ENVIRONMENT
Who will foot the bill ?
But the mandate is complex , and it ’ s left up to local jurisdictions to figure out how to fund , build infrastructure and capacity , scale , educate and enforce compliance . Many are struggling with how to implement it — even though CalRecycle worked alongside jurisdictions to help shape regulations to support compliance and continues to provide technical assistance and guidance to implement the programs . While the mandate called for a Jan . 1 effective date , Wagoner says less than 50 percent of jurisdictions had a food and organic collection waste plan in place as of early January .
The pandemic , uncertainty about whether the state would provide an extension for implementation , and questions around regulations , funding and infrastructure have slowed progress . In Oct . 2021 , Gov . Gavin Newsom signed Senate
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Bill 619 into law , which allows a path for jurisdictions that were not in compliance by Jan . 1 to implement their program without civil penalties .
In the Capital Region , jurisdictions within Sacramento County are collaborating on a regional timeline to implement food waste collection and disposal , and reduce the potential for confusion as residents move across invisible boundaries such as city and county borders in their daily lives . This was a lesson learned in 2016 when the City of Sacramento enforced the ban on single-use plastic bags while Sacramento County did not . The county aims to implement the program in summer 2022 , following an intensive three-month educational campaign on what the program will look like and how to reduce contamination within the new waste collection streams .
Jurisdictions within Sacramento County are evaluating rate increases to cover the cost . Under Proposition 218 , all utility services must charge what it costs to provide the service , says Erin Treadwell , integrated waste compliance manager for the recycling and solid waste division for the City of Sacramento .
“ We cannot charge more than that nor can we charge less . So we can ’ t subsidize it from other places , nor can we charge more and then take that extra , peel it off and use it in other ways . You must charge what it costs ,” she says . “ Because processing food waste costs quite a bit more than taking it to the landfill , we have to build that cost into our rate that we charge and that has to go through council approval . We ’ re all in the mode of getting … approvals for rate adjustments so that we can afford to implement this law .”
Diverting food waste from the landfill is expensive because it has to be collected and processed , Treadwell says . “ We don ’ t process anything ourselves . We , the city , have to contract it all out . Most jurisdictions are in the same boat . We don ’ t have a magic compost processor anywhere .”
Sacramento structured its contracts with facilities to reduce the distance its trucks travel and in turn its environmental footprint , and to align with each facility ’ s capacity . Some of the city ’ s waste will be
88 comstocksmag . com | March 2022