Illegal Dumping Enforcement Task Force

Minutes: May 24, 2006

I. The meeting was called to order at 10:00 a.m. by Coordinator Ken Stuart.

Attending Members

Brigitta Corsello
Jennifer Lewis
Gale Filter
Marlene Mariani
Karen Keene
Larry Sweetser
John Gregory
Sarah Mora
Stanton Lange
Damian Meins
John Ramirez
Jim Lawrence
Neal Fujita
Kit Cole
Scott Smithline
Wendy Breckon
Margie Youngs

CIWMB Staff Attending

Howard Levenson
Scott Walker
Ken Stuart
Scott Harvey (Board Advisor)
Rick Dunne (Board Advisor)

Members Absent

Gary Harris
Ben Gale
John Abernathy
John Key
George Valdes

II. The minutes of the March 29, 2006 Illegal Dumping Enforcement Task Force (IDETF) meeting were approved as written.

III. Comments from the Members or the Public:

Wendy Breckon, CIWMB Legal Counsel, indicated that there is ongoing dialogue on the utilization of names on letters or related documents as ownership evidence for prosecution of illegal dumping. Gale Filter, (County District Attorneys Association (CDAA), indicated that his organization has been discussing this type of evidence in emails, and there is not agreement among county District Attorneys on this issue.

IV. Update of Coordinator Activities

1. The proposed Illegal Dumping website has been developed and is now included in the CIWMB website.
2. Since the March meeting, the IDETF Coordinator has presented task force update reports to Local Enforcement Agency Roundtables in Mt. Shasta, Mariposa, Ontario, and South San Francisco, the Cal/EPA Environmental Crimes Task Force, and met with the Illegal Dumping Subcommittee of the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors.
3. The project to evaluate a representative number of local solid waste facility load check programs will be rescheduled to fall 2006. Task force members comments on the need to increase fees to cover the cost of additional enforcement staff performing on-site load checks, the potential negative impact on other counties that are not implementing increased load check programs, and if the extent of illegal disposal violations at landfills and transfer stations are known on a statewide basis.
4. An inquiry was received from Legislative staff concerning the incidence of commercial illegal dumping events in California. A representative survey of 10 county and city agencies responding to illegal dumping incidents showed that enforcing agencies do not routinely investigate whether the source of an illegal dump is a private individual or a commercial business. It was generally agreed that commercial businesses are included as responsible parties in illegal dumping, but it is not justified to make a source determination on routine abatement incidents.

V. New Business

1. Illegal Dumping Cost Survey–The survey cover letter and questionnaire that was developed by Jennifer Lewis (League of California Cities/League), Karen Keene (California State Association of Counties/CSAC) and Ken Stuart was distributed to the task force members. There will be a cover letter for county administrative officers and a cover letter for city managers. The Executive Directors of CIWMB, the League, and CSAC will sign the cover letters, and the League and CSAC staffs are planning on completing electronic mailing of the letters and surveys during the first week of June. The need to obtain cost data from water districts, irrigation districts, parks and recreations districts, the Bureau of Land Management, and other special districts that also cleanup illegal dumping was discussed, and it was agreed that these agencies could be contacted through separate survey(s). It was asked that the task force members alert local agencies on the pending arrival of the survey and the need to complete the survey.
2. Illegal Dumping Legislation–Task force members were provided with a summary status report on the five legislative bills that involve illegal dumping and/or cleanup. These bills are:

1. AB 1668 (Niello)–Illegal dumping enforcement officers
2. AB 1992 (Canciamilla)–Solid waste: dumping
3. AB 2211 (Karnette)–Solid waste disposal site cleanup
4. AB 2253 (Hancock)–Vehicles; illegal dumping
5. SB 151 (Soto)–Public health; illegal dumping

VI. Old Business

1. Review of Initial Recommendations–A summary review of the twenty-six issues identified by the task force at the March 29, 2006 meeting was completed. The following actions were taken:

1. A2, tax incentives for private operators providing public services, was deleted from the list of issues;
2. A2, authority for nonprofit associations (NPAs) to pick up refuse on private property, was deleted from the list of issues; and
3. C1, waste hauler permits, was combined with C1, cradle to grave ownership responsibility, and C2, statewide standardization of acceptable evidence and prosecution.

2. Identification of Additional Recommendations–The following issues were added to the discussion list by the task force:

1. Authority for utilization of funds via diversion;
2. Cooperative funding of illegal dumping cleanup projects by combining state agency monies;
3. Statewide authority to establish local environmental trust funds; and
4. Provision of cleanup funds for private property owners.

3. Agreement on Local Discussion Items–It was agreed that the identified priority items would be submitted for local discussion during the time before the September 14, 2006 meeting. The additional items that remain under discussion will be included as a supplement to the priority items.

4. Prioritizing of Issues–The task force voted to establish priority issues, with the understanding that they may be changed at the September meeting. The priority issues are:

1. C1–Waste hauler permits–statewide with local permit issuance. This issue will be combined with cradle to grave ownership responsibility and statewide standardization of acceptable evidence and prosecution.
2. B2–Enhancement of public education at the state and local level.
3. C2–Vehicle impoundment authority–statewide, local implementation
4. A2–Predisposal fees–most common violating products to fund local cleanup
5. C2–Funding for enforcement staff
6. B2–Enforcement training–local staff and the public

5. Discussion of Public Review Meeting Schedule–Meetings have been requested and are being scheduled in Fresno, Trinity County, Imperial County, and San Diego. Task force members were encouraged to initiate meetings to discuss the issues with their organizations.
6. Amendments to Projected Work Plan–The updated work schedule (May 24, 2006) was discussed, and it was agreed that it is a realistic and achievable schedule. The concept of one or more subcommittee meetings before the September 14, 2006 task force meeting was discussed, the advantage being keeping the task force member involvement high. It was agreed that meetings in Northern and Southern California would be beneficial, with task force members attending the meeting(s) of their choice. IDETF Coordinator Ken Stuart will work on scheduling and the agendas for the meetings.

VII. Homework

Task Force members were reminded of the need to schedule local meetings with agencies or organizations where the identified issues would be discussed and to encourage local agencies to complete the illegal dumping cost survey in a timely manner.

VIII. The meeting was adjourned at 2:50 p.m.

The next task force meeting is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursday, September 14 in Training Room 1 of the Cal/EPA building in Sacramento.

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Last updated: April 18, 2008