NDFE amendments
A nondisposal facility element (NDFE) is one of a jurisdiction's planning
documents required by the California Integrated Waste Management Act (IWMA).
The NDFE identifies California Integrated Waste Management
Board-permitted "nondisposal" facilities used by a jurisdiction to help
reach the IWMA’s diversion mandates. Nondisposal facilities that require a
solid waste facility permit (SWFP) are primarily materials recovery
facilities (MRF) that accept mixed municipal solid waste, compost
facilities, and transfer stations.
A jurisdiction's NDFE may also include other facilities not defined as
nondisposal facilities, such as recycling centers and drop-off centers.
Discussed below are the CIWMB’s requirements and guidelines regarding if
and when a local jurisdiction’s NDFE must be amended with respect to a
proposed new or revised SWFP for a nondisposal facility.
Additionally, the references section at the conclusion of the article
provides useful information regarding NDFE amendment requirements as well as
links to CIWMB web pages relating to NDFEs.
Questions and answers related to NDFE amendment requirements and
guidelines
1. What does a new or revised permit for a nondisposal facility have to
do with a jurisdiction's NDFE?
Public Resources Code (PRC) section 50001(a)(2)
requires that before a new nondisposal facility that requires an SWFP can be
established or before an existing nondisposal facility can be expanded in a
jurisdiction, the proposed facility must be identified in the NDFE of the
jurisdiction hosting the proposed facility.
Making a finding that a nondisposal facility and its location are
identified in the NDFE of the jurisdiction hosting the facility is
considered the conformance finding step of the permitting process.
Conformance of a proposed nondisposal facility permit is limited to location
identification in the NDFE.
2. What triggers a conformance finding?
A proposed permit for a new nondisposal facility, a proposed permit
revision for an additional nondisposal facility at an existing nondisposal
or disposal facility, and a first time permit for an existing facility can
trigger a conformance finding.
3. When is an NDFE amendment necessary?
A jurisdiction's NDFE may need to be amended if:
- A jurisdiction is planning to site a nondisposal facility that requires
an SWFP within its jurisdiction, and the facility and its location have not
previously been identified in the jurisdiction's NDFE.
- A new nondisposal facility will be sited at the same location as an
existing nondisposal facility, whether permitted separately, or included in
a revised permit for the existing facility. An example of this would be a
proposed change to an existing transfer station to also include a compost
facility and/or a construction & demolition (C&D) processing facility at the
site. In such cases, the CIWMB must make a finding as part of the permitting
process that the proposed permit is in conformance with the host
jurisdiction's NDFE.
- A new nondisposal facility will be sited at the same location as an
existing disposal facility, whether permitted separately or included in a
revised permit for the existing facility. An example of this would be a
proposed change to an existing landfill to now also include a compost
facility, and/or a C&D processing facility at the site. In such cases, the
CIWMB must make a finding as part of the permitting process that the
proposed permit (for the new nondisposal facility) is in conformance with
the host jurisdiction's NDFE.
4. When is an NDFE amendment not necessary?
The CIWMB determined at its August 2002 CIWMB meeting that a “plain
English” interpretation of PRC section 50001 (conformance findings) would
also apply to nondisposal solid waste facilities requiring an SWFP that are
located at a solid waste facility and included in the facility’s SWFP.
Included in the CIWMB’s decision was a narrow exception for certain
existing nondisposal activities sited at solid waste facilities. For
example, certain existing chipping and grinding activities or concrete
crushing activities that may not currently be permitted but may need to be
permitted as a result of the CIWMB’s composting regulations or its
construction, demolition and inerts (C/D&I) regulations, may be exempted
from the conformance finding process.
CIWMB agreed to an exception in certain cases where the conformance
finding step of the permitting process will not be necessary. Therefore, the
host jurisdiction’s NDFE will not have to be amended to add the facility, if
all of the following conditions for that SWFP are met:
- A proposed SWFP includes an existing nondisposal activity.
- The nondisposal activity is located on-site at a disposal facility that
is identified in the applicable Countywide Siting Element (or NDFE if the
activity is located at a transfer station). The Countywide Siting Element
demonstrates ability to provide 15 years of permitted disposal capacity for
all jurisdictions within the county or regional agency. The nondisposal activity would require a permit if it were located
elsewhere.
