7.35.020 Purpose and Findings

The City finds and declares:

(a) State recycling law, Assembly Bill 939 of 1989, the California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989 (California Public Resources Code Section 40000, et seq., as amended, supplemented, superseded, and replaced from time to time), requires cities and counties to reduce, reuse, and recycle (including composting) Solid Waste generated in their Jurisdictions to the maximum extent feasible before any incineration or landfill disposal of waste, to conserve water, energy, and other natural resources, and to protect the environment.

(b) State recycling law, Assembly Bill 341 of 2011 (approved by the Governor of the State of California on October 5, 2011, which amended Sections 41730, 41731, 41734, 41735, 41736, 41800, 42926, 44004, and 50001 of, and added Sections 40004, 41734.5, and 41780.01 and Chapter 12.8 (commencing with Section 42649) to Part 3 of Division 30 of, and added and repealed Section 41780.02 of, the Public Resources Code, as amended, supplemented, superseded and replaced from time to time), places requirements on businesses and Multi-Family property owners that generate a specified threshold amount of Solid Waste to arrange for recycling services and requires Jurisdictions to implement a Mandatory Commercial Recycling program.

(c) State organics recycling law, Assembly Bill 1826 of 2014 (approved by the Governor of the State of California on September 28, 2014, which added Chapter 12.9 (commencing with Section 42649.8) to Part 3 of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code, relating to Solid Waste, as amended, supplemented, superseded, and replaced from time to time), requires businesses and Multi-Family property owners that generate a specified threshold amount of Solid Waste, Recycling, and Organic Waste per week to arrange for recycling services for that waste, requires Jurisdictions to implement a recycling program to divert Organic Waste from businesses subject to the law, and requires Jurisdictions to implement a Mandatory Commercial Organics Recycling program.

(d) SB 1383, the Short-lived Climate Pollutant Reduction Act of 2016, requires CalRecycle to develop regulations to reduce organics in landfills as a source of methane. The regulations place requirements on multiple entities including Jurisdictions, residential households, Commercial Businesses and business owners, Commercial Edible Food Generators, haulers, Self-Haulers, Food Recovery Organizations, and Food Recovery Services to support achievement of Statewide Organic Waste disposal reduction targets.

(e) SB 1383, the Short-lived Climate Pollutant Reduction Act of 2016, requires Jurisdictions to adopt and enforce an ordinance or enforceable mechanism to implement relevant provisions of SB 1383 Regulations. This ordinance will also help reduce food insecurity by requiring Commercial Edible Food Generators to arrange to have the maximum amount of their Edible Food, that would otherwise be disposed, be recovered for human consumption.

(f) Requirements in this Chapter are consistent with other adopted goals and policies of the City.

(g) Even if the City delegates responsibility for enforcement to another public entity, the City remains ultimately responsible for compliance of this ordinance as required in 14 CCR Section 18981.2(c).

(h) Additionally, the City will implement Recovered Organic Waste Product procurement and Recycled-Content Paper procurement programs in furtherance of these goals.