AB 2902: Solid waste: reduction and recycling.

(1)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 statewide methane emissions by 40% below 2013 levels by 2030. Existing law requires methane emissions reduction goals to include specified targets to reduce the landfill disposal of organics. Existing law requires the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, in consultation with the state board, to adopt regulations that achieve those targets for reducing organic waste in landfills, as provided. The departments organic waste regulations provide different organic waste procurement targets for local jurisdictions based on population and provide waivers and exemptions from collection and procurement requirements for rural, low-population, and high-elevation jurisdictions. Existing law provides that the exemption for rural jurisdictions is valid until December 31, 2026, as specified. The departments organic waste regulations establish collection bin lid color requirements for waste collection services to identify the types of waste to be placed into a collection bin.

This bill would extend the rural jurisdiction exemption until January 1, 2037, except as provided, and would require the department to adopt regulations to establish a process to renew the exemption after that date for periods of up to 5 years. The bill would require the department to exclude residents included in department-issued low population or elevation waivers from the population in determining a local jurisdictions organic waste procurement target. The bill would exempt bear bins from the collection bin lid color requirements.

(2)Existing law requires the department, in consultation with the state board, to analyze the progress made in achieving the reduction targets for the amounts of organic waste disposed of in landfills and authorizes the department to provide incentives to facilitate progress toward the reduction targets, as provided.

This bill would require the departments organic waste regulations to evaluate ways to incentivize carbon farming, and would require the department to evaluate ways to maximize the local benefits of edible food recovery programs and explore circumstances in which recovered food may be more suitable for use in local animal feed operations.

This bill would authorize the department, in conjunction with the California Pollution Control Financing Authority and the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank, to provide information to the owners and operators of landfill and composting operations that may be a potential source of methane emissions about financing that may fund facility improvements to increase the capture, or reduce the escape, of methane emissions.

(3)Existing law requires at least once every 2 years, the department to review each jurisdictions source reduction and recycling element and household hazardous waste element for compliance with requirements for the diversion of solid waste from landfills by source reduction, recycling, and composting.

This bill would instead require that review at least once every 4 years.

(4)Existing law requires the department, upon appropriation, to administer a grant program to provide financial assistance to promote the in-state development of infrastructure, food waste prevention, or other projects to reduce organic waste, sort and aggregate or process organic and other recyclable materials into new, value-added products, or divert items from disposal through enhanced reuse opportunities. Existing law identifies the types of projects that are eligible infrastructure projects for purposes of the program.

This bill would make the deployment of bear bins to minimize adverse human-and-bear interactions related to the collection and management of solid and organic waste an eligible infrastructure project.

(5)This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 42652.5 of the Public Resources Code proposed by AB 2346 and AB 2514 to be operative only if this bill and any or all of the other bills are enacted and this bill is enacted last.

(6)This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 42999 of the Public Resources Code proposed by AB 2311 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2311 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.