- The nondisposal activity would require a permit only as a result of a
revision to the CIWMB’s C/D&I regulations, and not as a result of a change
in the activity (for example, an increase in size or materials handled).
- The existing nondisposal activity was described within the disposal
facility’s Report of Facility Information (RFI) or
Report of Disposal Site
Information (RDSI) by August 20, 2002 (date of the CIWMB’s decision). For
information on the August 2002 CIWMB decision, see Conformance Findings
Guidance under the references below.
For more information on how this exemption could be applied, see: "Part
2. Exceptions to the Rule."
5. How is conformance determined; and what if the proposed permit is not
in conformance?
- To facilitate the process and to reduce potential delay in the
consideration of a proposed SWFP, the permit applicant should contact the
host jurisdiction for the nondisposal facility as early as possible in the
permitting process regarding whether the proposed permit is in conformance
with the current NDFE. Go to the CIWMB website for a list of
official jurisdiction contacts.
- The jurisdiction should contact their
Local assistance staff representative to request an "early consultation" to determine whether
the existing or proposed facility location is identified in the
jurisdiction’s NDFE.
- The CIWMB’s Permitting & Inspection (P&I) staff prepares a conformance
finding request for Local assistance staff when a proposed full or standardized permit is
received by P&I for review and consideration by the CIWMB.
- If the nondisposal facility and its location are identified in the NDFE,
Local assistance staff will make the finding that the facility is in conformance, and no
amendment to the NDFE will be necessary.
- If the nondisposal facility and its location are not identified in the NDFE,
Local assistance staff will make a finding that the proposed SWFP for that facility
is not in conformance. In such cases, the host jurisdiction for the
nondisposal facility must amend its NDFE to include the facility prior to
the CIWMB concurring in the SWFP for the facility, or the CIWMB may object
to the issuance of a permit.
--CIWMB approval of the amended NDFE may occur at the same CIWMB meeting
as consideration of the proposed permit.
--To assist with the amendment process, Local assistance staff can provide to the
jurisdiction contact the CIWMB's web-based guidance documents on how to
amend an NDFE. For more information, see the web-based tools and information
under the references below.
6. What are the basic steps for amending an NDFE?
- Prepare the NDFE amendment. This is a description of the proposed
facility(s). For the content requirements of the facility description, see
General Guidelines for Amending a Nondisposal Facility Element (NDFE) under
the references below.
- Present the NDFE amendment to the county’s local task force (LTF) for
comment at least 90 days prior to the public hearing for the adoption of the
amended NDFE.
- The local governing body (for example, the city council, county board
of supervisors, or a board of directors for a regional agency) must adopt
the NDFE amendment, by resolution, at a public hearing which has been
publicly noticed by being published in a newspaper of general circulation at
least three days in advance of the hearing.
- Cities and regional agencies must transmit a copy of their amendment
to the county for incorporation into the
Countywide Integrated Waste
Management Plan within 30 days of adoption. Likewise, counties must
transmit a copy of their amendment to the cities in the county within 30
days of adoption of the amendment by the county.
- The amended NDFE and supporting documentation must be submitted to the
CIWMB for consideration, and shall include:
1) Two copies of the amended NDFE (basically, the facility(s) description
information).
2) Copy of LTF comments.
3) Copy of the public notice(s) for the hearing to consider adoption of
the amended NDFE in the newspaper of general circulation.
4) Copy of adopted resolution approving the amendment.
- The CIWMB has 30 days from receipt of the amended NDFE to determine
its completeness. Once deemed complete, the CIWMB has 60 days to review and
approve amendments.
Note: NDFEs are exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
process.
References
- To further assist customers, information on conformance findings, general
guidelines for amending an NDFE, and laws regarding NDFEs can be found on
the following web pages:
- CIWMB’s Permit Toolbox Pages on Conformance Finding provide
resources and guidance for SWFP applicants and local enforcement agencies
for determining if a proposed SWFP is in conformance with the NDFE.
