Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

S-0489.1
                               SENATE BILL 5286
     State of Washington       67th Legislature       2021 Regular Session
     By Senators Das, Saldaña, Dhingra, Kuderer, Lovelett, Nguyen, Nobles,
     Randall, Salomon, and Wilson, C.
     Read first time 01/19/21.     Referred to Committee on Environment,
     Energy & Technology.
      AN ACT Relating to establishing a statewide organic waste
  management   goal;   amending RCW 70A.205.015, 70A.205.050, and
  70A.205.055; adding a new section to chapter 70A.205 RCW; and
  creating a new section.
  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
     NEW SECTION.   Sec. 1.  The legislature finds that management of
 organic waste is an essential component of the state's solid waste
 management system. Proper management of organic waste provides many
 environmental and economic benefits to the state, local governments,
 residents, and businesses. Composting, anaerobic digestion, and other
 forms of organic waste management can mitigate climate change by
 reducing our carbon footprint through increased carbon sequestration,
 when compost or recycled organic materials are applied to soil
 systems, and through the useful diversion of organic waste from
 landfills, where the waste would otherwise produce carbon intensive
 methane emissions. This diversion of organic waste creates a savings
 in space for landfills that are already overstressed by the current
 demand for waste disposal.
     Furthermore, recycling of organic waste contributes to a circular
 economy by eliminating waste, keeping local products and material in
 use, and regenerating natural systems. Compost and other recycled
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 organic waste products also enrich soil, improve soil structure, and
 reduce the need for chemical fertilizers, providing beneficial
 applications in agriculture, postconstruction soil conditioning,
 infrastructure projects, horticulture, stormwater filtration, and
 erosion control.
     The legislature also finds that interpretation and implementation
 of permitting requirements for organic waste processors across the
 state can vary among local jurisdictions. This and other siting
 requirements can cause barriers to the establishment of new
 composting   facilities  and   the  expansion   of  existing  compost
 facilities.
     Therefore, the legislature intends to establish a statewide
 organic waste management goal to be accomplished over the next decade
 in order to promote the reduction of organic waste resources going to
 landfills, the diversification of how organic waste is managed, the
 identification of technologies and methods for carbon sequestration,
 and the comprehensive use of compost and other recycled organic waste
 products by state and local governments, residents, and businesses to
 facilitate the growth of organic waste processing statewide.
     Sec. 2. RCW 70A.205.015 and 2020 c 20 s 1161 are each amended to
 read as follows:
     As used in this chapter, unless the context indicates otherwise:
     (1) "City" means every incorporated city and town.
     (2)   "Commission"   means  the   utilities   and   transportation
 commission.
     (3) "Composted material" means organic solid waste that has been
 subjected to controlled aerobic degradation at a solid waste facility
 in compliance with the requirements of this chapter. Natural decay of
 organic solid waste under uncontrolled conditions does not result in
 composted material.
     (4) "Department" means the department of ecology.
     (5) "Director" means the director of the department of ecology.
     (6) "Disposal site" means the location where any final treatment,
 utilization, processing, or deposit of solid waste occurs.
     (7) "Energy recovery" means a process operating under federal and
 state environmental laws and regulations for converting solid waste
 into usable energy and for reducing the volume of solid waste.
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     (8) "Functional standards" means criteria for solid waste
 handling expressed in terms of expected performance or solid waste
 handling functions.
     (9) "Incineration" means a process of reducing the volume of
 solid waste operating under federal and state environmental laws and
 regulations by use of an enclosed device using controlled flame
 combustion.
     (10) "Inert waste landfill" means a landfill that receives only
 inert waste, as determined under RCW 70A.205.030, and includes
 facilities that use inert wastes as a component of fill.
     (11) "Jurisdictional health department" means city, county, city-
 county, or district public health department.
     (12) "Landfill" means a disposal facility or part of a facility
 at which solid waste is placed in or on land and which is not a land
 treatment facility.
     (13) "Local government" means a city, town, or county.
     (14) "Modify" means to substantially change the design or
 operational plans including, but not limited to, removal of a design
 element previously set forth in a permit application or the addition
 of a disposal or processing activity that is not approved in the
 permit.
     (15) "Multiple-family residence" means any structure housing two
 or more dwelling units.
