AB 939 (Sher) The Integrated Waste Management Act
Established the "California Integrated Waste Management Act (IWMA) of 1989." Repealed the majority of Title 7.3 of the Government Code, regulating solid waste management, and codified the new Act in the Public Resources Code. Also repealed provisions of the Health and Safety Code, related to garbage and refuse disposal, and codified them in the Public Resources Code. Established an integrated waste management hierarchy to guide the Board and local agencies in implementation, in order of priority: (1) source reduction, (2) recycling and composting, and (3) environmentally safe transformation and land disposal. Included the following major provisions:
- California Integrated Waste Management Board--Replaced
the part-time Solid Waste Management Board with a
six-member California Integrated Waste Management
Board (CIWMB). Required the new Board to include:
one member appointed by the Governor with private
sector experience in the solid waste industry; one
member appointed by the Governor who has served as
an elected or appointed official of a non-profit environmental
protection organization, whose principle purpose is
to promote recycling and the protection of air and
water quality; two members appointed by the Governor
who shall represent the public; one member appointed
by the Senate Committee on Rules who shall represent
the public; and one member appointed by the Speaker
of the Assembly who shall represent the public.
- Integrated Waste Management Planning--Replaced
the County Solid Waste Management Plan (CoSWMP) with
an Integrated Waste Management Plan (IWMP). Required
each county to establish a task force to coordinate
the development of city Source Reduction and Recycling
Elements (SRREs) and a countywide siting element .
Required each city, by 7/1/91, to prepare, adopt and
submit a SRRE to the county which includes the following
components: waste characterization; source reduction;
recycling; composting; solid waste facility capacity;
education and public information; funding; special
waste (asbestos, sewage sludge, etc.); and household
hazardous waste. Also required each county, by 1/1/91,
to prepare a SRRE for its unincorporated area, with
the same components described above, and a countywide
siting element, specifying areas for transformation
or disposal sites to provide capacity for solid waste
generated in the jurisdiction which cannot be reduced
or recycled for a 15 year period. Required each county
to prepare, adopt, and submit to the Board an Integrated
Waste Management Plan (IWMP), which includes all of
the elements described above, according to the following
schedule: by 1/1/92 for counties with less than 5
years landfill capacity; by 1/1/93 for counties with
5 to 8 years landfill capacity; by 1/1/94 for counties
with more than 8 years landfill capacity.
- Waste Diversion Mandates--Required each city
or county plan to include an implementation schedule
which shows: diversion of 25 percent of all solid
waste from landfill or transformation facilities by
January 1, 1995 through source reduction, recycling,
and composting activities; and, diversion of 50 percent
of all solid waste by January 1, 2000 through source
reduction, recycling, and composting activities. Excluded
agricultural wastes, inert wastes and other wastes
not normally disposed of at landfills. Authorized
any plan submitted after 1/1/95 to include up to 10
percent transformation in achieving its 50 percent
diversion goal, provided front-end removal of recyclable
materials and other specified conditions are met.
Authorized the Board to exempt a city or county from
these goals or to reduce the requirements if the city
or county demonstrates that attainment of the goals
is not feasible due to the small geographic size of
the jurisdiction and the small quantity of waste generated.
Authorized the Board to establish an alternative goal
to the 50 percent requirement, after 1/1/95, if the
Board finds that the local agency is effectively implementing
all source reduction, recycling, and composting measures
to the maximum extent feasible. Also authorized the
Board to reduce the goals for any city or county which,
prior to 1/1/89, disposed of 75 percent or more of
its solid waste by transformation, provided that attainment
of the 25 percent or 50 percent waste diversion goals
would impair existing contracts, or would interfere
with repayment of debt incurred to finance a transformation
project.
- Board Review of IWMPs and Plan Implementation--Required
the Board to approve or disapprove a city element
or a county plan within 120 days of receipt. Required
the Board to issue a notice of deficiency with specific
recommendations for corrections, if an element or
plan is disapproved, providing 120 days in which the
city or county must correct the document and resubmit
it to the Board. Required the Board to conduct a public
hearing on any element or plan which still fails to
meet the requirements after the revision, and authorized
the Board to impose administrative civil penalties
of up to $10,000 per day for failure to submit an
adequate plan. Also required the Board to review the
implementation of each SRRE at least once every two
years. Authorized the Board, if it finds, after a
public hearing, that the city or county has failed
to implement its element, to issue an order of compliance
with a specific schedule. Also authorized the Board
to impose administrative civil penalties of up to
$10,000 per day for continued failure to comply. Required
each city to review its element and each county its
plan at least once every five years to correct deficiencies,
comply with the waste diversion requirements, and
revise documents as necessary.
- Permitting and Enforcement--Established a
comprehensive statewide system of permitting, inspections,
enforcement, and maintenance for solid waste facilities.
Required the Board to adopt minimum standards for
solid waste handling and disposal to protect air,
water, and land from pollution. Required the Board,
by 1/1/94, to establish minimum standards requiring
operators of solid waste facilities to provide assurance
of financial ability to respond to possible damage
claims. Required the Board, by 8/1/91, to prepare
and adopt certification regulations specifying requirements
that a local agency shall meet before being designated
as a Local Enforcement Agency (LEA). Required the
Board, in conjunction with an inspection conducted
by an LEA, to conduct at least one inspection per
year of each solid waste facility in the state.
- Financing--Authorized local jurisdictions to impose fees based on the types or amounts of solid waste generated to be used to pay actual costs incurred in preparing, adopting and implementing integrated waste management plans, as well as in setting and collecting the local fees. Also provided that state planning, implementation and operating costs be funded by a fee collected by every operator of a solid waste landfill and paid quarterly to the Board of Equalization, based on all solid waste disposed of at each disposal site, after 1/1/90. Set the fee initially at 50 cents per ton through 6/30/90; at an amount sufficient to generate the 1990-91 funding, but not to exceed 75 cents per ton from 7/1/90 through 6/30/91; and, from 7/1/91, at an amount sufficient to generate funding for each fiscal year, but not to exceed one dollar per ton. (Chapter 1095)
This page last updated May 6, 2002