Talking Trash: Recyclables and Organic Waste.*

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. The respondent disagrees wholly or partially with the finding, in which case the response shall specify the portion of the finding that is disputed and shall include an explanation of the reasons thereof. The City lacks knowledge and information sufficient to reach this conclusion. The City does not know what other Orange County jurisdictions do regarding residential container requirements. The City can only comment on its own effort. The City currently complies with the Cal Recycle standardized colors for all residential containers under its current hauler agreement and will require its hauler to distribute new residential containers that meet the CalRecycle standardized colors under its new solid waste agreement effective July 1, 2025. www.lakeforestca.gov 1

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. The respondent disagrees wholly or partially with the finding, in which case the response shall specify the portion of the finding that is disputed and shall include an explanation of the reasons thereof. The City has not designated the task of imposing and collecting fines from residents to its hauler. Instead, fines for noncompliance will be managed by the City. The City has taken steps to include the proper regulation mechanisms in its current ordinance and in the two latest adopted hauler agreements for solid waste and recycling services. The City has initiated enforcement through inspections and data collection as specified in the City's ordinance.

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. The respondent agrees with the finding. For its part, the City has not yet determined where revenues from fines for noncompliance will go. The City currently has an Organics Waste Recycling Special Revenue Fund that is used to account for restricted revenues and expenditures for the purpose of organics waste recycling activities pursuant to SB 1383.

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. The respondent disagrees wholly or partially with the finding, in which case the response shall specify the portion of the finding that is disputed and shall include an explanation of the reasons thereof. The City lacks knowledge and information sufficient to reach this conclusion. The City does not know what other Orange County jurisdictions do regarding this . . finding and can only comment on its own effort. For its part, the City has implemented an education and outreach plan that goes beyond intermittent hard- copy paper mailings. The City has an ongoing educational campaign which includes extensive social media presence and engagement tracking. There will be several additional touchpoints prior to July 1, 2025, including new kitchen pail deliveries, letters to residents, bill inserts, videos, social media posts, and more.

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. The respondent disagrees wholly or partially with the finding, in which case the response shall specify the portion of the finding that is disputed and shall include an explanation of the reasons thereof. The City lacks knowledge and information sufficient to reach this conclusion. The City does not know what other Orange County jurisdictions do regarding this finding and can only comment on its own effort. It is unclear as what is meant by accurately determining the effectiveness of the cities' outreach and education efforts. The City has taken steps to educate members of the public about SB 1383 regulations and requirements and tracks diversion rates. However, the City is unable to comment on whether these metrics accurately determine the effectiveness of these outreach efforts and education. How is effectiveness defined? The City, for its part, has no way to measure whether residents understand the law and its applicability, or whether they are convinced of its wisdom from a policy perspective.

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. The respondent disagrees wholly or partially with the finding, in which case the response shall specify the portion of the finding that is disputed and shall include an explanation of the reasons thereof. The City lacks knowledge and information sufficient to reach this conclusion. Capacity planning for composting facilities is a County responsibility. The City continues to cooperate with and look to the County for leadership on this matter.

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. . The respondent disagrees wholly or partially with the finding, in which case the response shall specify the portion of the finding that is disputed and shall include an explanation of the reasons thereof. The City lacks knowledge and information sufficient to reach this conclusion. The City does not have vehicles that run on RNG in its fleet.

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. The respondent agrees with the finding. A jurisdiction's population density or geographic size (square miles) was not considered in the formula used by the State to calculate the procurement targets for a jurisdiction. This particular metric was developed with little consideration of the unique characteristics of each city.

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. The respondent disagrees wholly or partially with the finding, in which case the response shall specify the portion of the finding that is disputed and shall include an explanation of the reasons thereof. The City lacks knowledge and information sufficient to reach this conclusion. The City does not know what other Orange County jurisdictions do regarding progress towards SB 1383 deadlines. The City can only comment on its own effort. The City met its 2022 procurement target and is currently reviewing its 2023 procurement target. The City lacks information to determine if the state- wide seventy-five percent reduction target will be achieved by the 2025 deadline.

The current procurement requirements mandated by SB 1383 are unrealistic and likely unachievable by most jurisdictions. The respondent agrees with the finding. The procurement requirements mandated by SB 1383 are unrealistic for the City. 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. Since the City has a greater population density for its geographic size, this has resulted in the mandating of unrealistic procurement requirements for the City. Responses to Recommendations