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OLR Bill Analysis
sSB 930
AN ACT CONCERNING FOOD WASTE DIVERSION AND
ANAEROBIC DIGESTION FACILITIES.
SUMMARY
This bill does the following with respect to organic material
composting and food waste:
1. broadens the scope of the law requiring certain organic material
generators to separate the materials from other solid waste and
recycle them at composting facilities (§ 1);
2. requires the Department of Energy and Environmental
Protection (DEEP) commissioner, by January 1, 2022, to (a)
establish a voluntary pilot program for municipalities seeking to
separate source-separated organic materials and (b) ensure that
the materials are recycled at authorized composting facilities
with capacity and that will accept them (see BACKGROUND) (§
1);
3. requires the DEEP commissioner to (a) participate in a reach out
and education effort to municipalities, commercial entities, and
school systems about using certain composting facilities and (b)
report to the Environment Committee on its efforts (§ 2);
4. reauthorizes the DEEP commissioner to adopt regulations on
specifications for compost from source-separated organic
materials and mixed municipal solid waste (PA 17-218 repealed
a similar provision) (§ 3); and
5. exempts, under certain circumstances, permitted solid waste
facilities from needing to modify their permit in order to start
receiving or storing a certain amount of containerized food
scrap, food processing residuals, and soiled or unrecycled paper 2021SB-00930-R000557-BA.DOCX
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(§ 4).
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2021, except the provisions on
DEEP’s reach out and education efforts and compost regulations are
effective upon passage.
§ 1 — SOURCE-SEPARATED ORGANIC MA TERIALS
The bill broadens the scope of the law requiring certain organic
materials generators to separate the materials and recycle them at
composting facilities by applying the law’s requirements to smaller
generators.
Under current law, commercial food wholesalers or distributors,
industrial food manufacturers or processors, supermarkets, resorts, or
conference centers generating an annual average projected volume of
at least 52 tons of source-separated organic materials must (1) separate
the materials from other solid waste and (2) recycle them at a
permitted source-separated organic material composting facility
located within 20 miles of the generation site that has available
capacity and is willing to accept them.
Beginning January 1, 2022, the bill applies these requirements to
generators (1) generating an annual average projected volume of at
least 26 tons of source-separated organic materials a year and (2)
located within 20 miles of an authorized source-separated organic
material composting facility. Consequently, the bill likely increases the
number of facilities that must comply with this requirement.
By law, generators may comply with the requirements by
composting the organic materials or treating it with certain organic
treatment equipment on-site.
§ 2 — DEEP REACH OUT AND E DUCATION CAMPAIGN
The bill requires the DEEP commissioner to participate in a reach
out and education campaign on using certain composting facilities to
divert food waste from the waste stream.
Under the bill, the commissioner must engage with municipalities 2021SB-00930-R000557-BA.DOCX
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about (1) their ability to establish an aerated static pile composting
facility to divert food waste from the municipal solid waste stream,
including the permit application and procedures involved, and (2) the
potential fiscal and environmental benefits of the composting facility.
Aerated static pile composting generally involves organic waste mixed
in a large pile with layers of certain loosely piled materials such as
wood chips or shredded newspaper to allow air to pass through the
pile.
The bill requires the commissioner to also engage with commercial
entities and school systems about how they can divert source-
separated organic materials to authorized composting facilities
specifically designed to accept them.
The bill also requires the DEEP commissioner, by February 1, 2022,
to report to the Environment Committee on its efforts, including (1)
responses from municipalities, entities, and school systems and (2)
municipalities’ efforts to establish composting facilities resulting from
DEEP’s reaching out.
§ 3 — COMPOST REGULATIONS
The bill allows the DEEP commissioner to adopt regulations
providing specifications for the production, quality, and use of
compost made from source-separated organic materials and mixed
municipal solid waste. These regulations must be made in consultation
with the agriculture commissioner, Connecticut Agricultural
Experiment Station, UConn extension service, and the Department of
Public Health.
Under the bill, these regulations must have provisions that do the
following:
1. promote composting processes;
2. provide clean, high-quality, nontoxic, and marketable end-
product;
3. protect land and water resources from contaminants; 2021SB-00930-R000557-BA.DOCX
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4. prevent adverse environmental and public health effects from
composting operations or applying its product;
5. set maximum allowable levels of toxic and other contaminants
in the composting product;
6. include contaminant testing criteria;
7. have at least two classes of compost, with a (a) Class I made
from only compostable source-separated organic materials such
as food waste, grass clippings, and yard waste and (b) Class II
made from mixed municipal solid waste with compostable
organic materials that were not separated at generation;
8. set maximum allowable contaminant levels for Class I compost
that will allow for its unrestricted use; and
9. ban using Class II compost for agricultural or horticultural
purposes unless it meets the maximum allowable contaminant
levels for Class I compost, as determined by the regulations’
testing criteria.
§ 4 — SOLID WASTE FACILITY PERMITS
Current law generally prohibits anyone with a solid waste facility
permit from altering the facility’s design or operation without
obtaining a permit modification from DEEP.
The bill exempts a facility from this requirement if it is adding the
following to its operation:
1. receiving up to 75 tons per day of containerized food scrap,
food processing residuals, and soiled or unrecycled paper or
2. storing up to 150 cubic yards of this containerized material.
To qualify for the bill’s exemption, receiving these scraps, residuals,
and paper must (1) occur in a fully enclosed building; (2) stay
containerized, except when being transferred; and (3) be managed to
control odor, leachate, and vector (e.g., insects or rodents) attraction. 2021SB-00930-R000557-BA.DOCX
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The bill requires a facility’s owner or operator to, within 30 days
after adding these items for receipt, provide written notice to the DEEP
commissioner about it.
BACKGROUND
Organic Material and Composting Facilities
By law, “source-separated organic material” includes such things as
food scraps, food processing residue, and soiled or unrecyclable paper
that are separated, at generation, from nonorganic material (CGS § 22a-
207(30)).
A “composting facility” is land, appurtenances, structures, or
equipment where organic materials originating from another process
or location and separated at generation from nonorganic material are
recovered through accelerated biological decomposition under
controlled aerobic or anaerobic conditions (CGS § 22a-207(29)).
COMMITTEE ACTION
Environment Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 32 Nay 0 (03/31/2021)