     (16) "Person" means individual, firm, association, copartnership,
 political subdivision, government agency, municipality, industry,
 public or private corporation, or any other entity whatsoever.
     (17) "Recyclable materials" means those solid wastes that are
 separated for recycling or reuse, such as papers, metals, and glass,
 that are identified as recyclable material pursuant to a local
 comprehensive solid waste plan. Prior to the adoption of the local
 comprehensive   solid   waste    plan,  adopted    pursuant   to  RCW
 70A.205.075(2), local governments may identify recyclable materials
 by ordinance from July 23, 1989.
     (18) "Recycling" means transforming or remanufacturing waste
 materials into usable or marketable materials for use other than
 landfill disposal or incineration.
     (19) "Residence" means the regular dwelling place of an
 individual or individuals.
     (20) "Sewage sludge" means a semisolid substance consisting of
 settled sewage solids combined with varying amounts of water and
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 dissolved materials, generated from a wastewater treatment system,
 that does not meet the requirements of chapter 70A.226 RCW.
     (21) "Soil amendment" means any substance that is intended to
 improve the physical characteristics of the soil, except composted
 material,   commercial   fertilizers,  agricultural   liming  agents,
 unmanipulated animal manures, unmanipulated vegetable manures, food
 wastes, food processing wastes, and materials exempted by rule of the
 department, such as biosolids as defined in chapter 70A.226 RCW and
 wastewater as regulated in chapter 90.48 RCW.
     (22) "Solid waste" or "wastes" means all putrescible and
 nonputrescible solid and semisolid wastes including, but not limited
 to, garbage, rubbish, ashes, industrial wastes, swill, sewage sludge,
 demolition and construction wastes, abandoned vehicles or parts
 thereof, and recyclable materials.
     (23) "Solid waste handling" means the management, storage,
 collection, transportation, treatment, utilization, processing, and
 final disposal of solid wastes, including the recovery and recycling
 of materials from solid wastes, the recovery of energy resources from
 solid wastes or the conversion of the energy in solid wastes to more
 useful forms or combinations thereof.
     (24) "Source separation" means the separation of different kinds
 of solid waste at the place where the waste originates.
     (25) "Vehicle" includes every device physically capable of being
 moved upon a public or private highway, road, street, or watercourse
 and in, upon, or by which any person or property is or may be
 transported or drawn upon a public or private highway, road, street,
 or watercourse, except devices moved by human or animal power or used
 exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks.
     (26) "Waste-derived soil amendment" means any soil amendment as
 defined in this chapter that is derived from solid waste as defined
 in this section, but does not include biosolids or biosolids products
 regulated under chapter 70A.226 RCW or wastewaters regulated under
 chapter 90.48 RCW.
     (27) "Waste reduction" means reducing the amount or toxicity of
 waste generated or reusing materials.
     (28) "Yard debris" means plant material commonly created in the
 course of maintaining yards and gardens, and through horticulture,
 gardening, landscaping, or similar activities. Yard debris includes
 but is not limited to grass clippings, leaves, branches, brush,
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 weeds, flowers, roots, windfall fruit, vegetable garden debris,
 holiday trees, and tree prunings four inches or less in diameter.
     (29) "Organic waste" means food waste, food processing waste,
 yard debris, wood waste, and food-soiled compostable paper waste.
     NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 70A.205
 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) A goal is established to divert and reduce not less than 50
 percent of organic waste by weight from landfill disposal by 2025,
 and to divert and reduce not less than 90 percent of organic waste by
 weight from landfill disposal by the end of 2030, relative to June
 30, 2021.
     (2) The goal is adopted to guide the development of solid waste
 handling standards, the state solid waste management plan, and
 criteria for municipal solid waste landfills by the department under
 this chapter.
