Title
Environmental Management Department recommending the Board consider the following:
1) Approve the El Dorado County Countywide Integrated Waste Management Plan 2020 Five-Year Review Report; and
2) Authorize the Environmental Management Department Director to sign and forward the 2020 Five-Year Report to the State of California, Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery.
FUNDING: Non-General Fund / County Service Area No.10 Solid Waste funds and Franchise Tipping Fees.
Body
DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
The California Integrated Waste Management Act (AB 939), passed in 1989, required all California jurisdictions to reduce the amount of solid waste sent to landfill by fifty percent (50%) by the year 2000 through source reduction, recycling, and composting activities. To meet this goal, jurisdictions were required to develop a Countywide Integrated Waste Management Plan (CIWMP) that included a Source Reduction and Recycling Element (SRRE), Household Hazardous Waste Element (HHWE), Non-Disposal Facilities Element (NDFE), and a countywide Siting Element. The County submitted the aforementioned documents to the Integrated Waste Management Board, now known as the State of California, Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) in the early 1990s, which were later incorporated by reference into the County’s Summary Plan in 1995.
CalRecycle requires each jurisdiction to submit annual reports detailing progress on diversion efforts through existing and new programs. CalRecycle considers these annual reports updates to the CIWMP; however, Public Resources Code sections 41770 and 41822, and the California Code of Regulations section 18788 require that the CIWMP be reviewed, and revised if necessary, every five (5) years. CalRecycle provides a Five-Year Review Report Template (Template) for use by jurisdictions. The purpose of the Template is to document compliance with CalRecycle’s regulatory review and reporting requirements, including review and comment by the local solid waste task force. The County’s current Five-Year Review Report is due to CalRecycle in November 2020.
The Environmental Management Department (Environmental Management) completed the five-year review of the CIWMP and provided the draft report and supporting documentation to the local solid waste task force, the El Dorado County Solid Waste Advisory Committee (EDSWAC), for review and comment on March 9, 2020. The Report was discussed and approved by EDSWAC at the September 14, 2020, EDSWAC meeting. EDSWAC provided a letter to Environmental Management detailing approval of the Report (Attachment A) signed by the Chair of EDSWAC on September 25, 2020. EDSWAC is not recommending any revisions to the CIWMP at this time. The programs implemented throughout the County have proven effective to meet the current state-mandated 50% landfill diversion requirement under AB 939.
The CIWMP is a regulatory requirement that is separate and distinct from the County’s Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP) that was approved by the Board in January 2012. The SWMP contains an Action Plan that details priority strategies that Environmental Management is currently in the process of implementing. The Action Plan strategies were designed to assist the County in achieving its goal of seventy-five percent (75%) diversion by the year 2020. Unfortunately, the County, as well as most if not all jurisdictions throughout the state, has not me this goal.
Environmental Management and EDSWAC believe that the SWMP provides more effective direction to guide the County to meet the 75% diversion goal. Environmental Management will be providing a SWMP implementation update to the Board in the coming months.
ALTERNATIVES
The Board may choose not to approve the CIWMP 2020 Five-Year Review Report. This would result in the County not maintaining compliance with CalRecycle.
PRIOR BOARD ACTION
The Board previously approved the CIWMP 2015 Five-Year Review Report on November 10, 2015 (Item No. 21, File No. 15-1147).
OTHER DEPARTMENT / AGENCY INVOLVEMENT
N/A
CAO RECOMMENDATION / COMMENTS
Approve as recommended.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
N/A
CLERK OF THE BOARD FOLLOW UP ACTIONS
N/A
STRATEGIC PLAN COMPONENT
Good Governance
CONTACT
Greg Stanton, REHS, Director
Environmental Management Department