SWANA LTF News
Newsletter of the Legislative Task Force
California Chapters of SWANA
Vol. 8, Issue 2; Spring 2005
Will Dickinson, LTF Chairman
I n T h i s I s s u e :
Click on the topic for which you would like to see additional information
Budget Update
The 2005-06 budget was passed by the Senate and the Assembly on July 7th and signed by the Governor on July 11th. While it wasn’t technically on time for the start of the fiscal year, by Sacramento standards it can still be considered early. The bipartisan $117.3 billion spending plan does not raise taxes, contains no new borrowing, pays down California’s debt and invests in education, transportation, health and safety. The Legislature is currently in recess and will reconvene on August 15th.
Legislation
AB 259 (Hancock) – Contra Costa County Solid Waste: liens. LTF POSITION: CONCERNS
AB 338 (Levine) – Recycling: crumb rubber. LTF POSITION: SUPPORT
AB 362 (Aghazarian) – Administrative Proceedings. LTF POSITION: SUPPORT
AB 399 (Montanez) – Recycling: multifamily dwellings. LTF POSITION: ACTIVE WATCH
AB 574 (Wolk) – Recycled Concrete. LTF POSITION: SUPPORT
AB 1090 (Matthews) – Solid Waste: diversion: conversion. LTF POSITION: SUPPORT
AB 1103 (Kamette) – Bicycle Sales: notice. LTF POSITION: WATCH
AB 1125 (Pavley) – Household Battery Recycling Act. LTF POSITION: SUPPORT
AB 1415 (Pavley) - Hazardous waste: mercury relays and switches: lead jewelry. LTF
POSITION: SUPPORT
AB 1637 (Mountjoy) – Vehicles: refuse or garbage truck: horn: camera. LTF POSITION:
WATCH
SB 318 (Romero) – Waste Management. LTF POSITION: WATCH
SB 369 (Simitian) – Ecological Labeling. LTF POSITION: SUPPORT
SB 411 (Alarcon) – Solid Waste: non-biodegradable materials: land. LTF POSITION: OPPOSE
SB 420 (Simitian) – Waste Management: local government assistance. LTF Position: OPPOSE
SB 926 (Florez) – Sewage sludge management. LTF POSITION: OPPOSE
SB 928 (Perata) – Public resources: solid waste. LTF POSITION: WATCH
SB 1076 (Perata) – Solid waste. LTF POSITION: WATCH
Regulations
Adjustment Method/Disposal Reporting System
Permit Implementation
Research, Development, and Demonstration
Solid Waste in the News
Companies Get Financial Boost to Reuse Tires: State targets tires from California
2005 Legislative Task Force Workplan
Resources
Online Guide to the Legislative Process
Legislation (Click on the bill number for bill text and analysis)
AB 259 (Hancock)
Enacts a procedure that authorizes the Board of Supervisors of Contra Costa County to impose assessments against parcels and record liens for unpaid solid waste collection services.
LTF POSITION: CONCERNS
STATUS: In the Senate Committee on Local Government.
AB 338 (Levine)
Defines the term asphalt containing crumb rubber. Requires the Department of Transportation to require the use of asphalt containing crumb rubber at a specified percentage of the total amount of asphalt paving materials used for state highway and construction projects that use asphalt as a construction material. Requires the amount of asphalt containing crumb rubber, on and after January 1, 2007, to be not less than 20% of the total amount of asphalt paving materials used. Requires a cost analysis.
LTF POSITION: SUPPORT
STATUS: In the Senate Appropriations Committee.
AB 362 (Aghazarian)
Deletes provisions requiring the State Water Resources Control Board to provide guidance to the regional boards in matters of procedure and to review the boards' public participation procedures. Provides that all persons shall have equal procedural rights and be afforded equal treatment in all proceedings conducted pursuant to the Water Quality Control Act.
LTF POSITION: SUPPORT
STATUS: In the Senate Committee on Environmental Quality.
AB 399 (Montanez)
Requires the California Integrated Waste Management Board to make available one or more model ordinances that may be adopted by a local agency to facilitate solid waste reduction, reuse, and recycling programs at multifamily dwellings and to post specified information on the board's Internet Web site. Requires the owner or a manager of the residential facility to notify the residents of the multifamily dwelling about the methods they may utilize to reduce, reuse, and recycle solid waste materials.
LTF POSITION: ACTIVE WATCH
STATUS: In the Senate Appropriations Committee.
