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Date: March 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: March 15, 2005
Permitting and Enforcement (P&E) Committee Meeting: March 7, 2005
Summary of the Board and P&E Committee Meetings on items of possible interest
to LEAs:
- The Executive Director reported on four emergency waivers issued by
LEAs due to the tremendous amounts of rain received in Southern
California. The Riverside County LEA issued three waivers for landfills
to exceed tonnages for the disposal of dairy cattle that died in the
storms. San Diego County LEA issued a waiver for a landfill to extend
hours to facilitate repairs for damage caused during the recent
downpours.
- The Board and staff paid tribute to ex-member Mike Paparian for his
leadership and contributions towards attaining a zero waste sustainable
system in California, establishing an electronic waste management
infrastructure, and promoting other waste management systems that reduce
environmental impacts and add long-term environmental and economic
benefits for all Californians.
- The Chair clarified that the two vacancies on the Board do not
affect the number of votes needed for approval of issues. Four votes are
still necessary for approval. As specified in PRC 44009, proposed solid
waste facility permits will still need four votes for concurrence, and
if the item receives only three affirmative votes, it shall be
considered the same as having no action taken by the Board. It will
still take four votes to object to the issuance of a permit.
- The Board concurred in six full solid waste facility permits; four
revised permits and two new permits.
- The Sustainability and Market Committee heard a discussion of the
results of the Electronic Survey on Barriers to C&D reuse and recycling
in California. In October 2004, the survey was e-mailed to 2,433
individuals. Although the overall response rate was low, within three
primary respondent groups of LEA's, private solid waste industry, and
public non-regulatory agencies, the response rate was 15%. Based on the
survey responses, information about the status of C&D material
processing activities, and information about local jurisdiction
ordinances and other programs, staff made the following findings: 1)
cheaper alternatives to diversion may hinder recycling/processing; 2)
there is a lack of ordinances or insufficient ordinance implementation
to support C&D material diversion; 3) there is a lack of local economic
incentives that support deconstruction and C&D recycling; 4) the C&D
processing regulations may be too burdensome and being identified as a
"solid waste handler" vs. a "recycler" creates a negative public image;
5) there is a lack of facilities to handle hard-to-process C&D
materials; 6) C&D markets are lacking. Other findings include support
for a statewide C&D disposal ban, a mandate to use recycled road base,
placing restrictions on demolition and obtaining sufficient data on C&D
reuse and recycling by local and State agencies.
- The Board adopted the amended Conversion Technology (CT) Report to
Legislature. The report will be forwarded through Cal/EPA and the
Governor’s Office to the 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. The
Conversion Technology Report to the Legislature recommends the
following: 1) modification of definitions; 2) additional collection of
data; 3) conducting research on materials flow; 4) establishment of an
interagency working group to address cross-media issues; 5)
recommendation for Legislature to consider some amount of diversion
credit for conversion technology.
- The Board approved time extensions for three illegal disposal site
cleanup grants issued to Merced County, Orange County, and the City of
Vallejo under the Solid Waste Disposal and Codisposal Site Cleanup (AB
2136) Program. In accordance with Board policy implemented by the Grants
Administrative Unit, the grant terms are normally up to three fiscal
years including the year of award. Extensions are considered for
approval by the Board on a case-by-case basis. The requested time
extensions were needed to address unexpected delays in project
completions.
- The P&E Committee heard a presentation and discussion of the highly
praised Closed, Illegal, and Abandoned (CIA) Site Program and the site
case history of the Bisso Brothers in Sonoma County. The CIA program has
approximately 2,600 sites in the “closed or closing” site inventory. The
CIA program not only conducts and oversees site-specific investigations,
remediation and enforcement, but also provides LEAs with assistance,
guidance and training and maintains the CIA site database. The Bisso
site has been a very difficult but successful clean-up project on which
the LEA persevered and worked with the Board to advance the remediation.
The ranch was an illegal dump site from 1980s – 2001. The owner
continued to illegally dispose of waste until 2001 in violation of a
Court Order to cease and desist for which the owner served jail sentence
for contempt of court. The site even caught fire in 1995 and the Fire
Dept. was initially denied access. The remediation involved the removal
150 vehicles, 6800 tires, 4000 cubic yards of garbage, 900 tons of
metal, 1750 gallons of gas/diesel fuel, and 9800 gallons of waste oil.
