CIWMB 2001 Strategic Plan

Executive Summary

• About Us
• About Our Strategic Plan
• Our Priorities
• How We Will Achieve Our Priorities
• Environmental Indicators

About Us

The Integrated Waste Management Act (AB 939, Sher, Chapter 1095, Statutes of 1989, as amended [AB 939]) created the California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB, Board). With the establishment of the Board came a series of statewide reforms in waste management. AB 939 established the 50 percent diversion goal for local government based on an integrated waste management hierarchy that prioritized waste reduction and recycling over all other options. It inspired a renewed "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" ethic and enhanced public outreach programs and environmental education curricula to spread the word. AB 939 also improved landfill safety requirements and protection for public health and the environment. These core programs have been strengthened with the addition of fee-based programs to improve recycling of used motor oil and the management of waste tires.

The Board consists of six members: four appointed by the Governor, and one each by the Senate Rules Committee and the Speaker of the Assembly. To ensure a broad range of expertise, one of the Governor’s appointees must have private-sector experience in the waste industry, and a second must have experience in the nonprofit environmental community.

The CIWMB is organized into five divisions and six offices, with approximately 509 employees conducting more than 90 programmatic activities. The five divisions are: Administration and Finance; Diversion, Planning, and Local Assistance; Permitting and Enforcement; Special Waste; and Waste Prevention and Market Development. The six offices are: Legislative Affairs; Public Affairs; Legal; Policy and Analysis; Integrated Education; and Organizational Effectiveness. The CIWMB is part of the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA).

About Our Strategic Plan

The Board’s strategic planning process and resulting road map, as represented in this plan, was initiated early this year. Cal/EPA’s Strategic Vision, published in late 2000, established the framework for the development of the CIWMB's 2001 Strategic Plan.

The plan lays out key areas the Board will address over the next three to five years and describes a shift in focus from the AB 939 diversion goals to a broader, more systematic approach to managing the materials used and created in manufacturing. This shift includes a commitment to working with manufacturers on product stewardship, so that we are working toward achieving a sustainable society. Throughout the development of this plan, input on key strategic trends and issues was gathered from a broad representation of internal and external stakeholders. The Board synthesized this input and prioritized the actions and strategies that were proposed to ensure that Board resources will be allocated to these key areas. Next steps include formation of strategic teams to develop more detailed action plans, development of program performance measures, and implementation of the key strategies described in the plan. Additionally, staff will report to the Board during Board meetings on a quarterly basis on the progress made in each goal area, as well as providing an annual review and update to the Board of progress and the need for revisions to the plan. The Board will continue to build in stakeholder input during this process through public meetings and workshops.

As with the Board’s 1997 plan, the 2001 plan will be a living document that is used as the basis for allocating staff resources, preparing the annual budget, and allocating contract funds, and in the development of legislative proposals. Thus, the intended audience for this plan includes the staff of all of the Cal/EPA boards, departments, and office, other State agencies and departments, the Legislature, and external stakeholders.

Our Priorities

The Board’s strategic priorities are based upon the mandates contained in AB 939, which include diversion of waste from landfills based on a hierarchy that prioritized waste reduction and recycling over all other options; enhancing public outreach programs and environmental education in schools; improving landfill safety; and protecting public health and safety along with the environment. A more detailed discussion of why these goals were chosen and what we hope to achieve in each of these areas is contained in the section of this plan entitled “Our Goals, Objectives, and Strategies.” Following are the Board’s seven strategic goals:

1. Increase participation in resource conservation, integrated waste management, waste prevention, and product stewardship to reduce waste and create a sustainable infrastructure.

2. Assist in the creation and expansion of sustainable markets to support diversion efforts and ensure that diverted materials return to the economic mainstream.

3. Educate the public to better understand and participate in resource conservation and integrated waste management strategies.

4. Manage and mitigate the impacts of solid waste on public health and safety and the environment, and promote integrated and consistent permitting, inspection, and enforcement efforts.

5. Improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Integrated Waste Management Board in pursuit of its mission.

6. Continuously integrate environmental justice concerns into all of the Board’s programs and activities, including administrative and budgetary decisions.

7. Promote a "zero-waste California" where the public, industry, and government strive to reduce, reuse, or recycle all municipal solid waste materials back into nature or the marketplace in a manner that protects human health and the environment and honors the principles of California’s Integrated Waste Management Act.

How We Will Achieve Our Priorities

Our purpose in preparing this strategic plan was to create a blueprint for the Board to guide our efforts through the next three to five years. We have mapped a path from the present to our vision of the future by assessing the challenges we face and the capabilities and needs of our organization, and by articulating specific strategies designed to move us toward our goals. In some cases we will be continuing work already in progress, and in other cases we will be breaking new ground. We hope to achieve our priorities by forming cross-functional work teams that will prepare detailed work plans for implementation in each goal area. Work progress will be tracked both through reports to the Board and executive management, as well as through the development of program performance measures and environmental indicators.

Environmental Indicators

As part of the implementation of Cal/EPA’s Strategic Vision, environmental indicators are being developed under the Environmental Protection Indicators for California (EPIC) project. These environmental indicators will provide a means of assessing trends associated with Cal/EPA’s mission and will serve as a foundation for building a results-based management system for the Agency.

An environmental indicator is a measure that presents scientifically based information on the status of, and trends in, environmentally related parameters. Environmental indicators reflect pressures exerted on the environment by human activities or ambient environmental conditions, or effects on human or ecological health.

The EPIC project has adopted a process to identify, select, and develop environmental indicators. Using this process, an initial set of indicators has been generated. These will be incorporated into a report to be submitted to the Agency Secretary by the end of 2001.

The EPIC indicators will be linked to Strategic Goals 1 through 6 in the Cal/EPA Strategic Vision document, thus illustrating how programs implemented, or data collected by a board or department, may relate to these goals.

The indicators proposed for the “Land, Waste, and Materials Management” section of the EPIC report cover waste generation and diversion, disposal to land, site contamination, and cross-media contamination.

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Current Strategic Plan