Local Government Glossary

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Acronyms. List of the Diversion, Planning, and Local Assistance Division acronyms.

AB 75 (Chapter 764, Statutes of 1999): This 1999 State legislation requires each California State agency, on or before July 1, 2000, to develop and adopt, in consultation with the Board, an integrated waste management plan. The bill also requires each State agency and each large State facility, as defined, to divert at least 25 percent of its solid waste by January 1, 2002, and at least 50 percent by January 1, 2004.

Adjustment method: A standard formula used in diversion rate measurement to offset changes in a jurisdiction's population and economic conditions between the base year and the measurement year. Without the adjustment method, population growth and economic booms would result in lower diversion rates. Public Resources Code section 41780.1 requires use of this adjustment method. There are four factors in the adjustment method.

Advanced disposal fee: Consumer payment made by the consumer at the time of product purchase to cover all future costs—including environmental costs—for recycling or disposal of that product.

Alternative daily cover: Board-approved materials other than soil used as a temporary overlay on an exposed landfill face.   Generally, these materials must be processed so that they do not allow gaps in the face surface, which would provide breeding grounds for insects and vermin. Public Resources Code section 41781.3 stipulates this practice is recycling, not disposal, and authorizes the Board to adopt regulations, such as Title 27 California Code of Regulations, section 20690. Approved materials include processed green materials, sludge, ash and kiln residue, compost, construction and demolition debris, and special foams and fabrics. Also see Local Enforcement Agency (LEA) Advisory #48.

Alternative intermediate cover (AIC): Board-approved materials other than soil used at a landfill on all surfaces of the fill where no additional solid waste will be deposited within 180 days. Generally, these materials must be processed so that they do not allow gaps in the face surface, which would provide breeding grounds for insects and vermin. Public Resources Code section 41781.3 stipulates this practice is recycling, not disposal, and authorizes the Board to adopt regulations, such as Title 27 California Code of Regulations, section 20700. Also see Local Enforcement Agency (LEA) Advisory #48.

Annual report: State law (Public Resources Code section 41821 et seq.) requires each jurisdiction to annually submit a report to the Board that discusses that year's progress toward implementing waste diversion programs and/or facilities described in a jurisdiction's waste management planning documents. This report also includes the jurisdiction's calculated annual diversion rate. Annual reports are due to the Board August 1 each year for the prior calendar year. The Board developed a model annual report to help jurisdictions more easily meet this requirement.

Base-year generation tonnage: The Board-approved initial waste generation amount (disposal + diversion) for any jurisdiction. Diversion rates for all subsequent years are calculated using the base-year generation amount, as modified by the board-approved adjustment method. If the base year tonnage is inaccurate, or if there are major changes in the nature of a jurisdiction's solid waste production, subsequent diversion rate calculations will be inaccurate. Jurisdictions with base-year-related diversion rate calculation problems often choose to establish a new base year by conducting a new diversion study or generation study.

Beneficial reuse: Solid waste at a landfill can be used for beneficial reuse which shall include, but not be limited to, the following: alternative daily cover, alternative intermediate cover, final cover foundation layer, liner operations layer, leachate and landfill gas collection system, construction fill, road base, wet weather operations pads and access roads, and soil amendments for erosion control and landscaping. Beneficial reuse is further defined in Title 27 California Code of Regulations, section 20686.

Biennial review: The Board's evaluation of a jurisdiction's waste diversion program implementation and diversion rate performance.  The evaluation, and subsequent public hearing, may occur more frequently than biennially (once every two years), at the discretion of the Board. Please see Public Resources Code section 41825.

Biomass:  Controlled burning of specified organic materials, such as wood waste, agricultural crop residues, leaves, grass clippings, and prunings to produce electricity or heat. Public Resources Code section 40106 defines biomass conversion. Public Resources Code section 41783.1 describes how it may be used to increase diversion.

Board-permitted landfill: A facility located within California that is permitted by the Board to accept and bury solid waste from jurisdictions within and outside of California.

Brown goods: Computers, televisions, radios and other home electronics. Named during the days when many televisions and radios had wood or fake wood cabinets.

Commercial sector: Commercial sector waste comes from all businesses, small and large, including wholesale and retail sales, restaurants, manufacturing, and transport. The commercial sector also includes government, schools, institutions, fairs and expositions, and other special events. It may also include the subdivision of commercial self-haul, which would include any waste generated by a business and hauled by that business to a Board-permitted landfill or transformation facility; for example, a roofing company that routinely hauls to the landfill old roofing materials removed from job sites. Commercial self-haul would also include small businesses that haul odd loads for a living.  The commercial, residential, and self-haul sectors make up the complete waste stream.

