infoCycling

infoCycling, Special Edition
Revised Disposal Reporting System Regulations

In this issue:

• Revised disposal reporting system regulations
• Editor's note

Revised disposal reporting system regulations

Revised disposal reporting system (DRS) regulations were approved by the Office of Administrative Law in September 2005 and went into effect on January 1, 2006. These regulations were the result of an extensive informal and formal rulemaking process involving thousands of stakeholders. This process was initiated by the legislative mandates of Chapter 740, Statutes of 2000 (Committee on Environmental Quality, SB 2202) and implemented per the SB 2202 recommendation approved by the California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB).

DRS regulations are found in Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations (14 CCR), Chapter 9, Article 9.2, sections 18800–18814.11. You may also view the final approved DRS regulations text. The regulations are organized into stakeholder-specific sections. This structure was designed to be more user-friendly, allowing entities involved in DRS to quickly find the requirements that apply to them. For example, hauling companies would go to the sections on haulers that begin with section 18808 to find their applicable requirements. To find a section of interest, refer to the “DRS regulations table of contents” that are listed below.

DRS regulations table of contents

18800 Scope and Purpose
18801 Definitions
18801.1 Use of Soil for Alternative Daily Cover, Alternative Intermediate Cover, or Beneficial Reuse
18804 Non-compliance
18808 Requirements for a Hauler
18809 Requirements for a Station*
18810 Requirements for a Landfill
18811 Requirements for a Transformation Facility**
18812 Requirements for an Agency***
18813 Requirements for a Jurisdiction
18814 Requirements for a District

* transfer stations and materials recovery facilities (MRF)
** sometimes called waste-to-energy facilities
*** county or regional agency

The following diagram shows how information flows in the DRS, as revised.

Who reports in DRS

*Waste Origin Tracking Requirements:

Survey Frequency:
Origin survey frequency is daily for all compacted loads and for all uncompacted loads greater than 12 cubic yards. For all uncompacted loads less than or equal to 12 cubic yards, origin survey frequency is at least 1 week/quarter survey.

NOTE: Rural facilities are allowed to use 1 week/quarter survey for all loads (minimum requirement).

Records:
Origin information form public contract haulers must be based on dispatcher records or hauling routes, billing, or other relevant records. Access to records must be provided to affected parties.
 

To assist various entities in complying with the regulations, the CIWMB is developing various optional tools, including:

• A model request template for an exemption from the scales requirement or implementation of an alternative weighing system.
• A model template of a station (transfer station or materials recovery facility [MRF]) notification of disposal information to counties.
• An electronic disposal reporting data system.
• Training modules for waste haulers, solid waste facility operators, and counties that may be used to satisfy the training requirements.
   

The remainder of this article highlights the regulatory changes. Also featured is information on ways local governments and facility operators exceed the State’s minimum requirements using their own local authority. Finally, sources of additional information are included at the end of the article.

Please note that this article summarizes key concepts in the regulations and can help in understanding the requirements. However, we recommend you consult the actual text of the regulations, if you have specific questions.

Rural considerations

The revised DRS regulations contain reduced requirements for facilities located in rural cities and counties. Rural cities and counties are defined in Public Resources Code sections 40183 and 40184. The reduced rural requirements are in the scales and weighing and origin surveys sections of the regulations (14 CCR sections 18809.2[b], 18809.6[b], 18810.2[b], 18810.6[b], and 18811.6[b]). The rural requirements are discussed later in this article under “Scales and weighing at solid waste facilities” and “Origin surveys: Determining where the waste is from.”

At a glance: How the revised regulations affect you

Summarized below are the DRS requirements for various entities that will be in effect January 1, 2006. These are the minimum State requirements; local requirements may exceed the State requirements.
To understand the regulatory requirements, it is important to understand the difference between daily tracking of information and quarterly reporting of summary information.

Daily tracking, for the purposes of DRS, means to collect information on where the waste is from and tonnage information as set in the regulations and further described in this article. Quarterly reporting, for the purposes of DRS, means to compile the daily information on where the waste is from and tonnage gathered throughout the quarter and to report to the agency the quarterly totals assigned to each city and county. “Agency” usually refers to the county as the local agency responsible for compiling the disposal information from haulers and operators, unless a Board-approved regional agency has been given the responsibility as part of a regional agreement. Agencies send quarterly summary information to the individual cities and counties.

