Solid waste: methane reduction: working group., the official text

An act to add and repeal Section 40507.2 of the Public Resources Code, relating to solid waste.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

Existing law establishes the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, which is administered under the control of an executive officer known as the Director of Resources Recycling and Recovery.
This bill would require the Director of Resources Recycling and Recovery to establish a working group to study the need for and value of alternative methods of methane reduction, as specified. The bill would require the working group to submit its findings and recommendations to the director on or before January 1, 2029.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.
Section 40507.2 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:
40507.2.
(a) The Legislature finds and declares both of the following:
(1) There is a landfill crisis developing in the State of California where landfills are catching fire and smoldering for years and there is a rapid depletion of landfill capacity.
(2) There is a need to study this developing crisis and related issues.
(b) (1) The Director of Resources Recycling and Recovery shall establish a working group to study the need for and value of alternative methods of methane reduction in the event Senate Bill 54 of the 2021–22 Regular Session and Senate Bill 1383 of the 2015–16 Regular Session are implemented as planned.
(2) As part of its research, the working group shall evaluate existing alternative waste disposal programs and their potential carbon capture components, including the Oslo, Norway program, and evaluate their applicability to the state.
(3) The working group’s study and any associated evaluations shall consider and be consistent with the state’s order of priority for waste management established pursuant to Section 40051.
(4) The working group shall submit its findings and recommendations to the director on or before January 1, 2029.
(c) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2030, and as of that date is repealed.