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Home My WebLink AboutItem 13b - Organic Waste Disposal Reduction DATE: October 19, 2021 TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council FROM: Paul Cranmer, Public Works Services Director By: Vanessa Hevener, Environmental Services Manager SUBJECT: ORDINANCE NO. 2383 ADDING PART 4 TO CHAPTER 1 OF ARTICLE V OF THE ARCADIA MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO ORGANIC WASTE DISPOSAL REDUCTION Recommendation: Introduce SUMMARY In January 2021, the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (“CalRecycle”) finalized regulations associated with Senate Bill (“SB”) 1383, which requires the State to reduce organic waste (e.g., food waste, green waste, soiled paper products, etc.) disposal by 75% by 2025 and to increase edible food recovery (collection of edible food that would otherwise go to waste and redistributing it to feed people in need) by 20% by 2025. Under SB 1383, cities are required to implement an Organics recycling program for all trash generators (single family, multi-family, and commercial businesses) by January 1, 2022, through adoption and enforcement of an Organics Ordinance. The attached Ordinance has been created to meet these requirements reasonably. It is recommended that the City Council introduce Ordinance No. 2383 adding Part 4 to Chapter 1 of Article V of the Arcadia Municipal Code relating to Organic Waste Disposal Reduction. BACKGROUND In September 2016, former Governor Brown signed into law Senate Bill (“SB”) 1383 which set methane emissions reduction targets in a statewide effort to reduce emissions of short-lived climate pollutants (“SLCP”) by reducing organic waste disposal by 75% by 2025 and increasing edible food recovery by 20% by 2025. SB 1383 is the most significant waste reduction mandate to be adopted by California in more than 30 years. In January of this year, CalRecycle finalized regulations associated with SB 1383 effective January 1, 2022. All cities and counties must implement Organic waste recycling programs for all trash generators (single family, multi-family, and commercial businesses) by January 1, 2022, to support the Statewide target. Introduce Ordinance No. 2383 Organic Waste Disposal Reduction October 19, 2021 Page 2 of 4 As part of the new regulations, the City of Arcadia is required to implement the following programs/activities: • Provide organic waste collection services to all trash generators (residents and commercial businesses); • Establish and promote edible food recovery programs; • Procure recyclable and recovered organic waste products such as compost; mulch, and renewable gas; • Conduct education and outreach to all trash generators; • Monitor compliance and conduct enforcement; and • Adhere to rigorous new tracking and annual reporting requirements. DISCUSSION In anticipation of the new regulations, the City has taken steps to ensure that the City is poised to start implementation of Organics recycling in January 2022. In April 2021, the City approved a 10-year exclusive residential and multi-family franchise agreement with Waste Management (“WM”), which includes programs and activities necessary to meet SB 1383 requirements. For example, the City required WM to provide Organic waste recycling services as part of their overall services to Arcadia residents. Starting in January 2022, residents will be required to dispose of organics such as food waste and soiled paper products together with greenwaste in their green “Organics” carts. The “Organics” cart will be transported to a composting facility in Tulare County to be transformed into compost/mulch instead of being used as alternative daily cover (i.e., cover material other than earthen material placed on the surface of an active municipal solid waste landfill at the end of each operating day). Another example is that WM will be required to purchase renewable gas to fuel WM trucks and vehicles in service and provide the City with the credit for those purchases to meet the City’s Procurement Target (equivalent of 4,000 tons of recovered organic waste products). Lastly, WM will assist with the development of the Route Review Plan, a system to identify and track contamination from single family and multi-family customers as required by SB 1383. A related issue is enforcement. Despite existing State imposed mandatory commercial recycling and commercial Organics recycling laws, many commercial businesses in Arcadia have not implemented those measures at their facilities due to lack of enforcement mechanisms in the existing laws. Ordinance No. 2383 will address this issue by including specific enforcement tools to ensure compliance with SB 1383 regulations. Currently, the City allows up to three commercial haulers to operate in the City based on an open market (or permit system). Commercial businesses are free to choose one of three commercial haulers to provide trash and recycling services and each business negotiates its own rates and terms directly with the hauler. To operate in the City, the commercial haulers must demonstrate that they are diverting 50% of the waste generated from businesses away from the landfills and pay a Commercial Fee of 9.5% of total gross Introduce Ordinance No. 2383 Organic Waste Disposal Reduction October 19, 2021 Page 3 of 4 receipts to the City, but there is no obligation to assist the City in meeting SB 1383 requirements. Ordinance No. 2383 will require the commercial haulers to provide Organics recycling services to commercial businesses and commercial businesses will be required to sign up for those services. Commercial businesses also will be required to place their organic waste inside dedicated “Organics” carts or comingled with food waste and greenwaste in the “Organics” carts. In addition, the commercial haulers will be required to implement new rigorous tracking and monitoring requirements, conduct education and outreach to their customers, provide for signage and container labeling, develop a list of Food Recovery Organizations and Food Recovery Services and provide that list to their commercial edible food generators (e.g., restaurants) and comply with other requirements contained within SB 1383. The commercial haulers are also required to provide a list of businesses that are not participating in the Organics recycling program to the City so that Staff is able to monitor and track those businesses and to provide guidance, assistance, and/or enforcement as necessary. Outreach Efforts Over the past year, City Staff has been coordinating with WM as well as with the commercial haulers to ensure the community is aware of the pending implementation of the Organics recycling program. Outreach efforts have included the following: • City Newsletter Spring and Fall 2021 • Waste Management Spring and Fall 2021 Newsletters • Social media posts of pending Organics recycling program • Information on Waste Management’s Arcadia website • September 2, 2021, Arcadia Chamber of Commerce Presentation with Waste Management and City staff ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT The proposed action does not constitute a project under the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”), and it can be seen with certainty that it will have no impact on the environment. Thus, this matter is exempt under CEQA. FISCAL IMPACT There is no direct fiscal impact to the City; however, failure to comply with any of the SB 1383 requirements may result in corrective action including, but not limited to, the issuance of citations by CalRecycle. Should the City of Arcadia fail to comply with implementation and enforcement of SB 1383, the City may be placed on a corrective action plan with CalRecycle and further non-compliance may result in fines of $10,000 per day, per violation. In addition, the latest waste hauling rates were adjusted to include the cost of haulers adhering to the new standards, including Ordinance No.2383. Introduce Ordinance No. 2383 Organic Waste Disposal Reduction October 19, 2021 Page 4 of 4 RECOMMENDATION It is recommended that the City Council determine that this project is exempt under the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”); and introduce Ordinance No. 2383 adding Part 4 to Chapter 1 of Article V of the Arcadia Municipal Code relating to Organic Waste Disposal Reduction. Attachment: Ordinance No. 2383