BILL NUMBER: AB 34INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Williams DECEMBER 6, 2010 An act to amend Section 42231 of the Public Resources Code, relating to solid waste. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 34, as introduced, Williams. Solid waste: compost market program. Existing law, the California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, establishes a compost market program to increase the use of compost products, including requiring the Department of General Services and Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery to maintain specifications for the purchase of compost by the state and requiring the Department of Transportation to use compost in place of, or to supplement, petroleum-based commercial fertilizers in the state's highway landscape maintenance program. The term compost is defined, for purposes of this program, as the product resulting from the controlled biological decomposition of organic wastes that are source separated from the municipal solid waste stream. This bill would specify that these organic wastes include, but are not limited to, vegetable, yard, and wood wastes that are not hazardous waste. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION. 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) The Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery estimates that 32 percent of the solid waste sent to landfills every year is compostable organic material. (b) The department is committed to reducing, by the year 2020, the amount of organic material in the solid waste stream to 50 percent of the amount that is currently sent to landfills. (c) In order to meet that goal, the department has identified the need for diverting waste from landfills at a rate of 15 to 18 million tons per year and increasing compost production and markets. (d) According to the department, to achieve a reduction in the organic waste stream of 50 percent by 2020, the state would need to increase the capacity to process organic waste materials by as many as 96 new facilities, resulting in the creation of hundreds of green jobs. (e) Diverting organic materials from landfills results in substantial environmental benefits, including the reduction of methane and other volatile organic compounds. (f) Further, compost, as an end product, can provide significant agricultural benefits, such as erosion control and water conservation. (g) Recognizing these benefits, the state should work to increase the diversion of organic materials from landfills by increasing processing capacity and end-use markets. SEC. 2. Section 42231 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read: 42231. "Compost" means the product resulting from the controlled biological decomposition of organic wastes , including, but not limited to, vegetable, yard, and wood wastes that are not hazardous waste, and that aresourcessource separated from the municipal solid waste stream.