CIWMB Press Room Archives

Waste Board Chair Plans Ambitious Policy Agenda

SACRAMENTO--California Integrated Waste Management Board Chair Linda Moulton-Patterson, Governor Davis' first appointee to the Board in August 1999, is planning an ambitious agenda over the coming months to focus on a number of significant policy issues. Policy items will be considered during the Board's regular monthly meetings as well as in a series of special public workshops.

"It's essential that the Board be clear in its policy guidance," said Moulton-Patterson. "Our staff and local officials are looking to us for direction on a number of important issues."

A workshop on diversion measurement accuracy is scheduled for the morning of September 7 in Sacramento. The purpose of the workshop is to inform Board members on the methodology and principles that support diversion measurement. These are the tools local jurisdictions use to document their success in diverting waste from landfills under state law.

The workshop will examine all elements of the calculation methodology, including the disposal reporting system, adjustment methodology, new diversion studies, specific waste streams, and related issues. Adoption of the Board's "diversion study guide," which incorporates the methodology, is planned for the Board's September 19-20 meeting.

Other workshops tentatively planned include one in November to discuss guidelines for the use/reuse of waste tires and another in the spring of 2001 on biomass conversion technology.

The purpose of the waste tire workshop is to solicit stakeholder input on crafting guidelines to distinguish between productive scrap tire use not subject to regulation and those activities that do require regulation. Current statute requires the regulation of waste tires in nearly all circumstances unless exempted in a few narrowly defined scenarios. Strict interpretation of the law would require a storage permit or a formal letter of exemption from the Board for such productive uses as nursery planters, raceway bumpers, retaining walls, and engineering applications like Caltrans' lightweight fill project on Interstate 880 in Santa Clara County.

The biomass conversion technology workshop will look at current and emerging technologies for converting low-valued paper and plastics, noncompostable biomass, and agricultural materials that can no longer be burned in the fields. The objectives of this workshop are to:

1. Evaluate the potential for biomass conversion technologies in California.
2. Evaluate how these technologies fit in with the state's waste diversion goals.
3. Evaluate funding for conversion technologies.
4. Investigate the permitting process.
5. Discuss legislative/policy issues.

A number of significant policy discussion/action items are currently planned for the Board's meeting agenda over the coming months. The items and tentative schedule are listed below.

August 2000	Waste Paint (discussion)
September 2000	Conformance Findings RMDZ Loan Program Criteria Oil Grants Policy KPGM Contract/Knowledge Management
October 2000	Universal Waste Waste Tire Monofill Regulations Waste Paint (recommendations)
November 2000	Permitting Policies and Procedures SB 876 Implementation
December 2000	Strategic Plan Adoption

Ms. Moulton-Patterson has also instituted a new briefing process for the Board's monthly meeting agenda. The publicly noticed briefings will take place on the Wednesday preceding the regular monthly meeting. These briefing sessions will be open to the public who will be afforded the opportunity to ask questions at the end of the meeting. Meeting agendas and briefing notices are posted on the Board's Web site at www.calrecycle.ca.gov/Agendas/ 10 days prior to the scheduled meetings.

Moulton-Patterson, whose term as chair began June 1, 2000, is the first woman elected to lead the Integrated Waste Management Board since it was created in 1989 and the first since the California legislature created the original Waste Board in 1972.

The California Integrated Waste Management Board is the state's leading authority on recycling and waste reduction. It promotes reducing waste whenever possible, managing all materials to their highest and best use, and protecting public health and safety and the environment.

The California Integrated Waste Management Board is one of six boards, departments, and offices within the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA).

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