An act to add Section 42652.7 to the Public Resources Code, relating to organic waste.
Summary
AB 1046 adds Section 42652.7 to the Public Resources Code to create a narrow exemption from California’s organic waste and edible food recovery regulations for certain agricultural crop preparation services. Specifically, if a qualifying service can demonstrate to the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery that it has not disposed of organic waste in a landfill on or after January 1, 2016, the service is exempt from the applicable regulations in Article 10 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
The bill is aimed at agricultural operations that generate crop-preparation residuals such as culls, fruit skins, hulls, leaves, seed pits, shells, and sticks, but that already avoid landfill disposal. It does not change the state’s broader short-lived climate pollutant or organic waste reduction targets; instead, it creates a carve-out from the compliance framework for a specific class of businesses that can show a long-standing no-landfill disposal practice.
Impact
AB 1046 modifies the Public Resources Code by adding a new statutory exemption tied to the state’s organic waste diversion regulations. In practical terms, it relieves qualifying agricultural crop preparation services from the contract, recordkeeping, and related compliance requirements that apply to commercial edible food generators under the state’s organic waste recovery rules, so long as they meet the bill’s landfill-disposal demonstration standard. The bill affects a limited set of agricultural businesses and leaves the underlying methane-reduction and organic waste diversion mandates intact for other regulated entities.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have been broadly noncontroversial and received unanimous support in the recorded votes available. It passed policy committees, the Assembly, and Senate proceedings without any recorded opposition, and it was ultimately chaptered by the Governor. The vote pattern suggests general agreement that the exemption was a targeted administrative relief measure rather than a rollback of environmental policy.
Contention
No major substantive opposition is reflected in the available materials, and there are no committee transcript excerpts indicating debate. The main policy issue implicit in the bill is whether agricultural crop preparation services that already keep organic waste out of landfills should remain subject to the same regulatory obligations as other commercial edible food generators. Support appears to have centered on reducing unnecessary compliance burdens for entities already meeting the state’s diversion goals, while any potential concern would be that exemptions can complicate enforcement or create uneven treatment among regulated businesses.
An act to add amend Section 12405 to 12203 of the Public Contract Code, and to amend Sections 42920 and 42926 of the Public Resources Code, relating to solid waste.