On February 14, the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) approved Emergency Regulations adopted by CalRecycle concerning illegal dumping and land application of solid and organic waste.
CalRecycle’s regulations are intended to stop illegal and improper land application, which has had major environmental and public safety consequences (and created serious public nuisances) in areas, e.g. the Antelope Valley.
In general, the emergency regulations impose new sampling, testing, and recordkeeping obligations on solid waste facilities, operations, and activities as well as new requirements for entities to inform the local enforcement agency about land application activities.
While supportive of CalRecycle’s efforts to stop illegal and improper land application, RCRC expressed significant concerns about the proposal’s crafting; its inherent ambiguity; and conflicts it creates related to sampling, testing, and recordkeeping. RCRC strongly suggested several modifications to the proposal to address these issues; regrettably, they were ultimately not incorporated into the proposal.
In particular, the emergency regulations create ambiguity about what materials and facilities are subject to sampling and testing requirements. Traditionally, certain types of materials and facilities were exempt from sampling and reporting; however, it is unclear whether the emergency regulations retain or repeal those exemptions. The emergency regulations also appear to inadvertently restrict the ability for local enforcement agencies to issue notices and corrective orders to remedy actual threats to public health. RCRC will continue to engage with CalRecycle to clarify the scope of the emergency regulations and how they impact existing exemptions.
The Notice of Proposed Action can be found here and the regulation text is available here.
Under state law, the emergency regulations will remain in effect for 180 days OAL approves readoption of the emergency regulation. CalRecycle is anticipated to begin the formal rulemaking process to make these regulations permanent and RCRC will continue to engage in that process to address the challenges inherent in the existing framework.
For more information, contact RCRC Senior Policy Advocate John Kennedy.