- Local Enforcement Agency Correspondence Regarding Conformance Findings
Guidance provides information on the CIWMB’s
August 2002 decision regarding when a conformance finding is necessary, as
well as example scenarios for a conformance finding.
- General Guidelines for Amending an NDFE provides procedural guidelines for amending an NDFE to identify the nondisposal facilities used by a jurisdiction to
implement programs in its CIWMB-approved Source Reduction and Recycling
Element (SRRE). Section I of the guidelines, "NDFEs and the Solid Waste
Facility Permitting Process," discusses what change would trigger the need
for an NDFE amendment.
- Section II discusses the six steps in the amendment process and includes
a table showing the required contents (facility descriptions) for NDFEs.
-
Public
Resources Code (PRC) section 41730
provides information on a city’s requirements relating to NDFEs.
-
Public
Resources Code (PRC) section 41731
provides information on a county’s requirements relating to NDFEs.
-
Public
Resources Code (PRC) sections 41732-41736 provide information on the requirements for preparing and amending an NDFE.
- Title 14, California Code of Regulations (14 CCR): Chapter 9, Article
6.4, sections 18752-18754.5 provide information on the content requirements for an NDFE.
- 14 CCR, Chapter 9, Article 7, sections 18765 through 18768 provide information on the amendment or revision, and resubmittal of the
amended or revised NDFE.
Contacts
If you have additional questions regarding an NDFE amendment, contact
your CIWMB Local assistance staff representative.
Return to Top
Could establishing a new base-year benefit your jurisdiction?
Do you believe your jurisdiction has already maximized its diversion
programs and the diversion rate is not reflecting these efforts? Have the
characteristics and/or wasteshed of your jurisdiction changed significantly
since the base year? If one or more of these are true, your jurisdiction may
want to consider establishing a new base year.
Although some jurisdictions may still need to focus on improving their
diversion programs, others could benefit from conducting a generation study
to establish a new, more current base year. One or more of the reasons
listed below could indicate inaccuracies in a jurisdiction’s base year that
may warrant consideration for establishing a new base year:
- Full implementation of programs resulting in a low waste diversion
rate.
- Negative waste diversion rate.
- Original base-year disposal tonnage allocations may not have been
accurate (for example, original disposal tonnage amounts were estimated due
to lack of scales).
- Significant change in the demographics (for example, significant
increase in industrial waste generators while commercial and residential
waste generators increased only slightly).
To assist jurisdictions, the CIWMB is providing examples of jurisdictions
that successfully established new base years. With the disposal reporting
system in place and the development of other types of tracking systems, a
focused generation study can be conducted much more efficiently at less cost
than the original base-year studies.
Look for future editions of infoCyclng with more examples of
jurisdictions that have successfully established new base years.
Example 1. Santa Barbara County
The unincorporated area of Santa Barbara County, a community with a
population of 174,100, had implemented diversion programs such as
residential curbside collection of recyclables and green waste, commercial
on-site collection of recyclables and green waste, recycling of construction
and demolition debris, on-site collection of recyclables at schools, reduce,
reuse, and recycle educational programs at schools, recycling collection at
all county buildings, white goods drop-off, and collection of residential
waste that they anticipated would help them achieve a 50 percent diversion
rate by 2000.
In the year 2000, the CIWMB’s default diversion rate for the county was 47 percent. Due to the level of their program implementation
efforts, the county suspected that their original base-year generation tons
did not accurately capture diversion occurring within the county. The county
found that establishing a new base-year was important in reflecting the
county’s current diversion efforts.
Establishing a new base year
Step I: Disposal tons
To establish a new base-year, the county began by verifying the accuracy
of the disposal data reported to the CIWMB through quarterly disposal
reports. The county is responsible for tracking and reporting all tons
disposed at landfills located within the county, including county-owned,
city-owned, privately-owned, and federally-owned and operated facilities.
The county tracks all landfilled tonnage daily and asks each customer
coming through the scale house as to what jurisdiction the load is
originating from. The county hopes that by using this method they can ensure
an accurate method for tracking jurisdictional tons.
