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AB-144 Public resources management: organic waste.(2019-2020)

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Date Published: 04/01/2019 09:00 PM
AB144:v97#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Assembly  April 01, 2019
Amended  IN  Assembly  March 05, 2019

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 144

Introduced by Assembly Member Aguiar-Curry

December 13, 2018

An act to amend Section 4630.2 of, to add Section 4005 to, and to add and repeal Section 75125.5 of, the Public Resources Code, relating to public resources.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 144, as amended, Aguiar-Curry. Public resources management. management: organic waste.
(1) Existing law declares that a thriving in-state forest products sector provides public benefits, including employment opportunities in both rural and urban areas, and economic development for rural communities. Existing law establishes the Forest Health Management Task Force pursuant to a specified executive order issued by the Governor, and requires the task force or its successor entity, on or before July 1, 2020, in consultation with specified entities, to develop recommendations for the siting of additional wood product manufacturing facilities in the state. Existing law specifies that it is the intent of the Legislature, in developing those recommendations, that the location and activities of the mass timber production facilities be, among other things, located in, or be proximate to, areas that are near the locations of large landscape fires, as described, and in areas identified as federal opportunity zones or in areas that have an average household income of 5% below the state’s median household income.
This bill would add a definition of the task force for purposes of those provisions and recast the median household income threshold from 5% below to at or below 5% of the state’s median household income.
(2) Existing law establishes the Strategic Growth Council in state government consisting of various state agency heads and 3 public members. Existing law assigns to the council certain duties relative to the identification and review of activities and funding programs of state agencies that may be coordinated to improve air and water quality, improve natural resource protection, increase the availability of affordable housing, improve transportation, meet greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals, encourage sustainable land use planning, and revitalize urban and community centers in a sustainable manner.
This bill would require the council, in consultation with stakeholders and relevant permitting agencies, to prepare and submit a report to the Legislature that provides a scoping plan for the state to meet its organic waste management waste, climate change, and air quality mandates, goals, and targets and would require the scoping plan to include, among other things, recommendations on policy and funding support for closing the loop on carbon-neutral or carbon-negative organic waste management practices. the beneficial reuse of organic waste.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


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 orchard 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 re-use 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 re-use 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 re-use 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.

SECTION 1.SEC. 2.

 Section 4005 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:

4005.
 “Forest Management Task Force” means the task force established by the Governor pursuant to Executive Order No. B-52-18 to oversee the implementation of that executive order.

SEC. 2.SEC. 3.

 Section 4630.2 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:

4630.2.
 (a) On or before July 1, 2020, the Forest Management Task Force established pursuant to Executive Order No. B-52-18 or its successor entity shall, in consultation with the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, the Joint Institute for Wood Products Innovation in the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection, private industry, investors, and other stakeholders it deems appropriate, develop recommendations for the siting of additional wood product manufacturing facilities in the state. These recommendations shall include include, but are not limited to: to, all of the following:
(1) A financially viable proposal for the development and construction of at least one new mass timber production facility that can manufacture mass timber panels that can be cross or dowel laminated or use similar mass timber technology.
(2) Identify and propose the necessary incentives needed to attract private investment to construct such a mass timber production facility in California.
(3) Identify other former manufacturing or wood processing sites that may be suitable for future investment.
(b) In developing the recommendations pursuant to subdivision (a), it is the intent of the Legislature that the location and activities of the mass timber production facilities, to the extent feasible, meet all of the following:
(1) Be adjacent to a high or very high fire hazard severity zone, as identified by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, and be capable of processing materials generated as a result of fuel treatments or other forest management practices.
(2) Generate mass timber workforce training and job creation opportunities.
(3) Be located in, or be proximate to, areas that are near the locations of large landscape fires of greater than 50,000 acres that have occurred since 2005 and in areas identified as federal opportunity zones or in areas that have an average household income at or below 5 percent of the state’s median household income.

SEC. 3.SEC. 4.

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

75125.5.
 (a) On For purposes of this section, “organic waste” means all of the following:
(1) Includes the materials identified in subdivision (c) 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) On or before December 31, 2020, the council, in consultation with stakeholders and relevant permitting agencies, shall prepare and submit a report to the Legislature, in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code, that provides a scoping plan for the state to meet its organic waste management waste, climate change, and air quality mandates, goals, and targets.

(b)

(c) The scoping plan required pursuant to subdivision (a) (b) shall include, but is not limited to, all of the following:
(1) Recommendations on policy and funding support for closing the loop on carbon-neutral or carbon-negative organic waste management practices. 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.

(2)Identify

(3) Identification of obstacles to closing the loop on carbon-neutral or carbon-negative the beneficial reuse of organic waste management practices. management.

(3)

(4) Activities to be undertaken by the private and public sectors to address the obstacles identified pursuant to paragraph (2). (3).

(c)

(d) This section shall remain in effect only until December 31, 2024, and as of that date is repealed.