City of Dana Point Office of the City Manager September 10, 2020 Kirk H. Nakamura Presiding Judge of the Superior Court*

In nine of the ten cities investigated, the waste hauler has been the sole source provider to their respective city(s) anywhere from 39 to 72 years. Where there is an opportunity for service providers to compete, there is an opportunity for competitive bidding, which may result in improvements in cost and performance. Response: The City partially disagrees with the Grand Jury's finding. More information in that regard is provided below. The City of Dana Point's original contract with SOLAG (now CR&R) became effective thirty-one years ago on November 28, 1989, through September 30, 2006. The new Franchise Agreement commenced on January 1, 2007, with an original termination date of June 30, 2019. Due to needed service enhancements and changes in regulations, the Franchise Agreement was amended since the original approval date as follows: On December 3, 2013, the Second Amendment to the contract term was approved and extended . the term through June 30, 2021. This two-year term extension provided an On-Call Door to Door Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Collection Program for Dana Point residents, as well as an enclosed and contained residential cart cleaning service in compliance with the City's Water Quality Best Management Practices (BMPs). These programs are free of charge to residents and did not result in residential rate increases when service was implemented on January 1, 2014. On December 3, 2019, the Third Amendment to the contract term was approved and extended • the term through June 30, 2024. This three-year term extension allowed for the inclusion of a residential organics (both green waste and food waste) recycling program processed through CR&R's Anaerobic Digestor (AD) facility, and also gave the City access to mulch produced from the recycled food waste to utilize as a soil amendment in City parks and open spaces. Both of these added services are in compliance with the SB1383 mandate. Though the City has maintained a lengthy contract with CR&R over the years, each contract amendment has resulted in improvements to the service offerings to the Dana Point community. Dana Point has enjoyed having the lowest residential service rate in the Quad City area (Dana Point, Laguna Niguel, San Juan Capistrano and San Clemente) since January 2007. Additionally, Dana Point has the lowest residential rate of the CR&R municipalities interviewed by the Grand Jury for this report.

The labeling on residential bins are not always legible or have comprehensive enough instructions laminated or otherwise made a part of the lid, especially with regards to single-use plastic shopping bags. Education and outreach efforts need to be reinforced as often as possible and a visual reminder on the recycle container will help alleviate confusion. Response: The City partially disagrees with the Grand Jury's finding. More information in that regard is provided below. As a coastal city, Dana Point has always had a strong interest in protecting the ocean, local beaches and marine environment, which contribute to the unique quality of life enjoyed by the community. On February 12, 2012, the Dana Point City Council voted to ban the distribution of single-use plastic carry-out bags at the point of sale within City boundaries. Though ordinance implementation was tiered, it went into effect on October 1, 2013, for all affected retail establishments. In November of 2016, California voters approved Prop 67, making the ban on single-use plastic bags State law. This State law did not affect the local ordinance in effect in Dana Point. Though Governor Newsom issued Executive Order N-54-20, which reinstated the use of single-use plastic bags for a temporary period of 60 days (this order expired on June 22, 2020), the use of single-use plastic bags in Dana Point over the past seven years would seemingly be rare (with the exception of the exemptions which include bags for produce, newspapers, unprepared meat, bulk food and prepared take- out food). The cost for CR&R to add this message to all residential recycling carts would outweigh the realistic purpose and need with a ban on single-use plastic bags due to Prop 67.

Orange County Waste and Recycling as well as the waste haulers provide helpful recycling education to the public where contractually required to do so. It is the Grand Jury's view that most cities delegate much of the customer's/public education efforts to the waste haulers. Contracts indicate both parties are responsible for educating the public. . Response: The City agrees with the Grand Jury's finding. More information in that regard is provided below. The City of Dana Point's Franchise Agreement requires our hauler, CR&R, to provide one full-time employee and one part-time employee to serve as Recycling/Sustainability Coordinators to provide education, outreach and waste auditing needs to ensure the City remains in compliance with State mandated recycling and diversion laws. As State regulations are getting more and more expansive, Dana Point's staff would simply not be able to manage the voluminous tasks required by CalRecycle without the required help of our hauler. That being said, the City's Solid Waste Coordinator consistently speaks to many residents and businesses every month pertaining to a large variety of questions residents and businesses have about their service, recycling programs available to the community, and questions in general about their solid waste needs, including State mandates. The City takes this role very seriously in educating the public about recycling and diversion.