HomeMy WebLinkAbout33 - PH-2 - Ordinance of the City Council of the Cit - 12/1/2015CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
MEETING DATE: DECEMBER 1, 2015 ITEM NUMBER: PH -2
SUBJECT: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COSTA MESA,
CALIFORNIA AMENDING SECTIONS 8-76, 8-77, AND 8-83 OF CHAPTER IV
(GARBAGE, RUBBISH, AND WEEDS), OF TITLE 8 (HEALTH AND SANITATION), OF
THE COSTA MESA MUNICIPAL CODE, RELATING TO MANDATORY COMMERCIAL
WASTE AND ORGANICS RECYCLING
DATE: NOVEMBER 16, 2015
FROM: PUBLIC SERVICES DEPARTMENT/ADMINISTRATION
PRESENTATION BY: ERNESTO MUNOZ, PUBLIC SERVICES DIRECTOR
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: MIKE KOZIEL, MANAGEMENT ANALYST (714) 754-
5024
Introduce Ordinance No.15-xx (Attachment 1) to amend sections 8-76, 8-77, and 8-83 of Chapter
IV (Garbage, Rubbish, and Weeds) of Title 8 for first reading; to be read by title only, and waive
further reading, regarding Mandatory Commercial Waste Recycling and new requirements of
Mandatory Organics Recycling required by the State of California.
BACKGROUND:
Building upon the requirements of AB341 which mandated commercial waste recycling, the State
of California has now added mandatory organic recycling. As the result of the signing of AB1826
into law, the new mandatory organics recycling requirements will be phased in over several years
and will help the state meet its goal to recycle 75 percent of its waste by 2020. Beginning on
April 1, 2016, businesses, including commercial and industrial, and public entities such as
schools, hospitals, stores, restaurants, for-profit or nonprofit organizations, and residential
dwellings with 5+ units (however "multifamily" dwellings are not required to have a food waste
diversion program) must recycle their organic waste over time based on the amount and type of
waste the business generates on a weekly basis, with full implementation realized in 2020. AB
1826 expressly allows local governments to adopt requirements that are more stringent than the
new requirements set forth in the California Public Resources Code.
Organics recycling requirements depend on the amount of organic waste generated weekly by
the business (see table below). The minimum threshold of organic waste generation by
businesses decreases over time to increase the proportion of the commercial sector that will be
required to comply with the new organics recycling requirements in the coming years.
Date
Threshold to Arrange for Organic Waste
Recycling Services
April 1, 2016
Businesses that generate 8 cubic yards of
organic waste per week
January 1, 2017
Businesses that generate 4 cubic yards of
organic waste per week
January 1, 2019
Businesses that generate 4 cubic yards of
commercial solid waste per week
January 1, 2020 Businesses that generate 2 cubic yards of
commercial solid waste per week (the 2 cubic
yard requirement only takes effect if
CalRecycle determines that statewide
disposal of organic waste in 2020 has not
been reduced by 50% of 2014 levels).
ANALYSIS:
The goal of the mandatory commercial organics recycling law (AB 1826) is to help California
achieve aggressive recycling and greenhouse gas emission goals. California landfills take in
about 30 million tons of waste each year, of which more than 30% is organic. The State has
determined that these organics should be composted or used to produce renewable energy
rather than going into landfills. Greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the decomposition of
organic waste in landfills have been identified as a significant source of emissions contributing
to global climate change.
The City of Costa Mesa has in place an excellent mechanism for implementing this mandate.
The City operates under a non-exclusive waste hauling franchise that licenses permitted waste
hauling firms to provide solid waste collection and recycling services to commercial and multi-
family dwellings. It shall be the responsibility of the City of Costa Mesa authorized Waste Haulers
to comply with these new State mandates in order to operate under their annual permits. The
proposed amendments to Chapter IV of Title 8 (Attachment 2) will assure that the haulers comply
with these regulations, as shown in the "strike and bold" version of the ordinance (Attachment
3).
ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED:
An alternative to this City Council action would be to reject the amendments, potentially exposing
the City to fines of up to $10,000 per day for non-compliance. The Council could also consider
a separate new franchise system for exclusively processing the organics at an unknown but
potentially significant administrative and business cost.
FISCAL REVIEW:
Section 2, Chapter 12.9 of AB1826 Recycling of Organic Waste states that "no reimbursement
is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article X1118 of the California Constitution because
a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service charges, fees, or assessments
sufficient to pay for the program or level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of
Section 17556 of the Government Code."
The City's authorized waste haulers set their charges based upon the competitive market (a
benefit to clients of the non-exclusive franchise system), and therefore their costs of compliance
with the program will likely be passed on to their clients. The fiscal impact to the City is additional
unknown administrative cost and time of implementing, monitoring, and reporting on the
program. Increased costs to the City will be offset by additional revenues from increased gross
receipts by the authorized haulers.
LEGAL REVIEW:
The City attorney has reviewed this report and has prepared the attached ordinance as
amended.
CONCLUSION:
Assembly Bill 1826 requires that commencing April 1, 2016, the City implement an organic
recycling program. Adoption of the proposed ordinance as amended would result in clarifying the
language of the current ordinance while, at the same time, ensuring compliance with State law
by implementing its requirements. Therefore, staff requests the City Council introduce Ordinance
Number 15-xx to amend sections 8-76, 8-77, and 8-83 of Chapter IV (Garbage, Rubbish, and
Weeds), of Title 8, for first reading; to be read by title only, and waive further reading, regarding
Mandatory Commercial Waste Recycling and new requirements of Mandatory Organics
Recycling.
ERNESTO MUNOZ MIKE KOZIEL
Public Services Director Management Analyst
DISTRIBUTION: Chief Executive Officer
Assistant Chief Executive Officer
City Attorney
City Clerk Division
Staff
File
ATTACHMENTS: 1. Ordinance No. 15-
2. Amended Code Sections
3. Strike and Bold Version of the Amended Code Sections