(1)Existing law, the California Coastal Act of 1976, among other things, requires anyone wishing to perform or undertake any development in the coastal zone, except as specified, in addition to obtaining any other permit required by law from any local government or from any state, regional, or local agency, to obtain a coastal development permit from the California Coastal Commission or a local government, as provided.

This bill would establish the Major Coastal Resorts Environmental Accountability Act, and would define major coastal resort for these purposes. The bill would require the commission, with the assistance of a qualified consultant, to every 2 years prepare an audit of a major coastal resorts compliance with specified provisions, including the coastal development permit, as provided. The bill would require the major coastal resort to provide for the qualified consultants compensation for the audit, as provided. The bill would require the commission to document the audits investigation and findings in a public report to be posted on the commissions internet website, as provided. The bill would prohibit the major coastal resort from discriminating or retaliating against any employee or applicant for employment for, among other things, participating in the audit, investigation, or the report.

The bill would require any coastal development permit pertaining to a major coastal resort approved after January 1, 2024, to include, in addition to any other permitting requirements, new requirements, including a turf, landscape, and pest management plan, as provided. The bill would require any major coastal resorts coastal development permit, in existence as of January 1, 2024, to be amended to include these new requirements when the permit is renewed or updated. To the extent the bill would create additional duties for local governments, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The bill would also prohibit the use of any nonorganic pesticide, as defined, or fertilizing material, as defined, at a major coastal resort.

(2)Existing law prohibits lodging establishments from providing a small plastic bottle containing a personal care product to a person staying in a sleeping room accommodation, in any space within the sleeping room accommodation, or within bathrooms shared by the public or guests.

This bill would prohibit a major coastal resort from providing to guests specified materials, including single-use plastic bottled beverages. The bill would require a major coastal resort to, among other things, provide at least one recycling bin or container in each guest room, as provided. The bill would require the major coastal resort to maintain records related to these requirements for 3 years. The bill would subject a major coastal resort that violates these requirements to a civil penalty of $500 per each day the violation continues.

(3)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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Existing law requires a manufacturer or supplier of plastic products making an environmental marketing claim relating to the recycled content of a plastic food container product to maintain specified information and documentation in written form in its records in support of that claim.

This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to that provision.

Date of Hearing: April 17, 2023

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES

Luz Rivas, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 1590 (

Author:Friedman) – As Amended Ver:April 10, 2023

SUBJECT: Major coastal resorts: coastal development permits: audits: waste

SUMMARY: Establishes environmental standards and auditing for environmental compliance and waste reduction and recycling requirements for major coastal resorts (resorts).

EXISTING LAW:

1. Establishes the California Coastal Commission (Commission) to protect regional, state, and national interests in assuring the maintenance of the long-term productivity and economic vitality of coastal resources necessary for the well-being of the people of the state, and to avoid long-term costs to the public and a diminished quality of life resulting from the misuse of coastal resources, to coordinate and integrate the activities of the many agencies whose activities impact the coastal zone, and to supplement their activities in matters not properly within the jurisdiction of any existing agency. (Public Resources Code (PRC) 30004)
2. Requires any person wishing to perform or undertake any development in the coastal zone, in addition to obtaining any other permit required by law from any local government or from any state, regional, or local agency, to obtain a coastal development permit. (PRC 30600)
3. Pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), requires lead agencies with the principal responsibility for carrying out or approving a proposed project to prepare a negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration, or environmental impact report for the action, unless the project is exempt from CEQA (CEQA includes various statutory exemptions, as well as categorical exemptions in the CEQA Guidelines). (PRC 21000, et seq.)
4. Authorizes the state’s pesticide regulatory program and mandates the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) to, among other things, provide for the proper, safe, and efficient use of pesticides essential for the production of food and fiber, for the protection of public health and safety, for the protection of the environment from environmentally harmful pesticides, and to assure agricultural and pest control workers safe working conditions where pesticides are present by prohibiting, regulating, or otherwise ensuring proper stewardship of those pesticides. (Food and Agriculture Code 11401 et seq.)
   
