California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle)

November 2009 Board Meeting Summary

Date: December 1, 2009

To: All Local Enforcement Agencies

Board Meeting: November 17, 2009
Permitting and Compliance (P&C) Committee Meeting: November 9, 2009
Strategic Policy Committee Meeting: November 10, 2009

November Meeting Action Summary

Agenda items are listed by agenda number below:

Actions Taken by the California Integrated Waste Management Board in November 2009 of Interest to Local Enforcement Agencies
Agenda Item Number Agenda Item Board Action Notes
1 Revised Full Solid Waste Facilities Permit (Disposal Site/Compostable Materials Handling Facility) For Main Base Sanitary Landfill Edwards Air Force Base (Com. Item B) Concurred (Consent) Located in Kern County
2 Revised Full Solid Waste Facilities Permit (Disposal Facility) For The Lamb Canyon Sanitary Landfill Concurred (Consent) Located in Riverside County
3 Revised Full Solid Waste Facilities Permit (Transfer Station/Processing Facility) For The Fremont Recycling And Transfer Station Concurred (Consent) Located in Alameda County
4 Request To Change The Base Year To 2006 For The Previously Approved Source Reduction And Recycling Element And Approval Of Biomass Diversion Claim, For The City Of Ridgecrest, Kern County Concurred (Consent) City of Ridgecrest is currently on a compliance order. In accordance with its Local Assistance Plan, the city completed a 2006 new base year study. The study claimed a 60 percent diversion rate. The objective of a new base year study is to estimate amount of materials generated and diverted within the boundaries of a jurisdiction in a given year. Tonnage has to be representative of residential and commercial generators and supported by documentation. Following review and verification, staff found that the City's total waste generation was less than submitted. Staff recommends approval of the 2006 base year, with a diversion rate of 35 percent.
5 Consideration Of Grant Awards For The Solid Waste Disposal And Co-disposal Site Cleanup Program (Solid Waste Disposal Trust Fund, FY 2009/10) Approved
(Committee Consensus)		 Three Board-managed projects to accelerate the timely cleanup of dump sites that pose a risk to public health or the environment where a responsible party cannot be identified or is unable or unwilling to pay cleanup costs.
  • Madera County--A $400,000 Board-managed cleanup of a 241-acre site along Highway 49 to remove abandoned solid waste disposal sites, water wells, and building foundations from when the property was used by a tuberculosis recovery center (from 1919-1969) and a boys school (from 1972-1986).
  • Contra Costa County--A $300,000 Board-managed cleanup to remove 12 abandoned commercial vessels and three water hazard sites in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. This cleanup program would augment an ongoing program of the Contra Costa County's Sheriff Marine Services Unit, which has received approximately $1 million in matching grants from the Department of Boating and Waterways to remove approximately 300 abandoned recreational vessels from the Delta.
  • Contra Costa County--A $200,000 Board-managed cleanup of a former dump site on Turtle Rock Ranch, which was acquired by the Dept. of Parks and Recreation in 1999 for an expansion of Mount Diablo State Park. There are long-term plans to develop trails on the site and allow public access to the area for hiking and other uses.
6 Consideration Of New Projects For The Solid Waste Disposal And Codisposal Site Cleanup Program (Solid Waste Disposal Trust Fund, FY 2009/10) - (Committee Item G)

