Disposal Reporting System

Reporting Indian Country Waste

Background

This notification provides clarification on tracking and reporting waste originating from Indian country and disposed at facilities in California. Indian gaming has resulted in the construction of many gaming casinos, some with restaurants and hotels, built on land within Indian country. Waste disposal from the construction of these facilities and from the operation of these facilities can be significant. Some jurisdictions have expressed concern about potential misallocation of disposal from Indian country to their jurisdiction. To address this issue, the California Integrated Waste Management Board wants to clarify how Indian country disposal is to be reported in the Disposal Reporting System (DRS) and offer a recommendation regarding local tracking procedures to reduce future misallocation of disposal from Indian country.

Reporting Indian Country Waste in DRS

Beginning with the first quarter (January 1-March 31) 2006, all disposal reported to the Board in each County/Regional Agency’s quarterly disposal report that originates from Indian country should be assigned to the appropriate Indian country of origin in DRS. As set forth in Title 14, California Code of Regulations, Section 18801 (a)(17):

"'Import from outside California means import of waste from outside the boundaries of the State of California or from Indian country within the boundaries of the state of California…"

Waste originating in Indian country should not be allocated to any California jurisdiction, so it does not affect jurisdiction diversion rates. All waste sent from Indian country to disposal facilities in California should be reported to the Board specifying each Indian country of origin (for example, the name of the tribe, reservation, and/or casino [e.g., Thunder Valley Casino—Miwok]).

Tracking Indian Country Waste Locally

To avoid future misallocation of disposal from Indian country to other California jurisdictions, we strongly recommend that you advise haulers serving your area to track waste related to each Indian country facility (e.g., Thunder Valley, Cache Creek, Barona Valley Ranch Resort & Casino, Pechanga Resort & Casino) by identifying each Indian country as a separate account.

All disposed waste originating from Indian country should be summarized and reported to jurisdictions, DRS coordinators, and the Board as disposal tons allocated to each individual Indian country of origin (for example, the name of the tribe, reservation, and/or Casino [e.g., Thunder Valley Casino - Miwok]).

It has been difficult for some jurisdictions to deduct misallocated waste tonnage related to Indian casinos when the hauler was not tracking the data separately. For example, a construction company may have an account with a hauler resulting in all of the waste disposed being assigned to that company. If some of the waste disposed originates from an Indian country construction project, and it is not tracked separately, it becomes difficult to determine how much waste really should be assigned as waste from Indian country(ies) and not to a California jurisdiction. This could make it more difficult for a jurisdiction to meet its 50 percent diversion requirement.

Contact Information

If you have questions on Indian country waste and DRS, please contact the disposal report coordinator at DRS@ciwmb.ca.gov or fax number (916) 319-7696 and staff will respond to your message.

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Last updated: March 28, 2008