by the city or
county to solicit public participation by the affected communities,
including, but not limited to, minority and low-income populations.
SEC. 2. Section 41821.4 is added to the
Public Resources Code , to read:
41821.4. (a) Commencing August 1, 2017, a county or regional
agency shall include, in the annual report required pursuant to
Section 41821, the following information:
(1) An estimate of the amount of organic waste in cubic yards that
will be generated in the county or region over a 15-year period.
(2) An estimate of the additional organic waste recycling facility
capacity in cubic yards that will be needed to process the amount of
organic waste identified pursuant to paragraph (1).
(3) Areas identified by the county or regional agency as locations
for new or expanded organic waste recycling facilities capable of
safely meeting the additional organic waste recycling facility
capacity need identified pursuant to paragraph (2).
(b) To provide the information pursuant to subdivision (a), the
county or regional agency may use existing data regarding its
diversion programs and is not required to perform additional waste
characterization studies.
(c) For purposes of this section, "organic waste recycling
facility" has the same meaning as defined in paragraph (2) of
subdivision (d) of Section 42649.82.
SEC. 3. If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local
agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant
to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of
the Government Code.