Biomass Basics

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California Integrated Waste Management Board

Introduction

The term "biomass," when used for purposes of determining diversion credit, is very limited. "Biomass conversion" uses organic materials--such as wood, lawn and garden clippings, agricultural waste, leaves, tree pruning as well as nonrecyclable paper--to produce heat or electricity. Biomass conversion cannot include any other materials; combustion of trash is called "transformation." Jurisdictions may claim diversion credit for materials sent to qualifying biomass facilities as explained below. This diversion credit, which began in the 2000 report year, may not exceed 10 percentage points (based on estimated report-year generation tons which exclude report-year tons of material delivered to biomass facilities).

Definitions

"Biomass Conversion" means the controlled combustion, when separated from other solid waste and used for producing electricity or heat, of (1) agricultural crop residues; (2) bark, lawn, yard, and garden clippings; (3) leaves, silviculture residue, tree and brush pruning; (4) wood, wood chips, and wood waste; or (5) nonrecyclable pulp or nonrecyclable paper.

"Class I Hazardous Waste Facility" means a facility permitted by the Department of Toxic Substances Control to accept and dispose hazardous waste as defined in California Health and Safety Code Section 25141.

Requirements for Jurisdictions Claiming Biomass Diversion Credits

Jurisdictions claiming the biomass diversion credit must:

Indicate in their annual reports that they intend to claim biomass diversion credit.

Not claim both transformation and biomass credit. Per Public Resources Code (PRC) section 41783.1 (a)(5) there can be no mixture of biomass and transformation claims, nor any type of partial claim for both.

Submit a Biomass Facility Diversion Claim Sheet to the California Integrated Waste Management Board. A new claim sheet must be filed each year the jurisdiction intends to claim biomass diversion credits.

Document that the material types claimed as biomass in the report year were normally disposed in the original base year: 1989, 1990, or 1991. For newly incorporated cities, the original base year is the same as that of their unincorporated county.

Contact your local assistance staff representative to document the biomass facility meets three requirements:

Exclusively burns biomass materials.
Complies with all applicable air quality laws, rules, and regulations.
Tests its residue (ash) regularly, and if hazardous, sends that residue to a Class I hazardous waste facility.

Burning material other than biomass, such as hazardous waste, tires, or municipal solid waste, disqualifies a facility for biomass diversion credit. However, burning other materials such as petroleum coke or natural gas to maintain a particular temperature level is permissible.

California Integrated Waste Management Board Requirements

The Board is required to determine at a public hearing that the jurisdiction is and will continue to be effectively implementing all feasible source reduction, recycling, and composting measures [PRC 41783.1(a)(4)].

In addition, local assistance staff will assist any jurisdiction claiming biomass diversion credit to calculate an annual diversion rate that includes biomass diversion credit. "The Board's online Diversion Rate Calculator that displays diversion information for any jurisdiction is not designed to add a biomass diversion credit to the diversion rate estimate. However, the Electronic Annual Report (EAR) online Diversion Rate Calculator is designed to add the credit.

Calculating an Annual Diversion Rate That Includes Biomass

Biomass diversion credit is limited to a maximum of 10 diversion percentage points. The remaining diversion percentage points must come from source reduction, recycling, and/or composting.

Compare jurisdiction biomass tonnage sent to a qualifying biomass facility with the jurisdiction’s estimated report-year waste generation. For every one percent of estimated report-year waste generation tonnage, an equal tonnage of biomass earns one percentage point of biomass diversion credit up to the maximum allowed. For example:

If the estimated report-year generation (w/o biomass) is

And the tonnage sent to the biomass facility is:

And the diversion rate without biomass is:

Then the biomass credit allowed is:

And the biomass-adjusted diversion rate is:

100 tons

5 tons (5%)

40%

45%

100 tons

10 tons (10%)

40%

10% (max.)

50%

100 tons

20 tons (20%)

40%

10% (max.)

50%

1,000 tons

20 tons (2%)

40%

42%

Legislation and Statutes

Legislation:
Chapter 1227, Statutes of 1994, (Sher, AB 688)
Chapter 439, Statutes of 1999, (Thomas, AB 514)

Statute: Public Resources Code (PRC) Sections
PRC 40106, Definition of Biomass Conversion
PRC 41783.1, Conditions and Requirements for Claiming Credit