Additionally, 20 structures were demolished and removed, 4060 cubic
yards of concrete were processed for reuse, 2000 cubic yards of wood
were chipped for reuse, and 10,000 cubic yards of soil were screened for
reuse. Thanks to the diligence of the LEA, the site will be turned over
to the Dept of Fish & Game for wetland restoration & wildlife habitat.
- The P&E Committee heard an update on the current status of the 33
Local Enforcement Agency (LEA) evaluations completed in the current
(third) cycle through December 31, 2004. The statutory LEA evaluation
mandate (PRC 43214(b)) requires the Board to evaluate LEAs at least once
every three years. Currently, 55 Board-certified LEAs perform solid
waste permitting, inspection, and enforcement duties throughout the
state. The Board acts as the enforcement agency (EA) in six
jurisdictions: the City of Berkeley, the City of Stockton, the City of
Paso Robles, the County of Santa Cruz, the County of San Luis Obispo,
and the County of Stanislaus. Of the 33 completed LEA evaluations: 21
LEAs were found to be fulfilling their duties and responsibilities; 5
LEAs were found to be fulfilling most of their duties and
responsibilities; 7 LEAs were found to be not fulfilling all their
duties and responsibilities and required a workplan in order to address
their evaluation findings. Additionally, 11 more evaluations are
currently at various stages of progress (including the Board as EA) and
12 LEA evaluations remain to be scheduled over the course of this third,
3-year cycle. The Board noted that the evaluation findings show that
much progress has been achieved.
- The P&E Committee directed staff to initiate an additional 15 day
comment period for the proposed regulations for long-term gas violations
at permitted landfills. This rulemaking 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. Additionally, the P&E Committee recommended that informal
workshops be held to decide whether to initiate another rulemaking to
amend the existing state minimum standards for gas monitoring and
control at active and closed sites, as recommended in the 2004 “Landfill
Compliance Study.”
The next Board meeting will be on April 19 -20, 2005 in Sacramento. The
P&E Committee will meet on Monday April 11, 2005 at 10 AM.
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.
March 15, 2005 Board Meeting: Permitting
and Enforcement and Other Agenda Items
All agenda items may be accessed at: http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/Archive/IWMBMtgDocs/
5. Discussion. Sustainability and Market Committee Only. Disussion of
Survey Regarding Barriers to Construction and Demolition Debris Reuse and
Recycling
22. Discussion and Direction to Forward Report to Legislature. Discussion
and Consideration of Conversion Technology Report to the Legislature
23. Approved. Consideration of Grant Agreement Time Extensions for the
Solid Waste Disposal and Codisposal Site Cleanup Program for Merced County,
Orange County, and City Of Vallejo
24. Consent. Consideration of a Revised Full Solid Waste Facilities
Permit (Disposal Facility and Compostable Materials Handling Facility) for
the Shafter-Wasco Sanitary Landfill, Kern County
25. Consent. Consideration of a New Full Solid Waste Facilities Permit (Compostable
Materials Handling Facility) for the Engel & Gray Regional Composting
Facility, Santa Barbara County
26. Consent. Consideration of a Revised Full Solid Waste Facilities
Permit (Disposal Facility) for the City Of Lompoc-Sanitary Landfill, Santa
Barbara County
27. Consent. Consideration of a Revised Full Solid Waste Facilities
Permit (Transfer/Processing Station) for the Elder Creek Transfer Station,
Sacramento County
28. Concurred. Consideration of a Revised Full Solid Waste Facilities
Permit (Disposal Facility) for the Crazy Horse Sanitary Landfill, Monterey
County
29. Consent. Consideration of a New Full Solid Waste Facilities Permit
(Transfer/Processing Station) for the California Waste Solutions Material
Recovery Facility, Santa Clara County
30. Discussion. Committee Only. Presentation and Discussion of the
Closed, Illegal, and Abandoned Site Program and Bisso Brothers Site Case
History (Sonoma County)
31. Discussion. Committee Only. Discussion of Local Enforcement Agency
Evaluations Through December 31, 2004
32. Direction Given for Additional 15-Day Comment Period. Committee Only.
Discussion and Request for Rulemaking Direction to Notice Revisions to the
Proposed Regulations for Long-Term Gas Violation for an Additional 15-Day
Comment Period and Request for Direction on Whether to Initiate Separate
Rulemaking to Include Additional Amendments to the Existing State Minimum
Standards for Gas Monitoring and Control at Active Sites
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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