HomeMy WebLinkAboutSB 1383 (Oppose)C I T Y O F
DIAMOND BAR
CALIFORNIA
February 28, 2019
Gwen Huff
Materials Management and Local Assistance Division
California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery
P.O. Box 4025
Sacramento, CA 95812
Submission via email to SLCP.Oraanics@calrecycle.ca.gov
RE: SB 1383 Proposed Regulation Released January 2019 - COMMENT LETTER
Dear Ms. Huff:
The City of Diamond Bar appreciates the opportunity to comment on the proposed
regulations released in January 2019, which seek to implement SB 1383 (Lara, 2016). The City
of Diamond Bar continues to support both a robust waste management system that complies
with California's climate goals as well as reasonable and achievable goals in removing short-
lived climate pollutants, including methane, from landfills. We appreciate the stakeholder
process CalRecycle is undertaking and the ability to weigh in on the proposed regulations.
Municipalities throughout the state are seeking and advocating for solutions to address the
need for substantial new infrastructure funding both in our community and across the state.
The lack of sufficient available infrastructure capacity to fully meet the goal set forth in SB 1383
is a critical concern that hinders not only the ability to implement the proposed regulations,
but requires undetermined resources to meet the variety of annual inspections and
enforcement that is necessary to ensure compliance. Additionally, the State has yet to
determine the true impacts of SB 1594 upon the composting markets, which the State is relying
upon to reach their AB 1826 goals. Therefore, the expansion of the food waste recycling
requirements to the residential and multi -family sectors should be delayed 5-10 years. While
we commend CalRecycle for acknowledging the critical need for capacity statewide, the
implementation of new regulations brings to the forefront the following concerns:
Infrastructure Capacity: California lacks sufficient capacity today to be able to meet the
needs for new organic waste processing. Many cities have expressed concern over an ability
to comply with organic waste diversion requirements due to a lack of waste disposal
infrastructure. There is an uneven distribution of waste disposal infrastructure, such as bio -
digesters, across the state. Moreover, where the infrastructure does exist, capacity is limited.
While the regulation provides five years to implement programs, cities are concerned that
this is not sufficient time to develop and permit new facilities.
Carol Herrera Steve Tye Andrew Chou Ruth M. Low Nancy A. Lyons
Mayor Mayor Pro Tem Council Member Council Member Council Member
City of Diamond Bar 121810 Copley Drive Diamond Bar CA 91765-4178
www.DiamondBarCA.gov 1909.839.7000 Fax 909.861.3117
2 February 27, 2019
Funding: Lack of sufficient funds continues to be among the major challenges local
governments face in the effort to implement new organic waste diversion programs. The City
of Diamond Bar and other communities continue to seek solutions to address the need for
substantial public sector funding. Local governments, like ours, continue to work to address
the need for funds to undertake prescribed activities, such as funding household hazardous
waste programs to prevent contamination of recyclables, and funding for targeted
educational programs to help share knowledge about sustainable living.
Penalties: The penalties outlined in these regulations are premature. If the purpose of
penalties is to ensure generators are sufficiently deterred from non-compliance, this
regulation puts the cart before the horse by designing penalties before the sticking points
and needs of generators are understood. We encourage CalRecycle to continue working
through the programmatic scheme before implementing an appropriate set of penalties,
particularly since programs have until 2022 to be implemented. We ask that CalRecycle
adopt penalties in a second set of regulations to take effect at a future date.
Procurement: New procurement requirements in these proposed regulations require local
governments to purchase recovered organic waste products targets set by CalRecycle. We
anticipate these requirements will result in substantial additional costs to local governments,
over and above the costs we already anticipate to comply with the extensive programmatic
requirements of the proposed regulations. We ask that CalRecycle instead work to develop
markets for such materials in a second regulatory proceeding.
Constitutionality of Fees: CalRecycle should not rely on the fee authority granted to local
jurisdictions in SB 1383. Any fee that a city attempted to impose to fund the additional costs
of these regulations would likely be treated as a tax under Cal. Const. Art. XIII C, sec. 1(e)
(Prop. 26) as it would not meet any of the exceptions identified in that section. Further, even
were a fee to survive scrutiny under Prop. 26, it is questionable whether a city would not have
the authority to impose the fee without first complying with the majority protest procedures
of Cal. Const. Art. XIII D, sec. 6 (Prop. 218.) This latter concern is currently the subject of
litigation in the Third District Court of Appeal (Paradise Irrigation District v. Commission on State
Mandates, Case No. C081929).
The City of Diamond Bar appreciates the inclusive stakeholder process CalRecycle has
undertaken and look forward to continued opportunities to comment on specific proposals.
Sincerely, - ; <"
Daniel- Fox`
City Manager
cc.
City Council
Jennifer Quan, League of California Cities
Ryan McLean, Assistant City Manager
David Liu, Public Works Director/City Engineer
Anthony Santos, Assistant to the City Manager