Compliance order: A formal Board order finding that a jurisdiction has failed to implement its source reduction and recycling element (SRRE) or its household hazardous waste element (HHWE), and comply with the act. The compliance order contains a specific schedule for achieving compliance, as well as specific conditions that the Board deems necessary for the jurisdiction to complete in order to implement its SRRE or HHWE or reach its required diversion rate.  Please see Public Resources Code section 41825.

Component: Each jurisdiction's "source reduction and recycling element" (SRRE) must contain nine components, each of which specifies objectives for a major type of diversion program. These nine required SRRE components are source reduction, recycling, composting, special waste, education and public information, solid waste facility capacity, funding, waste characterization, and integration.  Please see Title 14, California Code of Regulations, sections 18733 et seq.

Composting: The process of collecting, grinding, mixing, piling, and supplying sufficient moisture and air to organic materials to speed natural decay. The finished product of a composting operations is compost, a soil amendment suitable for incorporating into topsoil and for growing plants. Compost is different than mulch, which is a shredded or chipped organic product placed on top of soil as a protective layer. Please see Public Resources Code section 40116 or the Board's organics pages.

Construction and demolition (C&D) debris: Building materials and solid waste from construction, deconstruction, remodeling, repair, cleanup, or demolition operations that are not "hazardous" (as defined in Public Resources Code section 40141). This term includes, but is not limited to: asphalt, concrete, Portland cement, brick, lumber, wallboard, roofing material, ceramic tile, plastic pipe, and associated packaging. See also the Board's C&D Web site and the waste characterization materials page.

Consumer price index (CPI): A measure of inflation, or the decrease in the purchasing power of a dollar, based on the change over time of the average prices paid by urban consumers for a "market basket" of goods and services—such as food, clothing, shelter and fuel—used for day-to-day living.  In the board-approved adjustment method, CPI deflates report-year taxable sales into inflation-free dollars. Three California metropolitan-area CPI rates are computed by the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Statewide average CPI is computed by the State's Department of Industrial Relations. 

Countywide integrated waste management plan (planning documents):The complete package of planning documents required by Public Resources Code section 41750, prepared by a county or a regional agency in conjunction with all cities within its boundaries. Each city must prepare a source reduction and recycling element (SRRE), a household hazardous waste element (HHWE) and a nondisposal facility element (NDFE). Each county must prepare all of those documents for unincorporated areas within their boundaries, plus a countywide siting element (CSE) and a summary plan (SP). A regional agency may use existing plans for each member agency or prepare a single SRRE, HHWE, NDFE, CSE and SP for all regional agency members.

Countywide siting element: Part of a county's or a regional agency's integrated waste management plan, the siting element demonstrates ability to provide 15 years of permitted disposal capacity for all jurisdictions within the county or regional agency. If the county or regional agency cannot show 15 years of disposal capacity, it must show a plan to obtain that capacity, or to transform, or to divert its waste. Title 14, California Code of Regulations, section 18755-18756.7 et seq. covers siting elements.

Covered electronic waste (CEW): A covered electronic waste is a discarded covered electronic device (CED). A CED means a  device that is identified in the regulations adopted by the Department of Toxics and Substance and Substance Control pursuant to Health and Safety Code section 23214.10.1 (b). Examples of CEDs include computer monitors, cathode ray tube devices including televisions and monitors,  LCD monitors and laptops, and LCD and plasma televisions.

Deconstruction: The process of taking apart a structure with the primary goal of preserving the value of all useful building materials, so that they may be reused or recycled. 

Disposal: For diversion purposes, disposal is all waste created by all businesses and residents which is disposed at Board-permitted landfills, at transformation facilities, or is exported from the State. The Board tracks tons of waste disposed by each jurisdiction using its disposal reporting system. Also, please see Public Resources Code section 40192.

Disposal reporting system: The Board's system to track how much waste is disposed by each city, county and regional agency in California. Tracking originates with each county or regional agency, which submits quarterly disposal reports to the Board. Waste facility operators conduct quarterly "jurisdiction of waste origin surveys," to estimate the amount of waste disposed at that facility by each jurisdiction. Please see Title 14, California Code of Regulations, section 18800.

Diversion: For waste measurement purposes, diversion is any combination of waste prevention (source reduction), recycling, reuse and composting activities that reduces waste disposed at Board-permitted landfills and transformation facilities. Diversion is achieved through the implementation of diversion programs. Please see Public Resources Code section 41780.