Step II: Diversion tons
The county performed six areas of analysis to determine diversion
activities taking place within the county. In some instances, the county was
unable to quantify diversion because documentation for some diversion
programs was unavailable, or it was not feasible to differentiate diversion
originating between the county and cities lying within the county.
The first area of diversion analyzed was facilities owned or operated by
the county. Using a program called Compuweigh, material crossing the weigh
stations is tracked by origin. Adjustments were then made to separate out
city tonnages. These tonnages were then compared to tonnages provided by
individual haulers/recyclers to further ensure there would be no duplication
of diversion tons.
The county then looked at materials collected for diversion through a
variety of programs. This analysis identified tons recycled and composted by
both businesses and residents.
The programs analyzed included all franchise diversion under the curbside
collection program, non-franchise diversion by recyclers and haulers that
occurred county-wide outside of county facilities, diversion programs
operating within other jurisdictions that diverted materials from the
unincorporated areas of the county, and exports of material outside of
county boundaries.
Calls and follow-up to contacts were made to verify information and
eliminate duplication of diversion tons. The county also measured recycling
and composting at the 20 largest businesses in the unincorporated area. Then the county eliminated duplication of diversion tons by crosschecking
against hauler, landfill, and diversion facility tonnages.
Another area of diversion examined was source reduction. For purposes of
the study, the top 30 percent of businesses that generated 70 percent of the
waste were surveyed to assess types of source reduction. Also, the county
quantified the grasscycling tonnage at the parks and facilities within the
unincorporated area using a conversion factor. Diversion credits were
calculated using sources recommended on the CIWMB website.
The fifth area of diversion examined was restricted waste diversion
tonnage, including inert solids, scrap metals, agricultural wastes, and
white goods. All of the above sources were contacted by phone and/or site
visits to confirm restricted waste diversion tonnages.
Finally, the county looked at recycled materials that fall under the
California Redemption Value (CRV). The Department of Conservation had no way
of separating out materials that came from the incorporated versus
unincorporated area; therefore, some extrapolation was used to calculate the
diversion tonnage. The entire county’s population was divided by the
unincorporated population; this percentage was applied to the CRV totals for
the entire county. In the end, the county decided not to include this as
diversion since the extrapolation method could be questionable.
Results
The study helped the county to better understand all aspects of waste
generation, identify program gaps and specific waste generators within the
county, and better demonstrate the county’s efforts in implementing
diversion programs through a more accurate diversion rate.
The CIWMB approved the county’s new base-year, and the county’s diversion
rate was approved by the CIWMB at 59 percent for the year 2000 at the August
2002 Board meeting. The county’s CIWMB-approved diversion rate for the year
2001 was 60 percent, and the approved rate was 62 percent for the year 2002.
Questions
If you have questions about Santa Barbara County’s process in establishing a new
base year, please contact Jody Rundle
of Santa Barbara County’s Public Works
Department, Solid Waste and Utilities Division, at (805) 882-3602.
Or, contact CIWMB’s Local assistance staff at
(916) 341-6199.
Example 2: City of Monterey
The City of Monterey is a community with a year-round resident population
of approximately 34,000 people. The city population is augmented by a daily
influx resulting from tourism as well as the inclusion of two military
facilities within the city limits, for a total estimated population of
134,000.
The city implemented a comprehensive diversion program, including
curbside recycling, curbside green waste and recycling drop-off sites,
office recycling, recycled-content product procurement, commercial on-site
pick-up, construction and demolition waste recycling, residential large item
pick-up (for example, white goods, furniture, and hot water heaters), and
on-site school recycling collection, to help them achieve a 50 percent
diversion rate by 2000.
By the year 1998, however, the CIWMB’s default diversion rate for the
city was only 28 percent. This low diversion rate supported the city’s
perception that their original base-year generation tonnage did not
accurately reflect the disposal or diversion originating within the city.
Specifically, the city believed the base-year disposal data was
underestimated as a result of reduced tourism after the 1989 Loma Prieta
earthquake.