Waste haulers

The DRS regulations set requirements for public contract haulers. Public contract haulers are waste haulers, public and privately owned, that charge residents and businesses a fee to haul their waste to a transfer station, MRF, landfill, or transformation (waste-to-energy) facility.

• Information on where the waste is from (origin) that is provided to facility operators must be based on company records—such as billing records—or records of hauling routes and waste generator locations.
• When requested by a facility, origin must be provided for every load of potential reuse material (for example, green waste), C&D/inert debris, designated waste, and disaster waste.
• Most public contract hauler loads will be subject to daily origin surveys (exception: loads hauled to rural facilities may still be surveyed during the one-week-per-quarter survey period as before).
• Must train employees on DRS requirements as they relate to employees’ job duties.
• Send export report to county or regional agency with the solid waste facility name and location (state, country, or Indian country) for all waste that is exported by each city or county.
• Must provide access to records and follow specified time frames when a DRS records review is requested.
• Requests to review records that could potentially compromise confidentiality are handled by CIWMB using a process defined in statute.

Permitted transfer stations and MRFs

• Must train employees on DRS requirements as they relate to employees’ job duties.
• Send export report to county or regional agency with the solid waste facility name and location (state, country, or Indian country) for all waste that is exported by each city or county.
• Quarterly notifications of DRS information, including amounts of waste assigned to cities or counties, must be submitted to counties or regional agencies.
• Annual reports on methods used at the facility must be submitted to counties or regional agencies.
• Track all C&D/inert debris, beneficial reuse, and disaster waste loads and the city or county they come from.
• Upon request, report information directly to a city or county.
• Must provide access to records and follow specified time frames when a DRS records review is requested.
• Requests to review records that could potentially compromise confidentiality are handled by CIWMB using a process defined in statute.

Permitted landfills and transformation facilities

• Must train employees on DRS requirements as they relate to employees’ job duties.
• Annual reports on methods used at the facility must be submitted to counties or regional agencies.
• Track all C&D/inert debris, beneficial reuse, designated waste, and disaster waste loads and the city or county they come from.
• Report total tons of waste received from each city or county.
• Upon request, report information directly to a city or county.
• Must provide access to records and follow specified time frames when a DRS records review is requested.
• Requests to review records that could potentially compromise confidentiality are handled by CIWMB using a process defined in statute.

Agencies (county and regional agency disposal report coordinators)

• Must train employees on DRS requirements as they relate to employees’ job duties.
• Combine quarterly reports from landfills and transformation facilities.
• Report total tons of waste received from each city or county per facility (as reported by landfills and transformation facilities) to the CIWMB and also report to each affected city or county.
• Must provide access to records and follow specified time frames when a DRS records review is requested.
• Records requests that could potentially compromise confidentiality are handled by CIWMB using a process defined in statute.

Jurisdictions

• For a city or county that serves as a hauler or operator, follow the appropriate hauler or facility operator requirements.

Districts

Regulations apply to community service districts, sanitary districts, and public utility districts if they provide waste handling services or implement source reduction and recycling programs.

• If the district operates as a hauler or waste facility operator, the district follows the regulations applicable to haulers or operators.

Definitions

The definitions of terms used in the regulations have undergone many changes. These definitions are found in section 18801. In addition, a new section 18801.1 clarifies that clean and contaminated soil are not included in alternative daily cover (ADC) or alternative intermediate cover (AIC). Soil has historically been used as cover material and for other beneficial reuse so it does not qualify as an alternative material. Soil used as cover or for other beneficial reuse at a landfill counts neither as disposal nor as diversion.

Scales and weighing at solid waste facilities

DRS regulations have always required landfill and transformation facility operators to determine disposal amounts and report the waste amounts in terms of tons. However, methods for determining the weight of waste were not specified in the original regulations.

While some solid waste facilities have weighed the waste, others have used a variety of volumetric conversion factors to estimate the weight of waste loads. The result has been inconsistency statewide in weight estimation methods that can impact the accuracy of disposal information. To address the need for increased accuracy and statewide consistency of tonnage reporting, new requirements to use scales to weigh waste have been added to the regulations.

Scale requirements

Scales are required at transfer stations, MRFs, and landfills that:

1. Receive an annual average of more than 100 tons per day and
2. Operate more than 52 days per year.

For transfer stations, MRFs, and landfills located in rural cities or counties, scales are required if a site:

1. Receives an average of more than 200 tons per day and
2. Operates more than 52 days per year.

Scales are required at all transformation facilities. The state’s three permitted transformation facilities already have scales.The scales requirements were developed with stakeholder input. During the development of the revised regulations, the CIWMB identified only four transfer stations and three landfills without scales that would be required by the regulations to install scales. However, the regulations include provisions for a facility to request an exemption from the scales requirement if installation of scales creates a hardship. The CIWMB will provide an optional model that facilities may use to request an exemption from the scales requirement.