     (3) In recognizing the untapped potential of composting,
 anaerobic digestion, and other forms of organic waste management in
 mitigating and preparing for climate change and improving soil
 health, while supporting the establishment of a vibrant and robust
 green economy in Washington state, actions related to better
 integrating strategies, policies, and programs include, but are not
 limited to:
     (a) Including specific elements on the role soil amendments
 derived from the solid waste system should play as part of climate
 sequestration   strategy  development,   including   those   addressing
 forestry and agricultural land, as well as identifying future
 research and analysis needs;
     (b) Including the role of solid waste derived material systems,
 when developing plans and mechanisms to deliver carbon markets and
 finance in Washington, and in particular addressing the applicability
 of organic recycling and landfill gas mitigation infrastructure
 development; and
     (c) Establishing methods and practices for monitoring and
 improving soil health through the application of compost, based on
 the United States department of agriculture's recommended soil health
 indicators detailed in soil health technical note No. 450-03, in
 coordination   with   the  department   of   agriculture   and   public
 institutions of higher education and other parties.
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     (4) Additional actions and strategies consistent with these goals
 include, but are not limited to:
     (a) The development of a revised permitting system for organic
 waste management facilities to create consistent standards and
 coordinated permitting;
     (b) Increasing, where practical, the availability and convenience
 of collection service for organic materials for the purpose of
 producing high quality, organic waste-derived soil amendments or
 renewable fuels;
     (c) Setting methane emission standards for landfills to encourage
 reduction of organic waste in landfills;
     (d) Establishing policies and practices to reduce the generation
 of organic waste and diversify how organic waste is managed;
     (e) Developing a robust in-state market for organic waste
 products, through methods including, but not limited to, outreach to
 local governments, state government, and agricultural producers,
 establishing local procurement policies; and
     (f) Identifying technologies       and   methods   for   soil   carbon
 sequestration from organic waste.
     Sec. 4. RCW 70A.205.050 and 2020 c 20 s 1164 are each amended to
 read as follows:
     (1) Levels of service shall be defined in the waste reduction and
 recycling element of each local comprehensive solid waste management
 plan and shall include the services set forth in RCW 70A.205.045. In
 determining which service level is provided to residential and
 nonresidential waste generators in each community, counties and
 cities shall develop clear criteria for designating areas as urban or
 rural. In designating urban areas, local governments shall consider
 the planning guidelines adopted by the department, total population,
 population density, and any applicable land use or utility service
 plans.
     (2)   Subject  to   the  availability  of   amounts  appropriated
 specifically to cover local government costs, each city and county
 with a population of 50,000 or more must ensure that its
 comprehensive solid waste management plan incorporates approaches for
 source reduction, on-site and off-site management of organics, and
 where practical, levels of service that will achieve within its
 jurisdiction the organic waste diversion and reduction goals
 established under section 3 of this act.
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     Sec. 5. RCW 70A.205.055 and 2010 c 210 s 17 are each amended to
 read as follows:
     (1) The department and local governments preparing plans are
 encouraged to work cooperatively during plan development. Each county
 and city preparing a comprehensive solid waste management plan shall
 submit a preliminary draft plan to the department for technical
 review. The department shall review and comment on the draft plan
 within one hundred twenty days of receipt. The department's comments
 shall state specific actions or revisions that must be completed for
 plan approval.
     (2) Each final draft solid waste management plan shall be
 submitted to the department for approval. The department will limit
 its comments on the final draft plans to those issues identified
 during its review of the draft plan and any other changes made
 between submittal of the preliminary draft and final draft plans.
 Disapproval of the local comprehensive solid waste management plan
 shall be supported by specific findings. A final draft plan shall be
 deemed approved if the department does not disapprove it within
 forty-five days of receipt.
     (3) If the department disapproves a plan or any plan amendments,
 the submitting entity may appeal the decision to the pollution
 control hearings board as provided in RCW 43.21B.230. The appeal
 shall be limited to review of the specific findings which supported
 the disapproval under subsection (2) of this section.
     (4) The department may approve a plan or plan amendment for a
 city or county that meets the population threshold in RCW
 70A.205.050(2) and is subject to the organic waste management goals
 established in section 3 of this act but fails to achieve the goals
 and requirements of section 3 of this act and RCW 70A.205.050, where
 the department determines that areas within the city or county lack
 composting facilities within a reasonable distance. The department
 may condition the approval and convene the local jurisdictions and
 solid waste handling and recycling industry to evaluate how to meet
 the goal of providing organic waste recycling and composting capacity
 within a reasonable distance, based on local constraints.
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Statutes affected: 
Original Bill: 70A.205.015, 70A.205.050, 70A.205.055
Bill: 70A.205.015, 70A.205.050, 70A.205.055