5. Prohibits lodging establishments with more than 50 rooms from providing small plastic bottles containing personal care products to guests. Expands this prohibition to apply to lodging establishment with 50 or fewer rooms beginning January 1, 2024. (PRC 42372)
   
6. Requires Air Resources Board (ARB) to develop a comprehensive strategy to reduce the emissions of short-lived climate pollutants (SLCP) to achieve a 40% reduction in methane emissions, 40% reduction in hydrofluorocarbon gases, and 50% reduction in anthropogenic black carbon below 2013 levels by 2030. (Health and Safety Code 39730-39730.5)
7. Requires the state to reduce the disposal of (i.e., divert) organic waste by 40% from the 2014 level by 2020 and 75% by 2025 to help achieve the state’s methane reduction goal. (HSC 39730.6)
8. Requires businesses that generate more than four cubic yards of waste per week (approximately one dumpster) to arrange for recycling services. Requires the business to source separate recyclable materials from solid waste and subscribe to a basic level of recycling service that includes collection, self-hauling, or other arrangements to pick up the materials, or subscribe to a recycling service that may include mixed waste processing that yields diversion results comparable to source separation. (PRC 42649.2)
9. Requires businesses that generate more than four cubic yards of waste per week, as specified, to arrange for recycling services for organic waste. Requires the business to take one of the following actions:
   1. Source separate organic waste from other waste and subscribe to a basic level of organic waste recycling service that includes collection and recycling of organic waste;
   2. Recycle its organic waste or self-haul its own organic waste for recycling;
   3. Subscribe to an organic waste recycling service that may include mixed waste processing that specifically recycles organic waste; or
   4. Make other arrangements that meet specified requirements. (PRC 42649.81)

THIS BILL establishes the Major Coastal Resorts Environmental Accountability Act, which:

1. States legislative findings relating to the environmental impacts of resorts and the need for additional state monitoring and oversight.
2. Defines terms used in the bill:
   1. “Major coastal resort” as a resort or hotel that:
      1. Is composed of more than 250 guest rooms or suites;
      2. Includes or operates a golf course on the premises;
      3. Is located in whole or in part in the coastal zone; and,
      4. Is located within 100 meters of the mean high tide line of the sea or that includes is adjacent to, or is within 400 meters of any part of an environmentally sensitive area, a sensitive coastal resource area, an area otherwise protected or preserved, or the habitat of a protected species.
   2. “Pesticide” as a conventional pesticide with all active ingredients other than biological pesticides and antimicrobial pesticides, with conventional active ingredients generally produced synthetically, including synthetic chemicals that prevent, mitigate, destroy, or repel any pest or that act as a plant growth regulator, desiccant, defoliant, or nitrogen stabilizer, and includes insecticides, rodenticides, herbicides, fungicides, and growth regulators.
   3. “Organic waste” as food waste, green waste, landscape and pruning waste, nonhazardous wood waste, and food-soiled paper waste that is mixed with food waste.
3. Every two years, requires the Commission, with the assistance of a qualified consultant, as specified, to prepare an audit of each resort’s compliance with the following:
   1. The resort’s coastal development permit;
   2. Any applicable local government permit conditions that implement a certified local coastal program;
   3. Any applicable mitigation measures and reporting or monitoring program under CEQA relating to coastal zone resources; and,
   4. The recycling requirements established by this bill.
4. Requires the Commission to compile and keep updated a list of consultants qualified to assist with auditing major coastal resorts’ compliance, as specified.
5. Requires the Commission to provide notice to the public and invite public comment at the time it commences an audit.
6. Requires the Commission to document the audit’s investigation and findings regarding a resort’s compliance in a public report posted to the Commission’s website. Requires the report to include a summary of the implementation of the resort’s turf, landscape, and pest management plan, if any, and disclosure of the types, quantity, and frequency of pesticides used.
7. Requires the Commission to decide whether to pursue enforcement under the Coastal Act of any violations identified in the audit.
8. Amends the Coastal Act to require that any coastal development permit pertaining to a resort approved after January 1, 2024, to include the following:
   1. A plan for complying with any coastal development permit conditions or mitigation measures regarding biological resources and for continued monitoring of relevant biological resources to ensure that the conditions and mitigation measures are satisfactorily protecting those resources, as specified.
   2. Ongoing monitoring and reporting of the resort’s stormwater discharges in the coastal zone, if any, sufficient to evaluate the contents of the discharges for pollutants or waste and ensure the quality of waters of the state is not being degraded. Requires this monitoring and reporting be in coordination with the State Water Resources Control Board.
   3. Verification from the resort that either:
      1. The resort has been issued, or is in the process of being issued, a waste discharge permit or a waiver under the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act or a national pollutant discharge elimination system permit under the federal Clean Water Act; or,
      2. Waste discharge requirements or a national pollutant discharge elimination system permit are not required for the resort’s stormwater discharges in the coastal zone under federal or state law.
   4. A turf, landscape, and pest management plan that follows state-of-the-art environmental methods.
9. Requires any coastal development permit for a resort in existence as of January 1, 2024, to be amended when the permit is renewed or updated to include the requirements for coastal development permits established by the bill.
10. Specifies that legitimate local government costs associated with the amending or updating a coastal development permit pursuant to the bill are eligible for reimbursement by the Commission, as specified.
11. Prohibits the use of any nonorganic pesticide at, or on any part of, any resort.
12. Prohibits a resort, or any person acting on a resort’s behalf, from discriminating or retaliating against any employee or applicant for employment for:
    1. Participating in an audit, investigation, or report pursuant to the bill; or,
    2. Disclosing information, or because the resort believes an employee disclosed or may disclose information, to the Commission, a consultant, another government or law enforcement agency, a person with authority over the employee, a person with specified authority, the media, a nonprofit organization, or a state or local government, if the employee or applicant for employment has reasonable cause to believe that the information discloses a violation or noncompliance.
13. Establishes that violations of the protections against retaliation are punishable pursuant to Labor Code 1102.5 (up to $10,000 for each violation). Additionally, establishes administrative civil penalties for violations of the protections against retaliation up to $500 per day for each violation.
14. Prohibits resorts from providing single-use plastic bottled beverages, nonrecyclable single-use coffee pods, plastic straws, single-use plastic retail bags, and expanded polystyrene (EPS) products to guests.
15. Requires resorts to:
    1. Provide at least one recycling bin or container in each guest room, and in each individual unit of other lodging. Requires the bin or container to be in the same area as trash receptacles, be visible and easily accessible, and be clearly marked;
    2. Source separate recyclable materials, organic waste, and other solid waste;
    3. Subscribe to a recycling service that includes collection and recycling of the recyclable materials, and subscribe to either an organic recycling service or recycle the organic waste on site; and,
    4. Maintain records of its operations to comply with the waste handling requirements for three years.
16. Establishes penalties for violations of the waste management requirements of civil penalties up to $500 for each day a violation occurs. Authorizes the Attorney General, district attorney, county counsel, or city attorney to bring an action under this provision.
17. Specifies that if the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement shall be made pursuant to Part 7 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown

COMMENTS:

1. Author’s statement:

Major coastal resorts—each of which, as defined in AB 1590, hosts tens of thousands of guests a year and has a substantial land use footprint, including a golf course—can have significant environmental impacts on our sensitive coasts, including potential impacts to wildlife, ecosystems, and water quality.

There are concerns that, to the extent major coastal resorts discharge stormwater to the ocean or beach, they lack sufficient ongoing monitoring to ensure nearby water quality is not being degraded. Major coastal resorts are likely to employ large volumes of pesticides and fertilizers, but such usage generally is not publicly disclosed, and there are concerns that some resorts lack requirements to apply up-to-date pest management strategies. There are also concerns that some major coastal resorts engage in high-volume use of single-use plastics and other unsustainable materials, which may not always be properly recycled, and that the fugitive release of these plastic materials can impact proximate coastal resources.

1. California Coastal Commission. California Coastal Commission was established in 1972 by Proposition 20 to make land use decisions in the coastal zone, while additional planning occurred. In 1976, the Legislature passed the Coastal Act (Act), which codified the Commission and granted it with broad authority to regulate coastal development. The Act guides how the land along the coast of California is developed, or protected from development. The Act emphasizes the importance public access the coast, and the preservation of sensitive coastal and marine habitat and biodiversity. Development is limited to preserve open space and coastal agricultural lands. The Act calls for orderly, balanced development, consistent with state coastal priorities and taking into account the rights of property owners.

The coastal zone extends three miles seaward, including offshore islands. The inland boundary varies depending on land uses and habitat values, but generally extends inland 1,000 yards from the mean high tide line of the sea, but is wider in areas with significant estuarine, habitat, and recreational values, and narrower in developed urban areas.

The Commission’s enforcement authority was expanded by SB 433 (Allen), Chapter 643, Statutes of 2021, to authorize the Commission to issue administrative civil penalties for all violations of the Act. Penalties for violations range from $500 per day to $15,000 per day, depending on the type and severity of the violation. While the Commission has expanded enforcement authority, it is facing a significant backlog of violations. As of last September, the backlog was around 3,000 cases. The 2022-23 Budget included $5 million to help the Commission address the backlog, and additional enforcement actions are taking place.

