The existing California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, which is administered by the California Integrated Waste Management Board, establishes an integrated waste management program. Under existing law, the act requires each city, county, city and county, and regional agency, if any, to develop a source reduction and recycling element of an integrated waste management plan. Those entities are required to divert, on and after January 1, 2000, 50% of the solid waste from disposal or transformation, through source reduction, recycling, and composting subject to the element, except as specified. Existing law authorizes the board to issue an order of compliance with a schedule for achieving compliance, if the board finds that the city, county, city and county, or regional agency has failed to implement its source reduction and recycling element or its household hazardous waste element. Existing law authorizes the board to impose various administrative penalties for failure to comply with the act.
Existing law authorizes a city or county to form a regional agency with another city or county for the purpose of complying with the integrated waste management program. Existing law allows the agreement that establishes a regional agency to apportion the civil penalties that may be imposed for a failure to submit an adequate plan or to implement the plan element if the total amount of the civil penalties imposed against the regional agency is equivalent to the sum of the penalties that may be imposed against each city or county that is a member of the regional agency.
This bill would authorize the agreement to provide that a city or county is subject to the portion of a penalty imposed on the regional agency that is in proportion to the city’s or county’s responsibility for the failure to implement a source reduction and recycling element or hazardous waste element. The bill would require the regional agency to provide written notice and the opportunity for a hearing before assessing the city or county a proportion of the penalty. The bill would specify that the bill would not affect the authority of the board to impose a penalty pursuant to other provisions of existing law.