Waste management.

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. The act requires the department to file an annual report, on or before March 1 of each year, with the Legislature, regarding the administration of the act during the prior calendar year. This bill would require the department to include in the annual report, on or before March 1, 2015, a status update on the adequacy of funding from the Integrated Waste Management Fund for programs implemented pursuant to the act and pursuant to other specified provisions regulating waste management facilities. The bill would authorize the department to recommend alternative funding mechanisms for the programs, as specified. Existing law requires each city, county, and joint powers authority formed under the act, referred to as a regional agency, to develop a source reduction and recycling element of an integrated waste management plan. The act requires the source reduction and recycling element to divert from disposal 50% of all solid waste subject to the element 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. This bill, commencing January 1, 2020, would provide that the use of green material, as defined, as alternative daily cover does not constitute diversion through recycling and would be considered disposal for purposes of the act. The bill, commencing August 1, 2018, would require a local jurisdiction to include information in an annual report on how the local jurisdiction intends to address these diversion requirements and divert green material that is being used as alternative daily cover. The bill would require a jurisdiction that does not meet certain diversion requirements as a result of not being able to claim diversion for the use of green material as alternative daily cover to identify and address, in an annual report, barriers to recycling green material and, if sufficient capacity at facilities that recycle green material is not expected to be operational before a certain date, to include a plan to address those barriers. The bill would impose a state-mandated local program by imposing new duties upon local agencies with regard to the diversion of solid waste. Existing law requires the operator of a disposal facility to pay a quarterly fee based on the amount of solid waste disposed of at each disposal site. This bill would provide that, commencing January 1, 2020, green material used as alternative daily cover at a solid waste landfill is not subject to this fee. 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.