1. Pesticides. Pesticide use in California is controlled by federal, state, and local governmental entities. The United States Environmental Protection Agency sets minimum pesticide use standards and delegates pesticide enforcement regulatory authority to the states. State law designates DPR as the agency responsible for delivering an effective statewide pesticide regulatory program in California. The Legislature has also delegated local pesticide use enforcement to County Agricultural Commissioners (CACs). DPR works in partnership with the CACs by planning and developing adequate county programs; evaluating the effectiveness of the local programs; and, ensuring that corrective actions are taken in areas needing improvement. CACs enforce state pesticide laws and regulations in agricultural, structural, and nonagricultural use settings in all 58 counties.
2. Waste disposal in California. More than 40 million tons of waste are disposed of in California’s landfills annually, of which 28.4% is organic materials, 13% is plastic, and 15.5% is paper. The Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) is charged with diverting at least 75% of solid waste from landfills statewide by 2020. Local governments have been required to divert 50% of the waste generated within the jurisdiction from landfill disposal since 2000. AB 341 (Chesbro), Chapter 476, Statutes of 2011, requires commercial waste generators, including multi-family dwellings, to arrange for recycling services for the material they generate and requires local governments to implement commercial solid waste recycling programs designed to divert solid waste generated by businesses out of the landfill. A follow up bill, AB 1826 (Chesbro), Chapter 727, Statutes of 2014, requires generators of organic waste (i.e., food waste and yard waste) to arrange for recycling services for that material to keep it out of the landfill.

SB 1383 (Lara), Chapter 395, Statutes of 2016, requires ARB to approve and implement a comprehensive SLCP strategy to achieve, from 2013 levels, a 40% reduction in methane, a 40% reduction in hydrofluorocarbon gases, and a 50% reduction in anthropogenic black carbon, by 2030. In order to accomplish these goals, the bill specified that the methane emission reduction goals include targets to reduce the landfill disposal of organic waste 50% by 2020 and 75% by 2025 from the 2014 level.

AB 1162 (Kalra), Chapter 687, Statutes of 2019, prohibits lodging establishments from distributing personal care products to guests in small plastic bottles. The bill’s requirements are phasing in, applying to lodging establishments with more than 50 rooms on January 1 of this year, and expanding to include smaller lodging establishments beginning January 1, 2024.

1. This bill. This bill establishes a broad range of environmental requirements and review for resorts. The author states that this bill applies to six resorts in California: the Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes, the Paradise Point Resort and Spa in San Diego, the Park Hyatt Aviara Resort, Golf Club and Spa, the Hyatt Regency Newport Beach, the Ritz Carlton Bacara in Santa Barbara, and the Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach in Dana Point. According to the sponsor, Unite Here Local 11, there are environmental conditions and mitigation measures for resorts in their coastal development permits and CEQA documents, but there is a need for coordinated and focused oversight to ensure compliance with those requirements.

This bill requires a biannual audit, conducted by a contract auditor selected from a list of approved auditors developed by the Commission, of whether or not the resorts are complying with coastal development permits, certified local coastal program permit conditions, mitigation measures and reporting or monitoring programs required by CEQA, and specified waste reduction and recycling requirements. Additionally, this bill establishes new requirements for new and renewed coastal development permits, including a plan for complying with conditions or mitigation measures regarding biological resources, monitoring of stormwater discharges, permit verifications, and turf, landscape, and pest management plans. This bill also establishes whistleblower protections for resort employees who participate in enforcement actions or disclose information regarding a potential violation or noncompliance by the resort.

Additionally, this bill prohibits resorts from distributing beverages in plastic bottles, coffee pods, plastic straws, plastic bags, and EPS products to guests and requires recycling receptacles to be located in guest rooms. The bill requires resorts to source separate and recycle recyclable materials and organic waste.

The sponsors indicate that this bill is intended to address environmental violations like those described in the report, How Green is Terranea? Examining Terranea Resort’s Record on the Environment. According to the report, Terranea’s operations have resulted in negative impacts to wildlife; significant pesticide use, including those that are toxic to aquatic life; the disposal of recyclable materials with solid waste; and, impacts to water quality, including high fecal coliform levels. This bill is intended to identify issues such as those listed above so enforcement actions can be taken and prevent future violations.

1. Suggested amendments. The committee may wish to amend the bill to:
   1. Clarify that the prohibition on pesticides applies to those defined by the bill and nonorganic fertilizers.
   2. Allow pesticides, except rodenticides, to be used for incidental and limited use for building maintenance purposes if there are no reasonable alternatives.
   3. Clarify that the recycling and organic waste service requirements are consistent with the existing requirements established by AB 1826 and AB 341.
2. Double referral. Should the committee approve this bill, it will be referred to the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

Unite Here Local 11

Opposition

American Chemistry Council

California Hotel & Lodging Association
California Manufacturers & Technology Association
CropLife America
Household and Commercial Products Association

Plastics Industry Association
Responsible Industry for A Sound Environment - Rise
Western Plant Health Association

Analysis Prepared by: Elizabeth MacMillan / NAT. RES. /