Diversion program: Any activity implemented by a jurisdiction to divert solid waste from disposal, including source reduction (waste prevention), reuse, recycling, and composting. Diversion activities must be in accordance with all applicable federal, State and local requirements.

Diversion rate: The percentage of its total waste that a jurisdiction diverted from disposal at Board-permitted landfills and transformation facilities through reduction, reuse, recycling programs, and composting programs. Jurisdictions are required by law to achieve 50 percent diversion for the year 2000. The Board developed the diversion rate calculator to assist jurisdictions with the diversion rate equation.

Diversion study: A Board-approved methodology used to quantify a jurisdiction’s existing diversion tonnages. A jurisdiction may use the results of a properly conducted diversion study in support of a request to the Board for a new base-year generation tonnage. 

Employment: Estimated number of employed workers--including self-employed individuals, unpaid family workers, household domestic workers, and workers on strike--that reside within a jurisdiction. One of the four factors used in the board-approved adjustment method. The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks how many people living in a particular county are working at least one hour a week. Employment-by-industry data, such as that contained in the Board's waste characterization database, counts the number of workers by where they are employed. Other sources of labor market data include the State of California's Employment Development Department and private firms such as Dun & Bradstreet.

Franchise hauler: Any waste hauler that has a contract granted by a county board of supervisors, after a competitive bidding process, for the collection, disposal or destruction, or any combination thereof, of garbage, waste, offal or debris. The terms and conditions of the "franchise" are set forth in a written agreement, which may not last longer than 25 years. (Public Resources Code section 49201 (a)) Cities may adopt similar contracts by resolution or ordinance. (PRC section 49300).

Generation: The total amount of waste produced by a jurisdiction. The basic formula is disposal plus diversion equals generation.

Generation study: Quantification of a jurisdiction's waste production and disposal characteristics.  All California jurisdictions were required to perform a generation study as part of their original compliance with the Integrated Waste Management Act. Typically, jurisdictions wishing to establish a new base year complete a diversion study and retrieve their disposal data from the Board's disposal reporting system (DRS). However, the Board may accept well-documented disposal data from sources other than the DRS.

Good faith effort: Per Public Resources Code section 41850 (c)(1)(B)(i), good faith efforts means all reasonable and feasible efforts by a city, county, or regional agency to implement those programs or activities identified in its source reduction and recycling element or household hazardous waste element, or alternative programs or activities that achieve the same or similar results. Please see the code for more detailed definitions. The Board has adopted detailed enforcement guidelines for evaluating agencies that fail to implement their plans or fail to achieve required diversion rates.

Household hazardous waste: Hazardous waste materials discarded, typically in small quantities, by households (as opposed to large quantities disposed by businesses). Typical household hazardous wastes include used motor oil and oil filters, antifreeze and other vehicle fluids, paints and varnishes, pesticides, and cleaning supplies. See Health and Safety Code section 25216. Also, please see the Board's HHW Web site and the Waste Characterization materials definitions page.

Household hazardous waste element (HHWE): One of several solid waste planning documents required by the Integrated Waste Management Act. Every city, county and regional agency must specify how it will safely collect and dispose of household hazardous wastes generated by its residents. Please see Title 14, California Code of Regulations, sections 18750 et seq.

Indian country: Territory controlled by Native American tribal governments is considered a sovereign nation. For the purposes of disposal reporting, waste from Indian Country is considered imported waste and waste sent to Indian Country is considered exported waste. Counties and Board-permitted landfills and transformation facilities that accept waste from Indian country are importing waste. California jurisdictions sending waste to Indian country are exporting waste. Please see Public Resources Code section 44201.

Inflation-adjusted taxable sales: The total sales of taxable goods and services, as estimated by the California Board of Equalization, based on sales tax receipts, and adjusted using the consumer price index. Used in the Board-approved adjustment method to estimate report-year waste generation. (Wholesale transactions are typically exempt from sales tax in the United States, as are taxes on many services.)

Integrated Waste Management Act (IWMA): Also known as AB 939 (Chapter 1095, Statutes of 1989), the IWMA created the Board, required each jurisdiction in the state to submit detailed solid waste planning documents for Board approval, set diversion requirements of 25 percent in 1995 and 50 percent in 2000, established a comprehensive statewide system of permitting, inspections, enforcement, and maintenance for solid waste facilities, and authorized local jurisdictions to impose fees based on the types or amounts of solid waste generated. A more detailed description of the IWMA is found in the Board's legislative history overview.

