AB 1045
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 13, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Das Williams, Chair
AB 1045 (Irwin) – As Amended March 26, 2015
SUBJECT : Organic waste: composting
SUMMARY : Requires the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) to establish policies to encourage recycling of organic waste and coordinate the oversight and regulation of organic waste recycling facilities.
EXISTING LAW , pursuant to the Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989 (Act):
1) Requires local agencies to divert, through source reduction, recycling, and composting, 50% of solid waste disposed by their jurisdictions.
2) Establishes a statewide diversion goal of 75% by 2020.
3) Requires a commercial waste generator, including multi-family dwellings, to arrange for recycling services and requires local governments to implement commercial solid waste recycling programs designed to divert solid waste from businesses.
4) Requires generators of specified amounts of organic waste (i.e., food waste and yard waste) to arrange for recycling services for that material.
THIS BILL :
1) Requires CalEPA, in coordination with the Department of Resources Recycling and
Recovery (CalRecycle), to develop and implement policies to aid in diverting 50% of organic waste from landfills by 2020 by promoting the use of agricultural, forestry, and urban organic waste as feedstock for compost and by promoting the appropriate use of that compost throughout the state.
2) Establishes, and requires CalEPA to establish policies that promote, a goal of reducing at least five million metric tons of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per year through the development and application of compost on working lands, as specified. Authorizes CalEPA to work with the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to achieve this goal.
3) Requires CalEPA to convene CalRecycle, the State Water Resources Control Board
(SWRCB), and the Air Resources Board (ARB) to ensure proper coordination of agency regulations and goals to implement this section.
4) States legislative findings and declarations relating to the state's recycling requirements and the environmental and agricultural benefits of compost.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown

AB 1045
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COMMENTS :
1) This bill . According to the author:
Currently, three state agencies have jurisdiction over compost and compost facilities:
CalRecycle, the State Water Resources Control Board, and the Air Resources Board. In addition, the state has a number of goals that will encourage more compost facilities and will ultimately lead to the production of more compost. These goals include diverting
75% of our waste from landfills, recycling organic waste, and reducing fugitive greenhouse gas emissions.
These goals demonstrate the need for a more coordinated effort among state entities to promote the use of waste materials, their conversion to compost, and to begin to identify how compost should be used to maximize soil carbon management.
AB 1045 establishes a statewide policy to promote the development and deployment of compost. It recognizes that there are multiple agencies involved in the policy making regarding the feedstock, transportation, development, and ultimate usage of compost. AB
1045 identifies the need for the state to look at compost as a valuable resource, one that helps agriculture and the rural economy, and also reduces greenhouse gas emissions and helps our state meet its waste diversion goals.
2)
Meeting the state’s recycling goals
. CalRecycle is tasked with diverting at least 75% of solid waste statewide by 2020. Organic materials make up one-third of the waste stream and food continues to be the highest single item disposed at over 15% of materials landfilled.
CalRecycle is also charged with implementing its Strategic Directive 6.1, which calls for reducing organic waste disposal by 50% by 2020. According to CalRecycle, significant gains in organic waste diversion are necessary to meet the 75% goal and implementing
Strategic Directive 6.1. Recycling technologies for organic waste include composting, anaerobic digestion, and other types of processing that generate renewable fuels, energy, soil amendments, and mulch.
Compost and other soil amendments that can be produced from organic materials have been shown to improve soil health by incorporating organic matter, beneficial micro-organisms, and nutrients and reduce the need for chemical pesticides and fertilizers. These products also conserve water by allowing water to penetrate the soil more quickly and decreasing runoff.
3) Waste reduction and GHGs . According to ARB, a total reduction of 80 million metric tons
(MMT), or 16% compared to business as usual, is necessary to reduce statewide GHG emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. ARB intends to achieve approximately 78% of the reductions through direct regulations. ARB proposes to achieve the balance of reductions necessary to meet the 2020 limit (approximately 18 MMT) through its cap-and-trade program.
Recycling organic waste provides significant GHG reductions over landfilling. Composting and other organics processing technologies, including anaerobic digestion, reduce GHGs by avoiding the emissions that would be generated by the material’s decomposition in a landfill.
Landfill gas is generated by the decomposition of organic materials such as food, paper, wood, and yard waste. Fifty percent of landfill gas is methane, a GHG that is 21 times more

AB 1045
Page 3 efficient at trapping heat than carbon dioxide. While most modern landfills have systems in place to capture methane, significant amounts continue to escape into the atmosphere.
According to ARB’s GHG inventory, approximately 7 million tons of CO2 equivalent are released annually by landfills. That number is expected to increase to 8.5 million tons of
CO2 equivalent by 2020.
4) Compost permitting . As noted by the author, three of CalEPA's entities are involved in regulating compost facilities. ARB and local air districts oversee air emissions. For example, the South Coast Air Quality Management District requires that all new compost facilities located within its jurisdiction to be fully enclosed and meet specified requirements for emissions for any vented emissions. SWRCB and regional water quality control boards regulate wastewater discharges and recently adopted general waste discharge requirements for composting operations that include, among other requirements, no storm water runoff from the site. CalRecycle requires that compost facilities are permitted and regulates general facility operations.
While all of these entities are acting appropriately within their jurisdiction, there is little coordination between them to ensure that the requirements are consistent with the overall waste reduction and GHG emissions reduction goals of the state. This bill would require
CalEPA to ensure coordination among its boards and departments.
5) Suggested amendments . This bill requires CalEPA and CalRecycle to develop and implement policies to "aid in diverting 50% of organic waste from landfills by 2020…" As there is no existing law or regulation requiring that 50% of organic waste be diverted from landfills, this provision could be interpreted as establishing such a requirement, which, according to the author, is not the intent of the bill. The committee may wish to amend the bill to clarify this language.
This bill authorizes, but does not require, CalEPA to work with CDFA. Given CDFA's oversight role in the use of soil amendments, the committee may wish to amend the bill to require CalEPA to consult with CDFA.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
AFSCME, AFL-CIO
California Compost Coalition
California Organics Recycling Council
Californians Against Waste
Carbon Cycle Institute
Community Alliance with Family Farmers
San Francisco Department of the Environment
Stopwaste
1 individual
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Elizabeth MacMillan / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092