Local governments continue to struggle with SB 1383 organic waste compliance

Relax, Tehachapi. Concerns about needing a third trash can to hold organic waste — and a $559.80 annual charge on residential property tax rolls in some unincorporated areas — can be set aside, at least temporarily.

According to a report from Second District Supervisor Zack Scrivner, the Board of Supervisors did not approve expanding new Universal Collection Areas, collection fees, or schedules in eastern Kern County, western Kern County or Metropolitan Bakersfield at its meeting on May 23.

The board considered those options as part of an effort to comply with SB 1383, a state law signed by then-Gov. Jerry Brown in September 2016. The bill establishes methane emissions reduction targets in a statewide effort to reduce emissions of short-lived climate pollutants in various sectors of California’s economy, according to CalRecycle.

CalRecycle is the state

agency charged with ensuring compliance with SB 1383, but nearly seven years after the law was passed, it is still creating havoc as local governments, including cities, counties and community services districts, attempt to comply with requirements that include special handling of organic waste.

Here’s a quick look at the situation in local jurisdictions:

City of Tehachapi — most of the foundation for compliance was approved by the Tehachapi City Council in 2021. But much work remains to be done, including adding a third can for collection by WM, the firm that contracts with the city for trash collection. A corrective action plan with the state will expire in March 2024, according to Assistant Manager Corey Costelloe. He said a third can — and related expense — may be added around this time next year. But the city is also pursuing a pair of EPA grants from the federal government to assist with the rollout of SB 1383.

“One of the grants could potentially lower the costs to the residents,” Costelloe said. “This is part of the reason why we are waiting until next year for implementation. I am trying to explore every option I can to reduce the rate increase for residents. We should know about these grants in late summer or fall of this year.”

Golden Hills Community Services District

— Action to update the district’s solid waste ordinance was taken by the Board of Directors on May 18. According to General Manager Susan Wells, this is just part of the work the district must do to comply with state law. At some point, she expects, customers of the district’s contracted trash hauler — J. Torres Company — will be required to have a third can. Once it’s determined when that must happen, the company will submit proposed costs for the district board’s approval. Bear Valley Community

Services District — According to Lisa Shreder, assistant director of Kern County Public Works Department, Bear Valley uses its own transfer station — but with county franchise haulers — and has made arrangements directly with CalRecycle to implement SB 1383. Interim General Manager Wesley Shryock did not immediately respond to a request for details of those arrangements.

Stallion Springs Community Services District

— Shreder said that Stallion Springs CSD is in a Census Tract with a low population density waiver and is not mandated to provide SB 1383 services. At a meeting of the district’s Board of Directors on May 23, General Manager Vanessa Stevens said the district has a fiveyear exemption from requirements of SB 1383.

Unincorporated Tehachapi — Last week, the Board of Supervisors considered adding about 471 properties in the unincorporated area around the city of Tehachapi to the existing Eastern Kern County Collection Area. Currently, no Tehachapi area lands are within that collection area.

As Scrivner noted, the board did not expand the collection area.

However, Shreder said Wednesday that “the (county) plan is still to work out some form of SB 1383 compliance in the very near future and involve the local communities in the plan and the costs.”

After details are worked out, the county will schedule another Proposition 218 hearing on the matter, she said. Prop. 218 requires local governmental agencies to give property owners a 45day protest period before voting on certain matters, including rate increases. If 50 percent plus one of the affected property owners formally protest, the increase cannot take place.

LITTLE HOOVER COMMISSION

California’s Little Hoover Commission, an independent state oversight agency, last week approved a draft report calling for the state legislature to consider a “temporary pause” on implementing SB 1383.

According to the draft report, the law set “an ambitious and laudable goal to divert large amounts of organic material out of landfills, reduce dangerous greenhouse gas emissions and improve the state’s air, water, and soil quality, as well as Californians’ health.”

The effort was deemed so important, according to the commission’s report, that it included a $10,000 per day fine for local governments that did not comply and even authorized fines for individuals.

So far, the report notes, the legislature has deferred noncompliance penalties and reset the target from 2020 to 2025 — a new deadline not likely to be met, largely because of the cost and other factors related to developing processing facilities for the organic waste.

In addition to recommending a pause on implementation, the commission recommended the state fund an educational campaign to gain more buy-in from California residents.

According to an article published in the trade publication WasteDive.com, CalRecycle and multiple waste industry representatives pushed back strongly against the idea.

CalRecycle Director Rachel Machi Wagoner said the pause idea was “absolutely detrimental,” WasteDive.com reported, and that “if we were to suggest to the legislature to pause 1383 (it) would send a really, really dire market indicator” to investors in the organics space. Wagoner also noted that an estimated $500 million had been spent on these efforts so far.