Additionally, the base-year diversion data was limited to that captured
through the Monterey Regional Waste Management District (MRWMD) and did not
reflect other waste reduction activities occurring within the community such
as efforts by large generators including the Department of the Army’s
Presidio of Monterey, the Naval Postgraduate School, and the Navy’s Fleet
Numeric installation.
As a result, the city felt that establishing a new base-year was critical
to developing a more precise picture of the city’s current diversion
efforts.
Establishing a new base- year
Step I: Disposal tons
The city began the process of establishing a new base-year by
investigating the accuracy of their disposal tonnage data. In addition to
auditing landfill records, the city contacted the hauler, the city public
works staff, and self-haulers to confirm that the reported disposal tonnage
for the new base-year (1998) and the two preceding report years (that is,
1996 and 1997) originated from the city.
Because the city and county have the same name, it was of particular
importance to ensure that disposal tons for the unincorporated area that
surrounds the city were not inadvertently allocated to the city. From their
investigation, the city was able to substantiate the accuracy of its new
base-year disposal data.
Step II: Diversion tons
To determine its diversion tonnage, the city first performed a “big
picture” evaluation of the waste reduction activities within the community.
For example, the city collected diversion tonnage from local service
providers such as the following:
- Monterey City Disposal Service, residential/commercial disposal and
recycling contractor.
- Materials recovery facility at MRWMD for both residential and
commercial self-haul reuse and recycling.
- Tallow company.
- Reusable diaper service.
- Buy-back centers through the Department of Conservation’s Division of
Recycling.
Additionally, to estimate the diversion tonnage resulting from
grasscycling at its large turf areas such as parks, school districts, and
golf courses, the city ascertained the mowable acres grasscycled and applied
CIWMB-approved conversion factors.
To view the conversion factor tables used, go to the
Diversion Study
Guide, Appendix I Conversion Factor Sources web page.
Next, the city surveyed the largest 111 businesses, agencies, and
institutions, determined based on employment, including the city, to
estimate their source reduction, recycling and composting activities not
already identified and quantified through the previously mentioned “big
picture” diversion evaluation.
It is important to note, that as a part of this survey process, the city
quantified substantial diversion tonnage related to its aggressive recycling
programs, including a significant amount of construction and demolition
(C&D) debris resulting from its C&D recycling ordinance and related
programs.
After surveying its largest nonresidential generators, the city noticed
that they were beginning to reach a “point of diminishing return.”
Specifically, the city was realizing 1 or less diversion tons for each
additional diversion survey completed.
Considering its available resources with respect to the potential benefit
of conducting additional surveys, the city concluded that the diversion data
collected from its top 111 businesses, agencies, and institutions—combined
with that quantified in its “big picture” diversion evaluation—adequately
represented the diversion from both the residential and nonresidential
sectors.
Lastly, in terms of quality control, the city made a number of efforts to
substantiate the accuracy and representative of the diversion data
included in the study.
For example, as described earlier, city representatives only included
diversion data from the nonresidential diversion surveys that were not
already captured in the “big picture” diversion evaluation to avoid
instances of double counting.
Additionally, 25,318 tons of construction debris recycling reported by
the Naval Postgraduate School in 1998 was not included in the new base-year.
The reason is that this debris was the result of one unusually large
demolition project (that is, not representative of a typical year).
Results
Using the new base-year data, the CIWMB approved the city’s 1998
diversion rate at 54 percent at the November 1999 Board meeting. The city’s
CIWMB-approved diversion rate for the year 1999 was 60 percent. The year
2000 was 65 percent, 2001 was 66 percent, and 2002 was 64 percent.
In addition to helping the city better demonstrate its efforts in
implementing diversion programs through a more accurate diversion rate, the
new base-year generation study also helped the city to better understand all
aspects of waste generation, identify diversion program gaps, and identify
specific waste generators within the city.
Questions
If you have questions about the city’s process in establishing a new
base-year, please contact Angela Brantley, City of Monterey, at (831)
646-5662. Or, contact
Terri Edwards in the
CIWMB’s Local assistance staff at (916) 341-6199.
CIWMB Contact Information
To see if establishing a new base-year is the best option for you,
contact your CIWMB Local assistance staff
representative.
Return to Top |
Summer 2004 Home Page
|