Jurisdiction: A city, county, a combined city and county, or a regional agency with the responsibility for meeting Integrated Waste Management Act requirements.

Materials recovery facility: More commonly called a MRF (pronounced "Murf"). An intermediate processing facility designed to remove recyclables and other valuable materials from the waste stream. A "dirty MRF" removes reusable materials from unseparated trash. A "clean MRF" separates materials from commingled recyclables, typically collected from residential or commercial curbside programs.

Maximum diversion rate: A calculation that selects default or standard adjustment factors--population, employment, taxable sales, consumer price index--resulting in the highest diversion rate for a jurisdiction.

Medical waste: Untreated medical waste regulated under the Medical Waste Management Act that is not defined as solid waste and cannot be disposed at Board-permitted landfills (see Health and Safety Code section 117600 et seq.). Treated medical waste that is deemed to be solid waste may be disposed at Board-permitted solid waste facilities. For diversion rate measurement purposes, the host jurisdiction of a regional medical waste treatment facility that produces treated medical waste may subtract that tonnage from report-year disposal. Also, please see the Department of Health Services medical waste Web pages.

Minimum diversion rate: A calculation that selects default or standard adjustment factors--population, employment, taxable sales, consumer price index (CPI)--resulting in the lowest diversion rate for a jurisdiction.

New base year: See Base-year generation tonnage.

New generation study: See Generation study.

Nondisposal facility element (NDFE): One of a jurisdiction's planning documents, the NDFE identifies Board-permitted "non-disposal" facilities used by a jurisdiction to help reach the IWMA's diversion mandates. Nondisposal facilities are primarily materials recovery facilities, compost facilities, and transfer stations, but a jurisdiction's NDFE may also discuss recycling centers, drop-off centers and household hazardous waste facilities. Please see Title 14, California Code of Regulations, sections 18752-18754.

Organics: Materials that are or were recently living, such as leaves, grass, agricultural crop residues, or food scraps. Please see the waste characterization materials page and the Board's organics Web site.

Planning documents: Please see countywide integrated waste management plan or Public Resources Code section 41750

Population: Estimated number of people living in a jurisdiction. Population is one of the four factors used in the board-approved adjustment method to help estimate report-year waste generation.  The federal census is the benchmark for population figures, but it is adjusted based on housing construction and demolition.

Procurement program: Programs that encourage the purchase of recycled-content products by companies, jurisdictions and others. Joint recycled-content product purchasing pools and buy-recycled campaigns are two examples.

Recycling: Per Public Resources Code section 40180, the process of collecting, sorting, cleansing, treating, and reconstituting materials that would otherwise become solid waste, and returning them to the economic mainstream in the form of raw material for new, reused, or reconstituted products that meet the quality standards necessary to be used in the marketplace.

Regional agency: A legal partnership of two or more jurisdictions, formed with Board approval, designed to meet IWMA requirements, to reduce the cost of reporting and tracking waste disposal and diversion, and to increase the diversion of solid waste from disposal facilities. Please see our regional agencies basics or our list of Board-approved regional agencies and their membership.  Also, please see Public Resources Code section 40970.

Report year: The calendar year covered by an annual report prepared by a jurisdiction, detailing diversion programs implemented and the diversion rate achieved. Title 14, California Code of Regulations, section 18794 (e)(1) specifies annual reports are due August 1 of the year following the report year. For example, an annual report covering calendar year 1999 is due to the Board by August 1, 2000.

Report-year generation: The amount of waste generated in any jurisdiction during a report year, as indicated in that jurisdiction's annual report.

Residential sector: Waste stream segment generated by single- and multifamily residences, not by businesses or by government offices. The commercial, residential, and self-haul sectors make up the complete waste stream.

Restricted waste: Pre-1990 diverted material counted as diversion in the base year when Public Resources Code section 41781.2 requirements are met. Restricted wastes include: agricultural wastes, inert solids (including inert solids used for structural fill), white-coated major appliances, and scrap metals. All new diversion of these materials counts toward achievement of the diversion requirements.

Reuse: The recovery or reapplication of a package or product for uses similar or identical to its originally intended application, without manufacturing or preparation processes that significantly alter the original package or product.

Self-haul sector: Waste that is hauled to a transfer, processing, or disposal facility by someone other than a franchise waste hauler or by someone whose primary business is not waste hauling. The commercial, residential, and self-haul sectors make up the complete waste stream.