AB 574 (Wolk)
Authorizes the use of recycled concrete if the end user has been fully informed that the concrete is recycled concrete. Prohibits recycled concrete from being offered, provided or sold to the Department of Transportation for any use unless specifically requested and approved by the department.
LTF POSITION: SUPPORT
STATUS: Set for hearing in the Senate Appropriations Committee on August 15.
AB 1090 (Matthews)
Revises the waste management practices that the integrated Waste Management Board and local agencies are required to promote. Repeals the definition of the term gasification. Defines the terms conversion technology, beneficial use and recovery. Revises the definition of the term "transformation" to exclude pyrolysis, distillation or biological conversion other than composting from that definition. Specifies that transformation does not include conversion technology.
LTF POSITION: SUPPORT
STATUS: Held in Assembly Natural Resources Committee.
AB 1103 (Kamette)
Requires a bicycle retailer and bicycle dealer who sells, furnishes or give a bicycle to a person to provide a disclosure to the purchaser or recipient that states that a bicycle may be recycled and that state law permits a tax deduction for qualified charitable contributions of bicycles.
LTF POSITION: WATCH
STATUS: Held in Assembly Natural Resources Committee.
AB 1125 (Pavley)
Enacts the Household Battery Recycling Act of 2006 and would define terms for purposes of the act, including "household battery." Requires a retailer of household batteries to have in place a system for the acceptance and collection of used household batteries for reuse, recycling, or proper disposal including the take-back at no cost to the consumer of a used household battery.
LTF POSITION: SUPPORT
STATUS: Set for hearing in the Senate Appropriations Committee on August 15.
AB 1415 (Pavley)
Prohibits a person from selling, offering to sell, or distributing for promotional purposes in this state, certain mercury-added products, unless the use of the product if required under a federal law or a federal contract specification or if the only mercury-added component in the product is a button cell battery. Prohibits a person from selling, offering to sell, or distributing for promotional purposes in this state, a mercury switch or mercury relay.
LTF POSITION: SUPPORT
STATUS: Set for third reading on the Senate Floor.
AB 1637 (Mountjoy)
Requires a refuse or garbage truck to be equipped with an automatic back-up audible alarm that sounds on backing and is capable of emitting a specified sound, or be equipped with an automatic back-up device that is in good working order. Requires a refuse or garbage truck purchased after January 1, 2010, to be equipped with a functioning camera providing a video display for the driver that enhances or supplements the driver's view behind the truck. Exempts a roll-off vehicle. Provides infraction penalties.
LTF POSITION: WATCH
STATUS: Set for third reading on the Senate Floor.
SB 318 (Romero)
Creates within the Integrated Waste Management Board the Office of the Solid Waste Public Advisor to provide objective information to members of the public living near a proposed solid waste facility or an existing facility that is proposed to be constructed, expanded or otherwise altered. Requires the board to appoint a solid waste facilities public advisor. Prescribes the duties of the public advisor, with respect to providing information concerning proposed or existing solid waste facilities.
LTF POSITION: WATCH
STATUS: Held in Senate Appropriations Committee.
SB 369 (Simitian)
Requires the Environmental Protection Agency to enter into a contract, using a competitive bid process, with a vendor that meets specified standards, to award the Green Bear Eco-Label to a product or service that meets criteria to be developed and adopted by the vendor. Sets minimum standards that a product must meet in order to be awarded with a label. Requires any submitted proposal or application for a label to contain qualifying data of an independent certified laboratory.
LTF POSITION: SUPPORT
STATUS: Held in Senate Appropriations Committee.
SB 411 (Alarcon)
Relates to city, county of city and county waste source reduction and recycling element Requires, that if the alternative daily cover of such element is comprised of woody and green material, that material is to be included in the amount of solid waste that is subjected to disposal for purposes of diversion requirements. Requires the Integrated Waste Management Board to develop a schedule for excluding solid waste used as an alternative daily cover and includes the above material from diversion goals.
LTF POSITION: OPPOSE
STATUS: Held in Senate Rules Committee.
SB 420 (Simitian)
Amends provisions of the Integrated Waste Management Act that require every city or county to develop a source reduction and recycling element of an integrated waste plan that requires diversion from the solid waste stream at specified rates. Requires the source reduction and recycling plan to increase this diversion percentage to 75% by a specified date.
LTF POSITION: OPPOSE
STATUS: Held in Senate Committee on Environmental Quality.
SB 926 (Florez)
Specifies that certain provisions of the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act do not prohibit the Kern County Board of Supervisors from adopting an ordinance that regulates or prohibits the importation of sewage sludge from another state county for application to land in the county. Requires such a prohibition to exempt a contractual obligation to import sewage sludge for land application that was in existence before the effective date of the prohibition.
