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Date: January 21, 2005
To: All Local Enforcement Agencies
This all LEA e-mail was sent
on behalf of the LEA Support Services Branch of the California Integrated Waste
Management Board (CIWMB) and Howard Levenson, Deputy Director Permitting and
Enforcement Division.
Board Meeting: January 18, 2005
Permitting and Enforcement (P&E) Committee Meeting: January 10, 2005
Summary of the Board and P&E Committee Meetings on items of possible interest
to LEAs:
- The CIWMB budget of $149,539,000 for 2005/2006 was approved by the
Legislature without any changes. Additionally, the Board has a new
webpage to address many of the questions on the Governor’s proposed
reorganization at http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/Reorg/.
- An update on the ground breaking Electronic Waste Recycling Act was
provided at the Board meeting. Beginning January 1, 2005, retailers must
collect an electronic waste recycling fee of $6, $8, or $10 per unit,
depending on the viewable screen size of the cathode ray tube (CRT) or
liquid crystal display (LCD) screen. The fee will be used to make
payments to approved qualified recyclers ($0.48 per pound) who then pay
approved collectors ($ 0.20 per pound) to cover the cost of electronic
waste collection. This program is being implemented by Department of
Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) which determines which devices are
hazardous and the covered electronic devices and conducts inspection of
recyclers for compliance; CIWMB which approves applicants for covered
electronic waste collectors and recyclers and authorizes payments to
recyclers; and the Board of Equalization (BOE) which registers retailers
for the program and collects the fees from retailers. As of the date of
the Board meeting, there have been 11 recyclers and 79 collectors
approved and 1,942 retailers have registered with BOE.
- The extreme weather resulted in the Governor declaring a State of
Emergency in several southern California counties, including Ventura
County. Waste had to be diverted from the Ventura Co. Toland Road
landfill to other landfills in the area due to the heavy rains. The
Ventura County Local Enforcement Agency (LEA) granted an emergency
waiver to the Simi Valley Landfill and Recycling Center allowing the
site to exceed permitted peak tonnage limits for six days in order to
handle waste that had to be diverted. The emergency waiver was
consistent with State standards.
- Heavy rains caused a surface break at the Mariposa landfill
resulting in the movement of waste and leachate into the Agua Fria
Creek. Most of the waste that moved off-site has been collected, and
additional leachate pumping has been initiated. No public drinking water
was immediately threatened but testing is being done. Officials do not
yet have an estimate of how much garbage flowed out of the landfill but
the investigation is continuing. The CIWMB has been working with the
LEA, Regional Water Board, and operator to assess the extent of drainage
and needed remediation efforts. The landfill will be incorporating
additional cover and erosion control measures.
- The Board concurred in three revised full solid waste facility
permits (SWFP). All three permits were on the consent agenda.
- The Permitting and Enforcement (P&E) Committee, held a public
hearing for the proposed regulations for long-term gas violations at
permitted landfills. The 45-day public comment period closed on
Wednesday, December 22, 2005. This rule making places the existing
long-term gas violation policy which has allowed facility operators to
revise their permits while correcting a long term gas violation into
regulation. It is anticipated that these regulations will have another
15 day comment period.
- The Board concurred with the revised scoring criteria and evaluation
process for the household hazardous waste (HHW) grant program. The HHW
grants are competitive grants designed to support local governmental
agencies’ efforts to reduce the amount of HHW disposed of at solid waste
landfills. There is $4,500,000 in available funds for this program
during FY 2005/2006. Priority points are given to small cities, rural
jurisdictions and multi-jurisdictional applicants. As a pilot for all
CIWMB grant programs, the program had proposed to evaluate the extent to
which each applicant was implementing environmentally preferable
practices and procurement such as recycled content product purchases as
an eligibility factor rather than a scoring criteria. However, the Board
determined that local governments would need more time to adjust to such
a change and that such a change could be implemented in the future after
workshops and further discussion.
- The Board heard an overview and discussion of the contractor report,
“The Second Assessment of California’s Compost- and Mulch-Producing
Infrastructure”, published in May 2004 (Publication #442-04-007). The
first assessment was done in 2001. The second assessment includes
information on the number of operating compost and mulch producers,
quantities and types of feedstock, and product quantities by type and
region, and new challenges such as possible effects of tougher emissions
regulations (such as PR 1133), Sudden Oak Death Syndrome (SODS), and the
possibility of persistent herbicides remaining in compost products. At
the Board meeting, some of the discussion focused on the reported
increase in Alternative Daily Cover (ADC) use at 8.4 million cubic
yards, representing 47% of the total product market in California and
the decrease in statewide compost production, from 4.2 million cubic
yards in 2001 to 3.0 million cubic yards in 2003. The Board directed
staff to pursue some of the recommendations in the report and have
future discussions, either at a committee meeting and/or workshop.
- The Board heard a discussion of the draft conversion technology (CT)
report to Legislature. Assembly Bill 2770 (Matthews, Chapter 740,
Statutes of 2001) required the Board to research, evaluate and submit a
report to the Legislature on new and emerging non-combustion thermal,
chemical, and biological technologies. At the January Sustainability and
Market Development Committee and at the Board meeting, comments were
received, including revising the definitions for gasification and
“conversion technology”, a lack of data on environmental and public
health impacts, inclusion of environmental justice and inclusion of a
discussion on diversion credit for conversion technologies. The Board
may choose to adopt all or some of the recommendations in the CT report
and/or the CT report could serve as the basis for future Board action
regarding market development and other activities. Comments and
questions on the CT report should be submitted to Fernando Berton by
February 15 and a workshop is tentatively scheduled for February 28 in
Sacramento.
The next Board meeting will be on January 18-19, 2005 in Sacramento. The
P&E Committee will meet on Monday, January 10, 2005 at 10 a.m.
The P&E Committee and Board meetings are being audio broadcast and are
available from almost any personal computer with Internet access. Go to
www.calrecycle.ca.gov/Broadcast/ or select
"Broadcasts" in the upper right corner of the electronic meeting agenda.
January 18, 2005 Board Meeting: Permitting
and Enforcement and Other Agenda Items
All agenda items may be accessed at: http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/Archive/IWMBMtgDocs/
1. Pulled. Consideration of a Revised Full Solid Waste Facilities
Permit (Transfer Processing Station) for the Western El Dorado Recovery
Systems Facility, El Dorado County (Committee Item B)
2. Consent. Consideration of a Revised Full Solid Waste Facilities Permit
(Disposal Facility) for the John Smith Road Landfill, San Benito County
(Committee Item C)
3. Consent. Consideration of a Revised Full Solid Waste Facilities Permit
(Transfer/Processing Station) for the Mission Road Recycling And Transfer
Station, City Of Los Angeles (Committee Item D)
4. Consent. Consideration of a Revised Solid Waste Facilities Permit
(Disposal Facility) for the Tehachapi Sanitary Landfill, Kern County
(Committee Item E)
5. Committee Only. Public Hearing on Proposed Regulation For Long-Term
Gas Violations at Permitted Facilities (Committee Item F)
6. Concurred. Consideration of the Scoring Criteria and Evaluation
Process for the Household Hazardous Waste Grant Program (14th Cycle) For FY
2005/2006 (Committee Item B)
10. Discussion Only. Discussion of California's Compost and Mulch
Producing Infrastructure (Committee Item C)
11. Discussion Only. Discussion of the Draft Conversion Technology Report
to the Legislature (Committee Item D)
This email is not an official transcript of the Board's actions and should
be used for informational purposes only.
Thank you,
Melissa Hoover-Hartwick
LEA Support Services
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