BILL NUMBER: AB 479 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Chesbro
FEBRUARY 24, 2009
An act to amend Sections 41780 and 48000 of, and to add Sections
41780.01, 42649, and 48001.5 to, the Public Resources Code, relating
to solid waste.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 479, as introduced, Chesbro. Solid waste: diversion.
(1) The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, which
is administered by the California Integrated Waste Management Board,
requires each city, county, and regional agency, if any, to develop a
source reduction and recycling element of an integrated waste
management plan containing specified components, including a source
reduction component, a recycling component, and a composting
component. With certain exceptions, the source reduction and
recycling element of that plan is required to divert 50% of all solid
waste from landfill disposal or transformation by January 1, 2000,
through source reduction, recycling, and composting activities.
Existing law requires the board to review, at least once every 2
years, a jurisdiction's source reduction and recycling element and
household hazardous waste element. The board is required to issue an
order of compliance if the board finds that a jurisdiction has failed
to implement its source reduction and recycling element or its
household hazardous waste element, pursuant to a specified procedure.
If, after issuing an order of compliance, the board finds the city,
county, or regional agency has failed to make a good faith effort to
implement those elements, the board is authorized to impose
administrative civil penalties upon the city, county, or regional
agency.
This bill would require a city or county to divert 60% of all
solid waste through source reduction, recycling, and composting
activities on and after January 1, 2015, thereby imposing a
state-mandated local program by imposing new duties on local agencies
regarding solid waste management. The bill would also require the
board to establish policies, programs, and incentives to ensure
diversion of solid waste in accordance with a specified schedule.
(2) Existing law requires a local agency to impose certain
requirements on an operator of a large venue or event to facilitate
solid waste reduction, reuse, and recycling.
This bill would require the owner or operator of a business that
contracts for solid waste services and generates more than 4 cubic
yards of total solid waste and recyclable materials per week to
arrange for recycling service, consistent with state and local laws
and requirements, to the extent that these services are offered and
reasonably available from a local service provider. The bill would
require specified local agencies, by January 1, 2011, to adopt
commercial recycling ordinances that include certain minimum
requirements.
The bill would impose a state-mandated local program by imposing
new duties upon local agencies with regard to the adoption of
commercial recycling ordinances.
(3) 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 in the State Treasury. The act
requires the board to use the moneys in the account, upon
appropriation by the Legislature, for specified purposes.
This bill would, on and after January 1, 2010, establish the
amount of the fee in an amount of $3.90 per ton and would require
$2.50 of that fee after that date to be available for expenditure by
the board, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for apportionment
to jurisdictions, as specified.
(4) 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:
SECTION 1. (a) The Legislature finds and declares both of the
following:
(1) Since the enactment of the California Integrated Waste
Management Act of 1989 (Division 30 (commencing with Section 40000)
of the Public Resources Code), local governments and private
industries have worked jointly to create an extensive material
collection and recycling infrastructure and have implemented
effective programs to achieve a statewide diversion rate above 50
percent.
(2) Although the state now leads the nation in solid waste
reduction and recycling, the state continues to dispose of more than
40 million tons of solid waste each year, which is more than the
national average on a per capita basis. Additional efforts must be
undertaken to divert more solid waste from disposal in order to
conserve scarce natural resources.
(b) The Legislature further finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) Approximately 64 percent of the state's solid waste disposal
is from commercial sources, including commercial, industrial,
construction, and demolition activities. In addition, 8 percent of
the state's solid waste disposal is from multifamily residential
housing that is often collected along with the commercial waste
stream.
(2) The state's local governments have made significant progress
in reducing the amount of solid waste disposal from single-family
residential sources that make up 28 percent of the state's disposal,
but have faced more challenges in reducing disposal from the
commercial and multifamily sources.
(3) The disposal of commercial solid wastes harms natural
resources, negatively impacts the state's environment, prevents
materials from circulating in the state economy to produce jobs and
new products, and contributes to global warming.
(4) The state has long been a national and international leader in
environmental stewardship efforts and mandating the diversion of
solid waste away from disposal. Bold environmental leadership and a
new approach are needed to divert commercial solid waste away from
disposal.
(5) By exercising a leadership role, the state will lead the
business community toward a future in which the environment and the
economy both grow stronger together by recycling materials, which
creates new jobs, instead of burying resources, which exit the
economy forever.
(6) By requiring commercial recycling, the state will help
businesses reduce costly disposal fees and reclaim valuable
resources.
(7) Solid waste diversion and disposal reduction requires the
availability of adequate solid waste processing and composting
capacity.
(8) The existing network of public and private solid waste
processing and composting facilities provides a net environmental
benefit to the communities served, and represents a valuable asset
and resource of this state, one that must be sustained and expanded
to provide the additional solid waste processing capacity that will
be required to achieve the additional solid waste diversion mandates
expressed in Section 41780 of the Public Resources Code as amended by
this act.
(9) It is the intent of the Legislature to encourage the
development of the additional solid waste processing and composting
capacity that is needed to meet state objectives for decreasing solid
waste disposal by identifying incentives for local governments to
locate and approve new or expanded facilities that meet and exceed
their capacity needs, and to recognize local agencies that make
significant contributions to the state's overall solid waste
reduction and recycling objectives through the siting of facilities
for the processing and composting of materials diverted from the
solid waste stream.
(10) The provisions in existing law that confer broad discretion
on local agencies to determine aspects of solid waste handling that
are of local concern have significantly contributed to the statewide
diversion rate exceeding 50 percent, and further progress toward
decreasing solid waste disposal requires that this essential element
of local control be preserved.
