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Statute provides for specific variations to the 25 and 50 percent diversion
requirements. These variations include:
- A 10 percent diversion, toward the 50 percent diversion requirement, may be used for a
city, county, or regional agency’s use of a Board-permitted transformation project or a
biomass conversion project (PRC section 41783 and 41783.1, respectively).
- Petitions for reduction for rural jurisdictions (PRC
section 41787).
- Regional and rural agency formation (PRC sections 40970
and 41787.1).
- One or more single or multiyear (not to exceed 3 years) extensions that
in total do not exceed 5 years or go beyond January 1, 2006 (PRC section 41820).
- A two-year time extension for rural jurisdictions (PRC section 41787.4).
- A time extension granted by the Board to a city that incorporated after January 1,
1990
(PRC
section 41820.5).
- Pursuant to PRC section 41787, if the Board determines that a jurisdiction’s SRRE will
not achieve the 50 percent requirement and if a city or a county chooses not to use a transformation project to achieve the 50
percent diversion requirement, the Board shall not require the jurisdiction
to use a transformation project to achieve the 50
percent diversion requirement.
- A reduction of the diversion requirements of PRC section 41780 for any city or county
which, on or before January 1, 1990, disposed of 75 percent or more of its solid waste,
collected by the jurisdiction or its authorized agents or contractors, by transformation
if certain conditions exist (PRC section 41786).
Staff recommends that the following criteria, as applicable, be considered in addition
to the previous criteria outlined above.
Rural Jurisdictions
- Has the rural jurisdiction utilized the Board’s rural assistance information and
programs?
- Has the rural jurisdiction investigated regional approaches to program implementation?
- Is the rural jurisdiction qualified to petition for a reduction in diversion
requirements?
- What other considerations, including but not limited to market development obstacles,
population density, waste generation rates, dominant waste generation categories and
types, and geographic, demographic and economic factors, have affected the rural
jurisdiction’s ability to meet the diversion requirements?
Approved Petition for Reduction
- Are rural cities and rural counties that are members of a rural regional
agency
eligible for a reduction in diversion requirements? If so, then the rural regional agency
may be eligible for a reduction of the diversion requirements of PRC section 41780. Has
the rural regional agency petitioned the Board for a reduction in the diversion
requirements?
- Has a jurisdiction, who qualified for a reduction, petitioned for a reduction in the
diversion requirements?
- Did a jurisdiction petition for a reduction in diversion requirements and receive a
reduced diversion requirement? If so, were the conditions of the petition reduction
request met by the jurisdiction?
- If the jurisdiction has a Board-approved reduced diversion requirement, was the reported
total reporting-year disposal tonnage equal to or less than the maximum allowable disposal for that
reduced disposal percentage?
- Has the jurisdiction implemented the programs specified in the approved petition?
- Are there any other considerations that affect the jurisdiction’s ability to meet
their reduced diversion requirements?
- Has the jurisdiction been granted a one-year time extension (PRC section 41820)?
- Did a newly incorporated city (incorporated after January l, 1990) receive a time
extension from the diversion requirements (PRC section 41820.5)?
- Has the rural city, rural county, or rural regional agency been granted a two-year time
extension (PRC section 41787.4)?
- Is the jurisdiction achieving the maximum feasible amount of source reduction,
recycling, and composting within its jurisdiction?
- What steps has the jurisdiction taken to ensure diversion requirements will be met
within the extension period?
Jurisdictions that form a regional agency to share planning and diversion requirements
of the Integrated Waste Management Act are required by PRC section 40975(b)(2) to describe
the method by which any civil penalties imposed will be allocated among the agency
members. Each member of a regional agency, which is formed to allow its members to share
diversion, is liable for the sum of the penalties that may be imposed against each member
of the regional agency. Thus, a regional agency that has five members would be subject to
a maximum penalty of $50,000 per day. However, the Board may consider the relevant circumstances that resulted in a regional
agency (as described in PRC sections 40970-40976) not achieving the diversion requirements and
the individual members who may have contributed to the circumstances that resulted in a
failure to achieve the diversion requirements.
PRC section 40974 establishes the maximum liability for civil
administrative penalties imposed pursuant to PRC section 41813 or PRC section 41850 at
$10,000 per day for each member of a regional agency. The remainder of PRC section 40974
may be interpreted to provide an option for members of a regional agency to agree among
themselves to a different maximum liability through an apportionment of the sum of the
penalties which may be imposed against each member of the regional agency. The Board
may
consider a regional agency’s joint powers agreement that specifies that all liability
for fines rests with the agency members with no liability assigned to the regional agency
or the authority.
An apportionment of penalties on agency members and not the regional agency may provide
for flexibility for the regional agency to continue to resolve the issue that is causing
the agency members to not meet the diversion requirements. The Board may
consider limiting penalties to a
maximum of $10,000 per day if a member’s failure does not
cause other members or the regional agency to fail to implement the programs in the
regional SRRE. Consideration of no fines or penalties on a member or the regional agency
may be given by the Board if the agency member has demonstrated to the satisfaction of the
Board to have made good faith efforts to implement the programs assigned in the regional
SRRE.
- Is the jurisdiction part of a regional agency or a rural regional agency?
- Is the regional agency implementing its programs and meeting its diversion
requirements?
- If a regional agency was dissolved, will the agency members meet the 25 percent and 50
percent diversion requirements?
- Did the jurisdiction claim a portion, up to 10 percent of the 50 percent diversion
requirement, by using a Board-permitted transformation facility (PRC section 41783)?
- Did the jurisdiction claim a portion, up to 10 percent of the 50 percent diversion
requirement, by using a biomass conversion facility (PRC section 41783.1(a))?
- Did the jurisdiction dispose of 75 percent or more of its solid waste by transformation,
and if so, were the statutory conditions in PRC
section 41786 met?
  
As approved by the Board on August 14, 2001.
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