Today's Law As Amended


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AB-1567 Organic waste: scoping plan.(2019-2020)



As Amends the Law Today


SECTION 1.
 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Each year, California generates millions of tons of organic waste, from thinned forest fuel and agricultural waste to urban food waste and landscape prunings, that are landfilled, burned in piles and wildfires, or left to rot.
(b) Organic waste is the state’s largest source of methane and black carbon emissions, which are two of the most damaging climate pollutants and also harm respiratory and cardiovascular health.
(c) Reducing wildfire, landfilling, and pile burning of organic waste is critical to meet the state’s climate and air quality requirements and requirements to reduce short-lived climate pollutants.
(d) Meeting the state’s air quality and climate goals requires quickly increasing the beneficial reuse of organic waste to produce organic soil amendments, low-carbon wood products, materials for water purification and conservation, renewable and low-carbon energy, and more.
(e) Converting organic waste for beneficial reuse will provide economic and environmental cobenefits in local communities throughout the state.
(f) The state lacks a coordinated strategy and funding plan to maximize the beneficial reuse of the state’s organic waste resources, which is essential to meet existing mandates for landfill diversion, wildfire reduction, and improved soil health, climate, and air quality.

SEC. 2.

 Section 75125.5 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:

75125.5.
 (a) For purposes of this section, “organic waste” means all of the following:
(1) Includes the materials identified in subdivision (d) of Section 42649.8.
(2) Includes the materials identified in subdivision (a) of Section 40106.
(3) Does not include the materials that are not eligible for biomass conversion, as defined in subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 40106.
(b) (1) On or before December 31, 2021, the council, in consultation with stakeholders and relevant permitting agencies, shall prepare and submit to the Legislature a report that provides a scoping plan for the state to meet its organic waste, climate change, and air quality mandates, goals, and targets.
(2) A report to be submitted pursuant to this subdivision shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(c) The scoping plan required pursuant to subdivision (b) shall include, but is not limited to, all of the following:
(1) Recommendations on policy and funding support for the beneficial reuse of organic waste consistent with the following:
(A) The short-lived climate pollutant strategy implemented pursuant to Section 39730.5 of the Health and Safety Code.
(B) The 2030 greenhouse gas emissions limit adopted pursuant to Section 38566 of the Health and Safety Code.
(C) Actions to achieve the attainment of state and federal ambient air quality standards, including, but not limited to, actions related to the control of organic waste air emissions and actions required pursuant to Assembly Bill 617 (Chapter 136 of the Statutes of 2017).
(D) The requirements of Section 399.11 of the Public Utilities Code.
(E) The “California Forest Carbon Plan: Managing Our Forest Landscapes In A Changing Climate,” prepared by the Forest Climate Action Team and issued in May 2018.
(F) The goal of reducing at least five million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year through the development and application of compost on working lands established pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 42649.87.
(2) Consideration of the beneficial uses of organic waste in comparison to the alternative fate of the organic waste, including all of the following:
(A) The availability of organic waste in the forestry, agriculture, and solid waste sectors.
(B) Beneficial alternatives to the burning, leaving in place, and landfilling of waste or other current disposal practices.
(C) Net impacts on all of the following:
(i) Carbon emissions, on a life-cycle basis.
(ii) Air quality, including local impacts on areas designated as being in nonattainment of state and federal ambient air quality standards.
(iii) Forest health, water quality, and water supply for each alternative end use.
(iv) Job creation, economic development, and local revenues, and where those impacts would accrue.
(v) Community resilience, including resilience against the climate change impacts of catastrophic wildfires and other natural disasters.
(3) Identification of obstacles to the beneficial reuse of organic waste management.
(4) Activities undertaken by the private and public sectors to address the obstacles identified pursuant to paragraph (3).
(d) This section shall remain in effect only until December 31, 2025, and as of that date is repealed.