LTF POSITION: OPPOSE
STATUS: Held in the Assembly Committee on Local Government.
SB 928 (Perata)
Changes that percentage to an unspecified amount a city or county source reduction element to divert of all solid waste from landfill disposal of transformation through source reduction, recycling, and composting activities. Deletes the reference in existing law to the additional authority of the board to grant a time extension for diversion requirements.
LTF POSITION: WATCH
STATUS: Held in Assembly Committee on Natural Resources.
SB 1076 (Perata)
Makes a technical, non-substantive change in the California Integrated Waste Management Act that requires each county, city, district, or other local government agency that provides solid waste handling services to provide for those services, including, but not limited to, source reduction, recycling, composting activities, and the collection, transfer, and disposal of solid waste within or without the territory subject to its solid waste handling jurisdiction.
LTF POSITION: WATCH
STATUS: Held in Senate Rules Committee.
Regulations
CALIFORNIA INTEGRATED WASTE MANAGEMENT BOARD
Adjustment Method/Disposal Reporting System
The adjustment method relies on a jurisdiction’s base-level generation, a standard formula to estimate waste generation, and avoids measuring diversion. Data analyses show that the adjustment method is an estimation tool that works reasonably well for most jurisdictions but has some accuracy issues. The Integrated Waste Management Board therefore recommended changes to the current system in place. To increase accuracy, the Board made recommendations illustrated in these tables.
Existing Regulations That Would Be Affected:
· Title 14, California Code of Regulations, Division 7, Chapter 9, Article 9.1
· Title 14, California Code of Regulations, Division 7, Chapter 9, Article 9.2
· Title 27, California Code of Regulations, Chapter 3, Subchapter 4, Article 1, Section 20510
At the May 11, 2005 Board meeting, the Board gave staff direction to formally notice revised regulations for a 15-day comment period (See Rulemaking Documents). The comment period runs from May 13, 2005 through May 31, 2005. State law only requires the Board to respond to comments related to the most recently proposed changes to the regulation (italicized text). However, the Board has directed staff to also consider further comments on origin survey frequency (see sections 18809.6, 18810.6, 18811.6, 18812.6, 18813.6, and 18814.6.
Contact: Diane Shimizu
Permit Implementation
In January 2004, AB 1497 was enacted. The new law mandates several new solid waste facility permitting requirements and authorizes the Board to adopt regulations to implement these requirements. At its January 2004 meeting, the Board directed staff to address, in a rulemaking, the application of new construction & demolition requirements to other solid waste facility and local enforcement agency requirements. Finally, in early 2004, the Board staff consulted with stakeholders to solicit their input on what they viewed as areas for improvement, consistency, and clarification related to the permitting process and/or requirements.
During the second half of 2004, Board staff solicited stakeholder input on regulatory concepts associated with the issues above via a process entitled the Solid Waste Facility Permit Regulation Development Plan. At its November 2004 meeting, the Board's Permitting and Enforcement Committee directed staff to implement the plan through three separate and staggered rulemakings. This rulemaking, Permit Implementation Regulations (AB 1497), is the first of the three rulemakings.
SWANA’s letter concerning the proposed regulation has been submitted.
Research Development and Demonstration
The Board revised regulations allowing for issuance of research, development, and demonstration permits for innovative landfill technologies.
Board staff conducted a workshop on June 28, 2004, in Sacramento, to solicit comment on informal draft regulation text. At its July 14, 2004 meeting, the Board directed staff to initiate a 45-day public comment period for the proposed regulations. A 45-day public comment period ran from October 15 through November 30, 2004. The Board held a public hearing on the proposed regulations on December, 6 2004. After considering comments received during the 45-day comment period and comments made at the public hearing, Board staff made changes to the proposed regulations. At its April 11, 2005 meeting, the Permitting and Enforcement Committee directed staff to initiate an additional 15-day comment period for the proposed changes.
Solid Waste in the News
The California Integrated Waste Management Board has approved $2 million in grants to help eight businesses around the state increase their reuse of California waste tires. These business development grants aim at improving markets for waste tires to fight illegal dumping and keep old tires out of landfills. Funding comes from the $1.00 the Board receives on the sale of each new tire in California.
"Helping businesses in the state put old tires into new uses protects the environment and the public’s health,” said Board Chair Rosario Marin. “These grants will boost our already substantial successes in managing our waste tire challenge.”