City of Laguna Woods*

The majority of Orange County jurisdictions have not yet required their haulers to distribute residential containers that meet the CalRecycle standardized colors, leaving legacy and often incorrect or illegible labeling and embossing in place. Response: The City of Laguna Woods disagrees partially with this finding. Based on our understanding of the subject and experience in other cities, we believe it is correct that the distribution of residential containers that meet the CalRecycle standardized colors remains pending in a majority of Orange County jurisdictions, but disagree that the reason is solely because those jurisdictions have not yet required their haulers to do so. While that may be true in some instances, we understand that some jurisdictions are experiencing challenges procuring the required quantities of new containers while others simply intend to complete the distribution of new containers closer to the compliance deadline. The City of Laguna Woods has completed its distribution of new residential containers.

While a jurisdiction may not delegate its overall responsibility for compliance with State requirements to a hauler, some jurisdictions have designated the task of imposing and collecting fines from residents to the hauler in accordance with State law. However, not all jurisdictions are clear on who ultimately receives and retains the collected fines. Response: The City of Laguna Woods disagrees wholly with this finding, but only because we have no direct knowledge regarding the manner in which fines are imposed or collected in other cities. While the City of Laguna Woods has not yet needed to issue fines, should fines become necessary, they would be issued by code enforcement staff and collected by administrative services staff with the assistance of a third-party collection company when necessary. Revenue from fines would be retained by the City, less any fees incurred by the use of third-party collection companies. The City's agreement with its hauler provides very limited authorization for the hauler to issue fines for excessive container contamination. Such delegation is not a prohibited form of delegation under state law. While the hauler has not yet needed to issue fines, should fines become necessary, the hauler would collect and retain revenue from fines that it issues.

All jurisdictions will eventually start collecting fines from residents for noncompliance, but some have not yet determined whether the revenues will go into a waste and recycling enterprise fund or into the jurisdiction's general fund. Response: The City of Laguna Woods disagrees wholly with this finding, but only because we have no direct knowledge regarding other cities' plans relative to the collection of fines. While the City of Laguna Woods has not yet needed to issue fines, should fines become necessary, revenue collected from fines would be deposited in the General Fund, which funds a variety of solid waste-related programs including, but not limited to, household hazardous waste collection, document shredding, and recycling outreach.

In most jurisdictions, education and outreach is a joint effort between jurisdiction, hauler, and sometimes consultants, with the jurisdiction reviewing the materials before publication. The methods of dissemination vary by jurisdiction and hauler but frequently rely on a resident actively seeking the information, which requires the resident to have some awareness of the new mandates in the first place. Most efforts primarily revolve around intermittent hard-copy paper mailings. Response: The City of Laguna Woods disagrees partially with this finding, but only because the City has limited knowledge of education and outreach undertaken in other jurisdictions. In Laguna Woods, most education and outreach is a joint effort between the City and its hauler; the hauler reviews the City's educational materials before they are finalized, and materials are distributed by the City and/or hauler during compliance inspections, in the course of correspondence with residents and businesses, and during community events. The City also disseminates materials through various online publications (City's website, online magazines, and e-blasts), at Laguna Woods City Hall, and on television message boards. Not all of the City's efforts require residents to have some awareness of the new mandates and very little of the City's efforts revolve around intermittent hard-copy paper mailings.

Most jurisdictions currently have no way to accurately determine the effectiveness of their respective education and outreach efforts other than the eventual inspections or audits that will take place. Response: The City of Laguna Woods agrees with this finding. While the City has limited knowledge of education and outreach efforts in other jurisdictions, as is the case with our education and outreach efforts, it is likely that waste audits and compliance inspections are the primary tools used to assess the effectiveness thereof.

There is some concern that there are not enough composting facilities in Orange County to process all organic waste, forcing some jurisdictions/haulers to transport it long distances for processing. Response: The City of Laguna Woods agrees with this finding. The City's organic waste is transported to Perris, California (Riverside County) for processing.

There is currently no infrastructure in the county that is a State-approved source of Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) and energy from organic waste. Jurisdictions that use vehicles running on RNG procured from non-approved sources cannot count that RNG towards fulfillment of their procurement requirement. Response: The City of Laguna Woods disagrees partially with this finding, but only because the City has limited knowledge of available RNG infrastructure. The City obtains its State-approved RNG from an anaerobic digestion facility in Riverside County and is able to count that RNG towards fulfillment of its procurement requirement. The City agrees that jurisdictions that use vehicles running on RNG procured from non-approved sources cannot count that RNG towards fulfillment of their procurement requirement.

The formula used by the State to calculate a jurisdiction's procurement target does not account for a jurisdiction's population density or geographic size (square miles). As such, meeting the annual procurement target presents a significant challenge for most jurisdictions. Response: The City of Laguna Woods agrees with this finding.

Many Orange County jurisdictions were unable to meet the requirement in SB 1383 to reduce organic waste sent to landfills by the 2020 deadline. It is unlikely the required seventy-five percent reduction will be achieved by the 2025 deadline. Response: The City of Laguna Woods disagrees partially with this finding, but only because the referenced deadlines were/are for statewide diversion, rather than jurisdiction- specific diversion. The City agrees that it is unlikely that the statewide goal of reducing total organic waste disposal by 75% by 2025 will be met.

The current procurement requirements mandated by SB 1383 are unrealistic and likely unachievable by most jurisdictions. Response: The City of Laguna Woods disagrees partially with this finding, but only because the City has limited knowledge of the extent to which other jurisdictions are able to comply with current procurement requirements. The City agrees that meeting the annual procurement target presents a significant challenge for most jurisdictions. The City is currently meeting 100% of its annual procurement target by procuring mulch and RNG.