A transfer station, MRF, or landfill that is required to have scales must install the scales by January 1, 2007, unless the CIWMB approves an exemption request for the facility.

Weighing requirements

A transfer station or MRF that sends loads to be weighed at destination landfills or transformation facilities would not be required to weigh loads at the transfer station or MRF. This is an automatic alternative to the minimum weighing requirements and does not require the transfer station or MRF to get prior approval from the CIWMB.

At all facilities required to have scales, the following loads must be weighed:

• All compacted loads, regardless of load size.
• All uncompacted loads greater than 12 cubic yards.

Loads do not have to be weighed if any of the following apply:

• The load is uncompacted, with a volume of 12 cubic yards or less.
• A transfer station or MRF has waste weighed at destination facilities rather than upon receipt at the transfer station or MRF.

Additionally, the regulations include provisions for a facility to request approval of an alternative weighing system for weighing waste. The CIWMB will provide an optional model that facilities may use to request an alternative weighing system.

Conversion factors

When loads are not weighed, tonnage for the load must be determined using volumetric conversion factors. A transfer station, MRF, or landfill that does not have scales must use reasonable, documented conversion factors for vehicle, trailer, and load types generally seen at the facility.
Facilities required to have scales must establish their own conversion factors for vehicle, trailer, and/or load types typical of their facilities based on weight data obtained during a seven-day survey period. Conversion factors must be determined every five years. More details on establishing conversion factors are found in the regulations under sections 18809.2, 18810.2, and 18811.2.

Origin surveys: Determining where waste is from

A key feature of DRS is the assigning of the amounts of waste disposed to the cities, counties, and regional agencies where waste comes from. Origin surveys are an important part of this process. During origin surveys, solid waste facility operators record where haulers say their waste is from. Each load of waste must be assigned to at least one city, county, or regional agency. Haulers, transfer station operators, and MRF operators that haul waste to a receiving facility are responsible for identifying the city or county of origin of the loads they collect. The information is then recorded at the receiving facility.

If a facility does not have gatehouse staff to collect the origin information, the waste is assigned to the city or county in which the facility is located and further identified as “no attendant host assigned” in the quarterly report to the county or regional agency.

If a delivering hauler or facility operator will not say where the waste is from and they are not sending information directly to the receiving facility, then the receiving facility assigns the waste to the city or county in which the facility is located and further identifies it as “host assigned.” In this case, the facility operator also notifies the county or regional agency of the hauler’s or operator’s failure to comply with the waste origin requirements.

Sometimes a single load contains waste that comes from more than one city or county, so each city or county would need to be identified, recorded, and assigned a percentage of the load. The percentage assigned to each city or county for mixed loads may be based on the total tons collected, the total bin capacity, or the total number of bins emptied for each jurisdiction. Additionally, if waste density differences are known, they should be used to figure each city’s or county’s portion of the waste in the load.

Public contract haulers (including franchise haulers and persons involved in a solid waste enterprise or solid waste handling services) must assign waste to cities and counties based on relevant company records such as records of hauler routes and waste generator locations or billing records. This requirement applies regardless of which facility the hauler uses.

To improve accuracy, daily surveys of the majority of the state’s waste tonnage is now required. For a facility that is not in a rural area, the origin must be gathered daily for every compacted load and every uncompacted load greater than 12 cubic yards. Information on where uncompacted loads of 12 cubic yards and less are from must be collected, at a minimum, one week per quarter during the standard period set in the original regulations. See the “Standard survey weeks” below.

At facilities in rural cities and counties, the requirement to survey where the waste is from has not changed. Information on where the waste is from must be obtained for all loads during a minimum of one week per quarter during the standard period. See the “Standard survey weeks” below.

Standard survey weeks:

First quarter: March 8–14
Second quarter: June 8–14
Third quarter: September 8–14
Fourth quarter: December 8–14

The frequency of collecting information on where the waste is from contained in the regulations represents the statewide minimum requirements. Local agencies, waste hauling companies, and solid waste facilities may have different requirements established under their own authority and/or contracts.