Approved

(Committee Consensus) 		 The Board approved four grants totaling approximately $2,127,000.
  • El Dorado County--A $750,000 grant to bring the Meyers Landfill in South Lake Tahoe into compliance. The landfill has been closed since 1973, a new cap system will be installed to replace the original soil cap, and a French drain system and a passive landfill gas emission control system will also be installed.
  • City of Inglewood--A $400,000 grant for new methods of security at eight locations with chronic illegal dumping. Methods include increased surveillance and code enforcement at these sites, and outreach campaign to educate the public about proper methods of solid waste disposal.
  • City of South Gate--A $500,000 grant to implement a proactive program to address the problem of illegally dumped trash and focus on top 45 chronic illegal dumping sites. The grant activities include public education and a model illegal dumping enforcement program.
  • City of San Diego--A $477,000 grant to bring the former Organic Recycling West site at the city-owned Brown Field Airport into compliance. The 25-acre facility has faced a number of permit violations since the original operator was evicted in 2005 and then declared bankruptcy in 2007. The city has cleaned up 60,000 cubic yards of partially recycled green and wood waste, but ran out of funds.
7 Presentation By The Sunshine Canyon Landfill Local Enforcement Agency Of The Self Assessment Review To Meet Requirements Of The Temporary Local Enforcement Agency Designation And Certification Information The Board heard the required self assessment review by the Sunshine Canyon Landfill (SCL) Local Enforcement Agency to meet the requirements of the temporary LEA designation and certification. One of the concerns of the Board was the annual rotation schedule for the LEA Program Manager described in Enforcement Program Plan (EPP). The Sunshine Canyon LEA Program Manager, Wayne Tsuda reported to the Board that the LEA was performing effectively and outlined next step; including Cindy Chen taking over as the SCL LEA Manager and the LEA providing more opportunities for the community to express their concerns and obtain answers to questions regarding the operation of the Sunshine Canyon Landfill.
10 Requirement For Approved Covered Electronic Waste Collectors And Recyclers To Submit Net Cost Reports For Calendar Year 2009 Approved (Consent) The Board approved continuation of Net Cost Reports to document costs of collecting and discarding covered electronic wastes operations during 2009 to assist the Board in determining the recovery and recycling payment rates. These reports would be due on or before March 1, 2010.
This information will then be available for consideration relative to adjustment of recovery and recycling payment rates on July 1, 2010, as currently allowed by statute.
11 Elimination Of The Policy Requiring The Geographic Distribution Of Grant Funds Approved (Consent) The Board approved the elimination of the geographic distribution requirement for funding 12 competitive grant programs. The current policy requiring the geographic distribution of grant funds is only used by the Tire-Derived Product Grant Program, others received exemptions. In November 2001, the Board adopted a policy for competitive grant programs of awarding grants to the highest ranking proposals based on the geographic distribution of the State’s population. The reasoning was based on two factors: (1) a larger percentage of the state’s population reside in the southern region; and (2) public and private entities from the south pay a greater portion of the fees into the Board’s Integrated Waste Management Account. Currently, 61% of awarded grants funds are made available to applicants located in southern California and 39% to those located in northern California. The policy could have resulted in worthy and more viable projects from the northern region of the State not being funded.
13 Additional Comment Period for Revisions To The Proposed (Phase II) Regulations On Long-Term Postclosure Maintenance, Corrective Action And Financial Assurances Approved The Board approved an additional 15–day comment period for the proposed Phase II regs which is from November 10 through November 25, 2009. The proposed schedule for adoption and OAL submittal is as follows:
  • Dec 2009–Board adoption
  • Jan 2010–Prepare Formal Response to Comments and Final Statement of Reasons
  • Feb 2010–Legal Review
  • Feb 27, 2010–Deadline to submit to OAL
14 Discussion Of Annual Targets And Key Activities For The CIWMB`s Strategic Directives Discussion The Board reaffirmed the current Strategic Directive priorities. One of the major goals for the coming year is to maintain the transparency the Board is known for in making program direction changes and setting priorities. Additionally, in December, the Board will be establishing the regulatory calendar for 2010.

November Meeting Quick Notes

  • Congratulations: Mark Leary congratulated Mark de Bie for the national recognition he received from the Association of State and Territorial Solid Waste Management Officials (ASTSWMO) for distinguished leadership as the Region 9 Board Representative. Mark de Bie is now the Chair of the Solid Waste Subcommittee for this national association of regulatory leaders. Additionally, Bonnie Cornwall received national recognition for her contributions on the ASTSWMO's Training and Technology Transfer Task Force.
  • Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery: The California Integrated Waste Management Board is set to be eliminated on January 1, 2010. Senate Bill 63 (Strickland), signed by the Governor on July 28, eliminates the Board and conveys nearly all of its existing statutory authorities and resources to a new Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, which is created in the Natural Resources Agency. The State’s recycling programs will be consolidated by moving the Division of Recycling, which administers the bottle and can program, from the Department of Conservation to the new recycling department as well. The bill transfers the Board’s Office of Education and Environment to the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA). The Governor will appoint a Director of Resources Recycling and Recovery to administer the new department. Planning for the merger has begun and news about our progress in combining these programs will be posted to the Board’s website.
  • New Event Calendar: CIWMB information technology resources are completely dedicated to meeting basic technological needs for the new department: establishing the web site and domain, and extracting the Department from Cal EPA's web pages and creating a new web presence in the Resources Agency. The Department will have a revised Event Calendar. This website will provide information on all decisions, regulatory activities, reports, grants, contracts, workshops and future program direction discussions within a jurisdiction. The new Event Calendar will provide a one-stop shop for information on what the Department is doing and it will afford direct links to web pages that contain more subject matter or options to provide input. Our plan is to have this new system up before the end of this year.

Upcoming Events

See the LEA Training Calendar and Board Events Calendar

CIWMB has been approved by the Department of Public Health as an accreditation agency for REHS continuing education units (CEU) for appropriate CIWMB and other-sponsored training.

This all LEA email summarizing Board actions at this month's Board Meeting was sent on behalf of the LEA Outreach Training Support Branch of the California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB), and Ted Rauh, Director, Waste Compliance and Mitigation Program.

 

Date Released: December 1, 2009
LEA Correspondence, http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/LEA/Mail/
Melissa Hoover-Hartwick: Melissa.Hoover-Hartwick@calrecycle.ca.gov (916) 341-6813