(11) Accordingly, by setting in this act new statewide solid waste
diversion requirements in Section 41780 of the Public Resources
Code, new solid waste diversion targets in Section 41780.01 of the
Public Resources Code, and new commercial waste recycling
requirements in Section 42649 of the Public Resources Code, the
Legislature does not intend to limit a right afforded to local
governments pursuant to Section 40059 of the Public Resources Code,
or to modify or abrogate in any manner the rights of a local
government or solid waste enterprise with regard to a solid waste
handling franchise or contract granted on or before January 1, 2010.
SEC. 2. Section 41780 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
41780. (a) Each city or county
jurisdiction's source reduction and recycling element shall
include an implementation schedule that shows both of the following:
(1) For the initial element, the city or county
jurisdiction 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 ,
and 41784, and 41785, for the first and
each subsequent revision of the element, the city or county
jurisdiction shall divert 50 percent of all
solid waste on and after January 1, 2000, through source reduction,
recycling, and composting activities.
(3) Except as provided in Sections 41783 and 41784, for each
subsequent revision of the element, the jurisdiction shall divert 60
percent of all solid waste on or after January 1, 2015, through
source reduction, recycling, and composting activities.
(b) Nothing in this part prohibits a city or county
This part does not prohibit a jurisdiction from
implementing source reduction, recycling, and composting activities
designed to exceed these requirements.
SEC. 3. Section 41780.01 is added to the Public Resources Code, to
read:
41780.01. The board shall adopt policies, programs, and
incentives to ensure that solid waste generated in this state is
source reduced, recycled, or composted in accordance with the
following schedule:
(a) On and before January 1, 2015, ensure that 60 percent of all
solid waste generated is source reduced, recycled, or composted.
(b) On or before January 1, 2020, and annually thereafter, ensure
that 75 percent of solid waste generated is source reduced, recycled,
and composted.
SEC. 4. Section 42649 is added to the Public Resources Code, to
read:
42649. (a) The owner or operator of a business that contracts for
solid waste services and generates more than four cubic yards of
total solid waste and recyclable materials that are not solid waste
per week shall arrange for recycling services, consistent with state
or local laws or requirements, including a local ordinance or
agreement, applicable to the collection, handling, or recycling of
solid waste, to the extent that these services are offered and
reasonably available from a local service provider.
(b) On or before January 1, 2011, each city, county, solid waste
authority, or other joint powers authority located within a county
with a population of 200,000 or more shall adopt a commercial
recycling ordinance that is consistent with this section.
(c) A commercial recycling ordinance adopted pursuant to this
section shall include, at a minimum, both of the following:
(1) An enforceable requirement that a commercial waste generator
take one of the following actions:
(A) Source separate specified recyclable materials from solid
waste and subscribe to a basic level of recycling service that
includes the collection of those recyclable materials or specific
provisions for authorized self-hauling.
(B) Subscribe to an alternative type of recycling service, which
may include mixed waste processing, that yields diversion results
comparable to source separation.
(2) Educational, implementation, and enforcement provisions.
(d) For the purposes of this section, "business" means a
commercial entity operated by a firm, partnership, proprietorship,
joint stock company, corporation, or association that is organized as
a for-profit or nonprofit entity.
(e) This section does not limit the authority of a local agency to
adopt, implement, or enforce a local commercial recycling ordinance
that is more stringent or comprehensive than the requirements of this
section or limit the authority of a local agency in a county with a
population of less than 200,000 to require commercial recycling.
(f) This section does not modify or abrogate in any manner either
of the following:
(1) A franchise granted or extended by a city, county, or other
local government agency on or before January 1, 2010.
(2) A contract, license, or permit to collect solid waste
previously granted or extended by a city, county, or other local
government agency on or before January 1, 2010.
(3) The existing right of a business to sell or donate their
recyclable materials.
(g) (1) When adopting an ordinance pursuant to this section, a
local agency may consider the adequacy of areas for collecting and
loading recyclable materials.
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a local agency shall not
consider the adequacy of areas for collecting and loading recyclable
materials for purposes of determining noncompliance with this section
at a development project, as defined pursuant to Section 42905, if
the development project was approved by the local agency on or after
September 1, 1994.
SEC. 5. Section 48000 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
48000. (a) Each An operator of a
disposal facility shall pay a fee quarterly to the State Board of
Equalization which that is based on the
amount, by weight or volumetric equivalent, as determined by the
board, of all solid waste disposed of at each disposal site.
(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.
(b) On and after January 1, 2010, the amount of the fee shall
equal three dollars and ninety cents ($3.90) per ton.
(d)
(c) 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.
(d) Notwithstanding Section 48001, on and after January 1, 2010,
an amount of two dollars and fifty cents ($2.50) of the fee imposed
for each ton of solid waste disposed of at each disposal site shall
be available to the board for expenditure pursuant to Section
48001.5.
SEC. 6. Section 48001.5 is added to the Public Resources Code, to
read:
48001.5. The fee revenues collected by the State Board of
Equalization pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 48000 shall be
available to the board, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for
expenditure by the board according to the following:
(a) Between January 1, 2010, and January 1, 2015, the fee revenue
shall be apportioned on a per capita basis to jurisdictions for the
expansion of source reduction, recycling, and composting programs,
including residential recycling programs and commercial recycling
programs, as well as the development of new and expanded recycling
and composting infrastructure.
(b) On and after January 1, 2015, the fee revenues shall be
apportioned on a per capita basis to jurisdictions that have achieved
the diversion rate specified in paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of
Section 41780 for use pursuant to subdivision (a) of this section.
For jurisdictions that have not reach the diversion rate required in
paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 41780, the board shall
expend the fee revenues to establish local programs to help the
jurisdictions achieve the diversion rate required by paragraph (3) of
subdivision (a) of Section 41780.
SEC. 7. 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.