At the end of the quarter, the information provided for all loads is compiled for each city or county; the facility operator reports summary quarterly disposal tonnage assigned to each city or county to the agency (county or CIWMB-approved regional agency). For waste origin data gathered during daily surveys, the actual tons are assigned and reported based on the origin information provided by the haulers, transfer station operators, and MRF operators each day. For data collected during a survey week, the operator must calculate the tons of waste assigned to each city or county based on the percentage of waste accepted from each city or county. The total quarterly tons assigned to each city or county is equal to the sum of daily survey (actual) tons and one-week-per-quarter survey (calculated) tons, as applicable.

Each facility is encouraged to post signs informing haulers of the origin survey in their primary languages. Many facilities already have posted such signs to notify their customers that they will need to provide the origin of their loads. (See sign below.)

Tracking waste received

All loads of ADC and AIC must already be tracked by material type and by city or county on a daily basis. This information is included in the quarterly DRS reports. In the revised regulations, additional categories of waste must also be tracked for each load each day of facility operation.
These categories are construction and demolition debris/inert debris disposed and disaster waste disposed.

In addition, landfills and transformation facilities must track designated waste disposed, by material type and by city or county for each load. While these categories are not required to be broken out in the quarterly reports, facilities are required to provide cities or counties with documentation for the assigning of these wastes, upon request. As with other information collected for DRS, facilities will need to keep records of this data for a minimum of three years.

New quarterly reporting

Transfer stations and MRFs

The revised regulations require each transfer station and MRF operator to send a quarterly notification to the county in which the transfer station or MRF is located and also to each other county to which the transfer station or MRF sent waste for disposal. The CIWMB will provide an optional model notification that may be used to satisfy this new reporting requirement. Information reported in the quarterly notification includes:

• Name and SWIS number for each facility to which waste was sent.
• Percentage of waste assigned to each city or county.
• Total estimated tons sent to each facility from the transfer station or MRF.
• Total tons of potential beneficial reuse by material type and the amounts assigned to each city or county.
• Total tons of material sent off-site for reuse, recycling, or composting.
• A brief description of methods used to determine the cities or counties of origin.

Note: DRS regulations continue to require transfer station and MRF operators to provide cities’ or counties’ percentages of assigned waste to each solid waste facility to which they haul waste each quarter. The assigned percentages for each city or county may be determined based on the amount of waste accepted, the amount of waste accepted after adjusting for diversion, or another reasonable method.

New annual report of facility disposal reporting methods

The regulations require a new annual report of each facility’s methods related to DRS. The report is sent to the agency along with the fourth quarter DRS data and is due March 15 of the year following the reporting year. Agencies forward copies of these reports and submit them to CIWMB by April 15 each year.

The table on page 10 shows the minimum data required from operators of each type of reporting facility—transfer stations, MRFs, landfills, and transformation facilities. A check mark (√) indicates that a requirement listed in the left-hand column applies to a given facility (transfer station, MRF, landfill, or transformation facility). Below the check marks are subsection references of the actual regulatory text requiring the report item. (See the Annual Methods Report table on page 10.) For example, “(6)” under the “Landfills (14 CCR §18810.9[h])” column refers to the requirement for operators to report the number and type of scales used at the landfill as set in 14 CCR section 18810.9(h)(6).

Annual Methods Report

Reporting due dates

Some quarterly reporting due dates have been modified from the original regulations to allow more time for information to pass from transfer stations or MRFs to receiving facility operators. The due dates for information and reports are summarized in the following two tables. Table 1 below shows the due dates for information to be provided to facilities. Table 2, on page 12, shows the due dates for reports to agencies, the CIWMB, and jurisdictions (cities or counties).

Note: These are the State’s minimum requirements for reporting due dates. Under local authority, other reporting due dates may apply.

Table 1: Due dates for information to facilities

Table 2: Reports to agencies, the CIWMB, and jurisdictions (cities or counties)

* Upon request, reports may be sent to jurisdictions or made available to jurisdictions using the Board’s electronic filing.
** Transfer station, MRF, landfill, and transformation facility operators also submit annual reports on facility methods to agencies on this date.

Records

Records on disposal reporting calculations and methods must be maintained for a minimum of three years by all entities involved in DRS. Haulers, operators, agencies, cities or counties, and districts must allow affected parties to review their records. The revised regulations now specify a time frame for providing access to records and for providing copies of records upon request. Additionally, all parties must respond to written requests for clarification of information.

To protect proprietary information, specific provisions have been added to the regulations. First, haulers and operators may only inspect records relating to their own operations. Second, for situations in which a hauler or operator receives a request for information they believe to be confidential or proprietary, there is a process that allows the CIWMB to make a determination regarding which records may be inspected.

