Code Section

42652.5.  

(a) The department, in consultation with the State Air Resources Board, shall adopt regulations to achieve the organic waste reduction goals for 2020 and 2025 established in Section 39730.6 of the Health and Safety Code. The regulations shall comply with all of the following:

(1) May require local jurisdictions to impose requirements on generators or other relevant entities within their jurisdiction and may authorize local jurisdictions to impose penalties on generators for noncompliance.

(2) Shall include requirements intended to meet the goal that not less than 20 percent of edible food that is currently disposed of is recovered for human consumption by 2025.

(3) Shall not establish a numeric organic waste disposal limit for individual landfills.

(4) May include different levels of requirements for local jurisdictions and phased timelines based upon their progress in meeting the organic waste reduction goals for 2020 and 2025 established in Section 39730.6 of the Health and Safety Code. The department shall base its determination of progress on relevant factors, including, but not limited to, reviews conducted pursuant to Section 41825, the amount of organic waste disposed compared to the 2014 level, per capita disposal rates, the review required by Section 42653, and other relevant information provided by a local jurisdiction.

(5) (A) May include penalties to be imposed by the department for noncompliance. If penalties are included, they shall not exceed the amount authorized pursuant to Section 41850.

(B) Notwithstanding any other law, administrative civil penalties for a local jurisdiction that fails to procure a quantity of recovered organic waste products that meets or exceeds its recovered organic waste product procurement target established by the department pursuant to Section 18993.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations shall be imposed pursuant to the following schedule:

(i) On or after January 1, 2023, each jurisdiction shall procure a quantity of recovered organic waste products that meets or exceeds 30 percent of its recovered organic waste product procurement target.

(ii) On or after January 1, 2024, each jurisdiction shall procure a quantity of recovered organic waste products that meets or exceeds 65 percent of its recovered organic waste product procurement target.

(iii) On or after January 1, 2025, each jurisdiction shall procure a quantity of recovered organic waste products that meets or exceeds 100 percent of its recovered organic waste product procurement target.

(6) Shall take effect on or after January 1, 2022, except the imposition of penalties pursuant to paragraph (1) shall not take effect until two years after the effective date of the regulations.

(7) Jurisdictions in possession of a rural exemption pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 18984.12 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, as that section read on January 1, 2022, are exempt from the procurement requirement of this subdivision until December 31, 2026. Beginning January 1, 2027, the department may, in its discretion, provide rural counties and jurisdictions located within rural counties that are exempt from organic waste collection requirements an extended recovered organic waste product procurement target schedule similar to the schedule set forth in this subdivision, which shall be exempt from the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code).

(8) The department may, in its discretion, create an adjusted recovered organic waste product procurement target schedule, not to exceed the requirements of the schedule set forth in this subdivision, which shall be exempt from the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code).

(b) A local jurisdiction may charge and collect fees to recover the local jurisdiction’s costs incurred in complying with the regulations adopted pursuant to this section.

(c) A local jurisdiction facing continuing violations of the regulations adopted pursuant to subdivision (a) that commence during the 2022 calendar year may submit to the department a notification of intent to comply, as described in this section. Upon approval by the department, and implementation by the local jurisdiction, of a notification of intent to comply that meets the requirements of subdivision (e), a local jurisdiction may be eligible for both of the following:

(1) Administrative civil penalty relief for the 2022 calendar year pursuant to subdivision (d).

(2) A corrective action plan pursuant to Section 18996.2 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.

(d) (1) For violations of the regulations that are disclosed in a notification of intent to comply that is approved by the department as meeting the requirements of subdivision (e), the department shall waive administrative civil penalties under paragraph (5) of subdivision (a) during the 2022 calendar year if, and administrative civil penalties shall not accrue under paragraph (5) of subdivision (a) during the 2022 calendar year if, the local jurisdiction implements the proposed actions according to the schedule proposed pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (e).

(2) For violations that commence during the 2022 calendar year and continue into the 2023 calendar year, administrative civil penalties may begin accruing as of January 1, 2023. Those administrative civil penalties accruing on and after January 1, 2023, shall be waived upon complete compliance with the terms of a corrective action plan pursuant to Section 18996.2 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.

(3) If a local jurisdiction fails to adhere to the proposed actions and schedule described in a notification of intent to comply pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (e), the department may revoke its approval of the notification of intent to comply and impose administrative civil penalties for violations occurring during the 2022 calendar year retroactive to the date of violation.

(4) Notwithstanding any proposed actions and schedule provided by a local jurisdiction in an approved notification of intent to comply pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (e), the department may instead address through a corrective action plan any violations disclosed in that notification that may take more than 180 days to correct. Under those circumstances, the proposed actions and schedule provided pursuant to an approved notification of intent to comply pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (e) shall control until a corrective action plan is finalized.

(e) The department shall approve a notification of intent to comply if the department determines the notification meets the requirements of this subdivision. A notification of intent to comply shall be in writing, adopted by formal resolution by the governing body of the local jurisdiction, and filed with the department no later than March 1, 2022. The notification of intent to comply shall include, at a minimum, all of the following:

(1) A description, with specificity, of the continuing violations.

(2) A detailed explanation of the reasons, supported by documentation, why the local jurisdiction is unable to comply.

(3) A description of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on compliance.

(4) A description of the proposed actions the local jurisdiction will take to remedy the violations within the timelines established in Section 18996.2 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations with a proposed schedule for doing so. The proposed actions shall be tailored to remedy the violations in a timely manner.

(f) The department shall respond in writing to a local jurisdiction within 45 business days of receiving a notification of intent to comply with an approval, disapproval, request for additional information, or timeline for a decision on approval or disapproval. If the department disapproves the notification of intent to comply due to the notification not meeting the requirements of subdivision (e), the department shall include in the response a justification for the disapproval.

(g) Notwithstanding Section 18996.2 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, the department may establish any maximum compliance deadline in a corrective action plan that it determines to be necessary and appropriate under the circumstances for the correction of a violation of the regulations adopted pursuant to subdivision (a).

(h) (1) The department may adopt regulations it determines to be necessary to implement and enforce the changes made to this section by Chapter 508 of the Statutes of 2021 as emergency regulations.

(2) Emergency regulations adopted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be adopted in accordance with Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, and for purposes of that chapter, including Section 11349.6 of the Government Code, the adoption of these regulations is an emergency and shall be considered by the Office of Administrative Law as necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, safety, and general welfare. Notwithstanding Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, emergency regulations adopted by the department pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be filed with, but not be repealed by, the Office of Administrative Law and shall remain in effect until January 1, 2024.