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The following
guidelines identify the information a jurisdiction should submit to the California
Integrated Waste Management Board to substantiate its biomass diversion
claim for 2000 (and beyond), as well as other relevant biomass-related
information.
Jurisdictions wanting to claim biomass diversion credit can use the Board's
diversion rate calculator, located within the
Electronic Annual
Report, to determine the maximum allowable biomass tonnage, and to calculate
their diversion rate including biomass. They may also contact their
local assistance staff representative for
assistance with claiming and calculating biomass diversion credit.
Data submittal requirements
A jurisdiction must
document that it, and the biomass facility it uses, meet the criteria for
claiming biomass diversion each year the claim is being made. For clarity, the singular term
"facility" is used to mean all biomass facilities used by a
jurisdiction.
A
jurisdiction should therefore submit all of the following information with the
appropriate documentation attached.*
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Whether the
jurisdiction is also claiming transformation diversion credit.
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Whether the
material types sent to the biomass facility were normally disposed by the
jurisdiction in 1990.
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Whether the jurisdiction is implementing, and will
continue to effectively implement, all feasible source reduction, recycling,
and composting programs.
* A jurisdiction can submit the necessary information using the Board’s
Biomass Facility Diversion Claim sheet (MS Word 2003, 91 kb) with supporting documentation attached.
Restrictions for counting biomass as diversion
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A jurisdiction must provide the Board with sufficient
information to substantiate that it, and the biomass facility it uses,
satisfy the statutory and regulatory requirements for biomass diversion cited
above.
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The material
sent to a biomass facility was normally disposed by the jurisdiction in
1990. “Normally disposed” means a
material type was at least .001 percent of a jurisdiction’s total 1990 disposal
at permitted solid waste landfills or transformation facilities [Title 14,
California Code of Regulations, Article 3, section 18720 (a) (44)].
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Jurisdictions are limited to counting a maximum of 10 percent diversion from
biomass conversion.
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A jurisdiction claiming diversion credit for biomass
conversion cannot also claim diversion credit from Board-permitted
transformation (waste-to-energy) facilities [PRC
section 41783.1 (a)
(5)] in the same report year. The
three WTE facilities are: Covanta Stanislaus, Inc. in Stanislaus County (formerly known as Ogden-Martin Systems
of Stanislaus, Inc.), and the Commerce Refuse-to-Energy Facility and Southeast
Resource Recovery Facility in Los Angeles County.
Calculating biomass diversion credit
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A jurisdiction must calculate any biomass diversion
credit each year that it claims biomass diversion. The amount of biomass diversion credit
claimed will not be included in any newly established base year. For example, if a jurisdiction establishes a
new base year in 2000, the amount of biomass diversion credit claimed in 2000
would not be included in the base-year generation amount on which the 2001
diversion rate would be based. Instead,
it would just be an addition to the diversion rate for 2000 before including
biomass diversion.
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Similarly, if a jurisdiction estimates its report year
diversion rate using a waste generation study, the additional diversion credit
for biomass diversion must be based on the report-year generation amount that
excludes biomass tonnage.
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The maximum tonnage of biomass that can be claimed
toward a jurisdiction’s diversion amount is based on its reporting year
generation without biomass.
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The calculator in the Electronic Annual Report (EAR) can correctly determine a
jurisdiction's report-year generation, allows jurisdictions to enter biomass
tonnage, and then calculates an estimated diversion rate including
biomass. The EAR summary report lists estimated diversion rates with and
without biomass diversion credit.
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Statute limits a jurisdiction's biomass diversion credit to a
maximum diversion percentage increase of 10 percentage points above a jurisdiction’s estimated
report-year diversion rate excluding biomass. The diversion rate
calculator in the Electronic Annual Report will not allow a jurisdiction to
claim biomass tonnage greater than 10 percent of its report-year generation.
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It is because of this 10 percentage point limit and the need to show compliance with air
quality standards each report year a claim is made that diversion credit for
biomass diversion will not be included in a jurisdiction's new base-year
generation amount.
Notification of staff’s analysis of a biomass diversion
claim
Board staff will conduct preliminary reviews of
jurisdictions’ annual reports within 120 days of receipt to determine whether
additional information is needed to complete their analysis and make recommendations.
Jurisdictions requesting biomass diversion credit will have
their claim acknowledged in the same notification letter sent by staff
outlining what additional information, if any, is necessary to complete
review of a jurisdiction’s annual report. The letter will include specifics about any missing documentation or
information related to a biomass diversion claim.
PRC Section 41783.1 (a) (4) requires the Board to make a
determination at a public hearing, based on substantial evidence in the record,
that a jurisdiction is and will continue to be effectively implementing all
feasible source reduction, recycling, and composting measures to qualify for
biomass diversion credit. Therefore, staff will include a discussion of biomass diversion claims in
all relevant agenda items.
Links to pertinent statutes and regulations
Local Government Library
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