AB 2346: Organic waste reduction regulations: procurement of recovered organic waste products.

Existing law requires the State Air Resources Board to complete, approve, and implement a comprehensive strategy to reduce emissions of short-lived climate pollutants in the state to reduce the statewide methane emissions by 40% below 2013 levels by 2030. Existing law requires the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, in consultation with the state board, to adopt regulations that achieve specified targets for reducing organic waste in landfills, as provided. The departments organic waste regulations require local jurisdictions to annually procure a quantity of recovered organic waste products and to comply with their procurement targets by directly procuring recovered organic waste products for use or giveaway or by requiring, through a written agreement, that a direct service provider to the jurisdiction procure recovered organic waste products, or both. Those regulations specify the types of recovered organic waste products that a jurisdiction may procure, including compost that is produced at a compostable material handling operation or facility, or a specified digestion facility that composts onsite. Other regulations of the department require all compostable materials handling activities to obtain a facility permit from the department prior to commencing operations and meet other specified requirements, but exclude from those requirements certain activities that the regulations state do not constitute a compostable material handling operation or facility, including the composting of green material, agricultural material, food material, and vegetative food material, and the handling of compostable materials under certain conditions, as provided.

This bill would authorize local jurisdictions to count towards their procurement targets compost produced and procured from specified compost operations and specified investments and expenditures related to meeting its procurement target, as provided. The bill would authorize a local jurisdiction to determine a local per capita procurement target using information from a local waste characterization study, as specified. The bill would authorize a local jurisdiction to satisfy its annual procurement obligations by procuring a quantity of recovered organic waste products that meets or exceeds a 5-year procurement target, as specified. The bill would authorize the department, in adopting and revising regulations, to consider other pathways to prioritize local use of compost, as specified.

This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 42652.5 of the Public Resources Code proposed by AB 2514 and AB 2902 to be operative only if this bill and any or all of the other bills are enacted and this bill is enacted last.