Solid waste generation study (SWGS): The waste characterization component of the SRRE, which contains information on the types and amounts of waste disposed and diverted within a jurisdiction and which establishes the base level for measuring future diversion achievement.   Please see Title 14 California Code of Regulations, section 18722 for more details. The study is required and described by Public Resources Code sections 41003, 41030 (cities) and sections 41303 and 41330 (counties).

Source reduction: Per Public Resources Code section 40196, "source reduction" means any action which causes a net reduction in the generation of solid waste. Source reduction includes, but is not limited to, reducing the use of nonrecyclable materials, replacing disposable materials and products with reusable materials and products, reducing packaging, reducing the amount of yard wastes generated, establishing garbage rate structures with incentives to reduce waste tonnage generated, and increasing the efficiency of the use of paper, cardboard, glass, metal, plastic, and other materials. See the PARIS list of source reduction programs and codes.

Source reduction and recycling element (SRRE): Plans prepared by all jurisdictions in accordance with Public Resources Code section 41000 et seq. (cities) and section 41300 et seq. (counties). The SRRE sets forth a jurisdiction's basic strategy for management of solid waste generated within its borders, with emphasis on implementation of source reduction, recycling, and composting programs. The SRRE should also identify the amount of landfill and/or transformation capacity necessary to dispose of solid waste that cannot be reduced at the source, recycled, or composted.   It is one of several solid waste planning documents required by the IWMA.

Special waste: For waste characterization purposes, special waste is waste that poses a chronic toxicity hazard to human health or the environment, requiring special collection, treatment, handling, storage, or transfer techniques. Per Title 14, California Code of Regulations, section 18722 (j)(8), special wastes include:

1. Ash
2. Sewage sludge
3. Industrial sludge
4. Asbestos
5. Auto shredder waste
6. Auto bodies
7. Other special wastes

Summary plan: A solid waste planning document required by Public Resources Code section 41751, in which counties or regional agencies provide an overview of significant waste management problems faced by the jurisdiction, along with specific steps to be taken, independently and in concert with cities within their boundaries, to comply with the IWMA.

SWIS number:  A unique number assigned by the Board to each landfill, transfer station, transformation facility, materials recovery facility, or other Board-permitted waste processing facility, and used by the solid waste information system database. The first two digits signify the county where the facility is located; the last four digits identify the specific facility.

Taxable sales: Please see inflation-adjusted taxable sales.

Tipping fee: The fee charged for unloading solid waste at a landfill or transfer station.

Transfer station/processing facility: A facility which receives, handles, separates, converts, or otherwise processes solid waste, whose activities are governed by the Registration Permit tier or Full Solid Waste Facility Permit requirements. Such facilities typically transfer solid waste directly from one container to another, or from one vehicle to another for transport, or temporarily store solid waste prior to final disposal at a Board-permitted landfill or transformation facility. Please see Title 14, California Code of Regulations, sections 17400 et seq.

Transformation:  Incineration, pyrolysis, distillation, gasification, or biological conversion other than composting. Transformation (Public Resources Code section 40201) does not include composting or biomass conversion. For purposes of diversion rate measurement, only waste sent to Board-permitted transformation facilities is used in diversion rate calculations. Transformation counts as disposal, except in special circumstances beginning in the year 2000, when limited amounts of waste sent to Board-permitted transformation facilities may count as diversion.

Transformation facility: A facility whose principal function is to convert, combust, or otherwise process solid waste by incineration, pyrolysis, destructive distillation, gasification, or to chemically or biologically process solid waste for the purpose of volume reduction, synthetic fuel production, or energy recovery. Transformation facilities do not include biomass conversion or composting facilities. Please see Title 14, California Code of Regulations, section 18720.

Waste characterization: The act of determining the types and amounts of materials in the disposed waste stream.  Waste characterization studies typically involve the sorting and weighing of samples of disposed waste.

Waste diversion: Please see Diversion

Waste generation: Please see Generation.

Waste prevention: Please see Source reduction.

Waste reduction: The combined efforts of waste prevention, reuse, composting, and recycling practices. Some groups use this term synonymously with source reduction and waste prevention, so check how it is being used to avoid confusion. Typically, waste reduction includes waste prevention and recycling. A number of local jurisdictions in California, public interest groups, and a few States use waste reduction synonymously with waste prevention.

Waste stream:  Waste material output of a community, region, or state.

White goods: Discarded major appliances of any color. These items are often enamel-coated. Examples: washing machines, clothes dryers, hot water heaters, stoves, and refrigerators. This definition does not include electronics, such as televisions and stereos, which are known as "brown goods."

Xeriscaping: Landscaping using drought-tolerant or desert-like plants.

Acronyms

Last updated: February 28, 2008