On October 5, 2021, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Senate Bill 619, which provides local jurisdictions relief from administrative civil penalties from continuing violations for non-compliance with SB 1383 regulations. SB 1383, the Short-Lived Climate Pollutants Organics Waste Reduction, became effective January 1, 2022, and it mandates all local jurisdictions, including counties, cities and special districts, to implement residential organic waste recycling programs. Further, cities must file an NOIC by March 1, 2022, and disclose in their submittals the following:

•  A description of all SB 1383 continuing violations
•  A justification for non-compliance
•  A description of the impacts of the COVID-19  pandemic on compliance
•  A description of the proposed actions the District will take to remedy the violations with a proposed schedule for doing so

CalRecycle, the state regulatory agency enforcing the recycling regulations, may retroactively penalize local jurisdictions for failing to adhere to agreed-upon NOIC plans, though jurisdictions may qualify for broader and longer-term regulatory compliance paths if necessary.

Negotiations are currently underway with Republic Services for implementing the SB 1383 residential organic waste program.  Due to delays from the recent Republic Service’s work stoppage and other unforeseen circumstances, negotiations and a proposed final restated and amended contract for an organic waste program is expected to be completed much later in the year. To avoid potential administrative civil penalties from continuing non-compliance violations, the following actions for filing the NOIC represents a conservative timeline, although the District will endeavor to implement the following tasks:

None.

It is recommended that the Sanitary District Board of Directors:

•  Adopt the Resolution Authorizing the Filing of a Notification of Intent to Comply with SB 1383 Regulations.

By: Ana V. Neal, Principal Administrative Analyst