Date: September 28, 2012
Source: News Room
California has adopted a law that prevents governments from enacting flow control laws that restrict waste disposal based on geographic origin. Gov. Jerry Brown signed assembly bill 845 ostensibly to prevent the balkanization of waste and recycling issues. However, much of it had to do with an ongoing dispute between San Francisco and Solono County, home to the large Potrero Hills Landfill, a destination for much of the city's waste. Beginning in March 2009 when the landfill's new owner Waste Connections sought to expand the site which it acquired from Republic Services, several groups including the Sierra Club, filed lawsuits to block the expansion by asking the Court to recognize a never-enforced 19-year-old voter initiative called Measure E that restricts any Solano County landfill from accepting more than 95,000 tons per year of waste from outside the county. Potrero Hills receives about 850,000 tons per year of waste from surrounding counties, including San Francisco.
"Garbage is a statewide issue, as is wastewater treatment, transportation and electricity," said Assemblywoman Fiona Ma who sponsored the legislation. "Cites are dealing with limited solutions and we must move forward together as we work towards zero waste."
She said over the last 20 years, 122 landfills have been closed in the state without any opened in their place. Restricting the flow of waste and recyclables across county lines could severely impact the governments that have come to rely on this exchange as an essential component of their waste management plans, she said. The bill does not encroach on traditional local land use and planning authority, [it] simply clarifies that waste from different localities must be treated equally."
See also: "Industry Lines up to Oppose California Landfill Restriction," (www.wasteinfo.com/news/wbj20110920C.htm), September 14, 2011.
A copy of Assembly Bill No. 845: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201120120AB845.
PRESS RELEASE
September 25 2012
Speaker pro Tempore Fiona Ma's Garbage Equality Bill Signed by Governor Brown
SACRAMENTO, CA-Assembly Speaker pro Tempore Fiona Ma's (D-San Francisco and San Mateo Counties) AB 845 was signed into law this afternoon by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. The bill will prevent discrimination of out-of-county waste by prohibiting the disposal of waste based on its geographic origin and it will preserve the integrity of the California Integrated Waste Management Act (CIWMA) while ensuring counties have the ability to handle their waste in the best interest of their region.
"Garbage is a statewide issue as is wastewater treatment, transportation and electricity," said Assemblywoman Ma. "Cites are dealing with limited solutions and we must move forward together as we work towards zero waste. San Francisco has one of the highest recycle rate in the nation at 77% yet we still have to export the 23% to about 13 cities and counties to function. This bill will ensure that the other 39 cities and counties across the state who also export their trash, can continue to recycle and dispose of their waste in the most efficient and environmentally sound way."
Over the last 20 years, in an effort to improve the environment and protect ground water, 122 landfills have closed while no additional landfills have been opened in their stead. Although the long term goal to get cities and counties to "zero waste" is one the State is steadily moving towards, the state is simply not there yet. Restricting the flow of waste and recyclables across county lines could have severely impacted cities as many local governments have come to rely on this exchange as an essential component of their waste management plan.
"The new law will make sure that recycling and solid waste facilities are acceptable in every county which in essence protects local governments authority over the land use decision process and it also ensures that as a state we are not moving our trash across state lines, or worst, dumping our trash into the ocean," said Josh Pane from the California Refuse Recycling Council (the CRRC).
AB 845 does not encroach on traditional local land use and planning authority to manage solid waste management within a locality, the bill simply clarifies that waste from different localities must be treated equally. AB 845 supports regional waste management plans as we move the state towards a long term solution to get California to zero waste.
"As a solid waste industry stakeholder, Waste Connections is extremely pleased to learn that AB 845 was signed today by Governor Brown. AB 845 strengthens California's Integrated Waste Management Act (IWMA) by ensuring that solid waste and recyclables will continue to be handled on a regional basis; and further provides that all Californians will have open access to adequate capacity for these critical services that protect human health and the environment" said Eddie Westmoreland, VP of Governmental Affairs for Waste Connections, Inc.
In 1989 California enacted AB 939, the California Integrated Waste Management Act which declared that waste management is an issue of state-wide concern and created a regional framework to best handle the state's waste stream. Since the time it was enacted, the IWMA has succeeded in building regional systems of waste management that promotes refuse reduction, recycling, efficiency in the disposal process, cost containment for the public agencies and taxpayers, and environmental protection and conservation.
This bill will go into effect on January 1, 2013.
For more information on Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, please visit: asmdc.org/members/a12/
Contact:
Lizette Mata (916) 319-2012
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