2002 Annual Report: Solid Waste Facilities

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• Facility Loans
• Solid Waste Site Cleanup
• Farm and Ranch Grants

Facility Loans
Facility compliance loans are helping solid waste operators comply with Board regulations through interest-free funding of corrective actions. In 2002 the Board monitored compliance activities for loans it approved in 2001. Seven loans-five to public agencies and two to private operators-totaled almost $2.9 million. These loans were the first ones approved under new authority granted the Board by the Legislature in 1999 through Public Resources Code section 48021 (Chapter 496, Statutes of 1999).

The Board supported new legislation establishing a zero-interest rate loan program for the closure of solid waste landfills. The Governor signed AB 467, Strom-Martin (Chapter 587, Statutes of 2002), establishing the Landfill Closure Loan Program. The program targets active, small, rural, unlined landfills that must be closed to mitigate potential environmental and public health concerns. With zero-interest rate loans, the Board hopes to provide a financial incentive package to help fund the elimination of such landfills and protect the public and environment in the years to come.

Solid Waste Site Cleanup
An integral function of the Board involves the cleanup of illegal and/or abandoned dumpsites to protect the public and environment. The Board has fortified the program by leveraging its funds through partnerships with public agencies and responsible parties under Board-managed cleanups.

In 2002, the Board funded 11 cleanup projects costing nearly $3.5 million, including more than $1.2 million in grants to local agencies. Projects included a number of significant and sensitive sites:

• A matching grant to the City of San Diego to assist in the cleanup of the Quince Street Burn Dump. This project will clean up 13 residential properties in a low-income area impacted by lead, zinc, and copper contamination from the old burn dump.
• Matching grants to the cities of Los Angeles and Huntington Beach to remove trash from Santa Monica Bay and Anaheim Bay tributaries. These two projects significantly expanded Board efforts in cleaning up stormwater-derived trash and other pollutants contaminating urban streams and beaches in Southern California.
• The Fort Bragg Dump (or Glass Beach) project involves an innovative partnership between the Board, the California Coastal Conservancy, and the State Department of Parks and Recreation. The Conservancy facilitated the acquisition of the property on behalf of the Department for public benefit and to maintain as open space land for recreational purposes and coastal access. The Board’s site remediation included removal and disposal of the solid waste located within the property boundary.

Farm and Ranch Grants
The Board awarded more than $220,000 in farm and ranch grants in 2002 to help rural landowners rid their properties of illegally dumped trash in the cities of San Diego and Yucca Valley, as well as the counties of Humboldt, Kern, Los Angeles, Nevada, Riverside, Siskiyou, Solano, and Yolo.

Chapter 628, Statutes of 2002 (SB 1328, Chesbro), increased the available maximum grant awards from $10,000 to $50,000 per site and extended eligibility to Native American Tribes and Resource Conservation Districts.

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