California Air Resources Board

Extends the rural jurisdiction exemption until 2037 for organic waste collection under California’s Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery regulations pursuant to SB 1383’s (Lara, Chapter 395, Statutes of 2016) Short-lived Climate Pollutant Strategy and changes how population is calculated for organic waste procurement targets, among several other provisions that reduce the stringency of organic waste regulations.

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Would have eliminated the requirement for CARB to credit dairy methane projects for a minimum of 10 years and prohibited CARB from guaranteeing those credits if they would not otherwise generate credits in the program. The bill also would have required CARB to include new specific emissions when calculating a carbon intensity value for dairy methane projects, limited credit generation to historical herd size, and required public disclosure of specified information in fuel pathway applications from dairy methane projects. Held on suspense in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

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Would have replaced the term “natural gas” with the term “methane” throughout California statute. Was not heard in the Senate Committee on Energy, Utilities, and Communications.

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Would have exempted portions of a county from the state’s organic waste collection requirements if a majority of property owners protest organic waste collection fees under Proposition 218.Failed passage in the Senate Environmental Quality Committee.

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Would have required California’s Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery to consider alternatives to census tracts, as provided, when deciding the boundaries of a low-population or elevation waiver for organic waste jurisdictional targets under the Short-lived Climate Pollutants Strategy organic waste regulations. Held on suspense in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

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Requires the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery to develop a Program Environmental Impact Report (PEIR) for small and medium compost facilities under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) by January 1, 2027, and specifies that the PEIR shall streamline the process with which jurisdictions can develop and site compost facilities.

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Would have required the Office of Planning and Research to develop a technical advisory on best practices to facilitate the siting of compost facilities and would have required cities and counties to consider updating the land use element to identify areas for siting compost facilities. Held on suspense in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

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Would have required California’s Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecyle), in consultation with CARB, to include product labeling requirements that reduce food waste in regulations pursuant to SB 1383’s (Lara, Chapter 395, Statutes of 2016) Short-lived Climate Pollutant Strategy. Held on suspense in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

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Would have defined pyrolysis the thermal decomposition of material at elevated temperatures in the absence or near absence of oxygen and required California’s Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, no later than January 1, 2026, to amend the Short-lived Climate Pollutants Strategy regulations to include, as a recovered organic waste product attributable to a local jurisdiction’s procurement target, pipeline biomethane converted exclusively from organic waste. Ordered to the inactive file on the Senate floor.

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Authorizes local jurisdictions to count additional organic waste products, activities, and investments towards their organic waste procurement targets, including determining a local per capita procurement target using information from a local jurisdiction waste characterization study, as specified. The bill also authorizes a local jurisdiction to satisfy its annual procurement obligations by procuring a quantity of recovered organic waste products that meets or exceeds a 5-year procurement target, as specified.

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