Training

In order to effectively comply with the requirements of DRS, employees must be adequately trained in their roles in the DRS. Well-trained employees will help ensure that the data gathered and reported is as accurate as possible. The new training requirements are flexible. It is up to the employer to identify the employees whose jobs involve DRS and to provide them with training in the requirements that impact their jobs.

For example, training for gatehouse staff would most likely include information such as how to get accurate information on where the waste is from and how to determine which loads of waste to weigh. In another example, a county disposal report preparer would need to have knowledge of such things as the content of disposal reports, to whom the reports must be sent, and the report due dates. Optional training modules will be made available to assist employers with meeting the training requirements of the DRS regulations.

Non-Compliance

The revised regulations have increased consequences for non-compliance as well as a more detailed process for reporting and considering non-compliance issues. If haulers, facility operators, or cities and counties do not get information they need from other parties in the DRS, then they submit written complaints to the agency to be forwarded to the CIWMB. In the event the complaint concerns the agency, then it goes directly to the CIWMB.

CIWMB staff will work with the parties to resolve the complaint whenever possible. If an issue cannot be resolved at the staff level, then the issue may be presented to the CIWMB for resolution at a public meeting if merited. If the CIWMB finds that a hauler or operator is not in compliance, they may publish the name of the hauler or operator on the CIWMB enforcement website, inform affected cities or counties of the finding of non-compliance, or take another action they deem appropriate.

Note: During the rulemaking process, several stakeholders recommended including a provision for fines as a more effective tool for dealing with DRS non-compliance. The Legislature would need to change statute to allow fines for DRS non-compliance.

Use of local authority to exceed minimum requirements

DRS regulations set minimum disposal reporting requirements. However, local governments, hauling companies, and facility operators have the option of imposing stricter requirements on haulers and operators based on their own authority. Many local requirements have already been implemented throughout California. Two examples are highlighted below.

Waste Disposal Origin Reporting System at Puente Hills Landfill in Los Angeles County

County Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County implemented a system of registering vehicles that haul waste to Puente Hills Landfill in order to obtain data on the origin of waste delivered to the landfill.

All applicable customers must present a completed Waste Origin Report Form at the scales every time they use the landfill for disposal. The haulers name the cities or unincorporated areas where the refuse originated, including collection routes and site addresses.
This method is particularly useful for verifying information on self-haul customers that pay cash. Without registering haulers and their refuse collection information it would be virtually impossible to verify jurisdictions of origin. More information can be found on the Puente Hills Landfill website.

Sacramento Regional Solid Waste Authority Ordinance

To obtain more accurate jurisdiction of origin data, Sacramento Regional Solid Waste Authority implemented an ordinance requiring continuous, daily origin surveys at all local enforcement agency-regulated landfills, transfer stations, processing facilities, composting facilities, and recycling facilities. The ordinance requires surveys of all loads of waste, recyclables, green material, and other materials received at these facilities every day of operation. These requirements exceed the minimum survey requirements of the revised regulations, based on local authority. Sacramento County staff has indicated that the extra time needed to ask the origin of each load is negligible. The extra time invested in conducting the additional surveys means the origin information does not have to be extrapolated as it would if the county required facilities to only survey during the standard survey weeks.
This in turn eliminates the allocation errors associated with extrapolation. More information can be found on the SWA website under the SWA Ordinances Section.

Conclusions and more information

Please note that this article summarizes key concepts in the regulations and can help in understanding the requirements. However, we recommend you consult the actual text of the regulations if you have specific questions. The actual regulatory text may be found on the CIWMB website and will be published in Barclays California Code of Regulations.

Additionally, summary charts are available which summarize the key concepts of the revised regulations and compare the revised requirements to the previous
requirements.

Contact information

For questions related to the regulatory revisions, contact Diane Shimizu at (916) 341-6205. Other questions regarding DRS and other CIWMB programs may be directed to WasteLine. Or, call WasteLine’s voicemail at (916) 341-6675. Board staff contact WasteLine customers within one business day of their requests.

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Editor’s note

Look for upcoming articles in the Winter 2006 Edition of infoCycling on the California Zero Waste website, ADC, and much more.

Please contact me with suggestions on articles you would like to see included in infoCycling and announcements of events in your jurisdiction or at your State agency. You can reach me at (916) 341-6240.

Thanks,

Tracy
 

Last updated: December 28, 2007