RCRC is sponsoring several legislative proposals this year, chiefly related to cannabis, solid waste, and hazardous materials enforcement. The cannabis proposals were part of a package of suggested measures developed by RCRC’s Cannabis Ad Hoc Committee. The solid waste proposals stemmed from discussions with various RCRC member counties about how to retool existing solid waste programs to better fit the needs of local communities.
Assembly Bill 1448 (Wallis, R-Palm Springs) will provide local jurisdictions with additional flexibility regarding the penalty process and amounts for unlicensed cannabis activities. The bill will clarify and streamline appeals and judicial review, authorize entry judgment to collect final penalty amounts, and use of a super priority lien to collect final penalty amounts. The bill will be amended to allow a 50/50 split for statutory penalties recovered in actions brought by local jurisdiction and authorize statutory penalties for unlicensed activities to be recovered through local administrative processes.
Senate Bill 753 (Caballero, D-Merced) will strengthen enforcement procedures and penalty provisions for illegal water diversions concerning unpermitted cannabis cultivation. The bill amends Section 11358 of the Health and Safety Code to include groundwater as a public resource and establishes that the theft of groundwater, unauthorized tapping into a water conveyance or storage infrastructure, or digging an unpermitted illegal well may also be punished by imprisonment.
Assembly Bill 909 (Hoover, R-Folsom) expands CalRecycle’s existing illegal dumping cleanup program to include illegally disposed hazardous waste and household hazardous wastes. Under the current program, CalRecycle will help fund the cleanup of solid waste disposal sites and co-disposal sites where both solid and hazardous wastes have been dumped. Unfortunately, that program will not fund cleanup where only hazardous wastes have been dumped, like on the public rights-of-way or private property. AB 909 will make the program much more comprehensive and help locals undertake these removal actions.
Assembly Bill 1548 (Hart, D-Santa Barbara) is a spot bill that will be amended to expand CalRecycle’s existing solid and organic waste recycling grant program. CalRecycle’s existing grant program provides financial assistance for projects to recycle organic waste, improve feedstock quality, and manufacture products with recycled materials. RCRC is working with Assemblymember Hart to expand the grant program to include other types of infrastructure projects to help locals increase their ability to collect, sort, aggregate, and get recyclable materials into the marketplace. RCRC is also exploring ways to expand the program to promote local reuse and edible food recovery programs.
Senate Bill 642 (Cortese, D- San Jose) authorizes county counsels to bring enforcement actions against entities violating the state’s aboveground storage tank (AST), undergrounding storage tank (UST) , and hazardous materials business plan requirements. Under current law, city attorneys, District Attorneys, the Attorney General, and county attorneys may bring actions to enforce the Hazardous Waste Control Act; however, only city attorneys, District Attorneys, and the Attorney General may address violations of AST, UST, and business plan laws. RCRC is co-sponsoring SB 642 with Santa Clara County to provide counties with another tool in its enforcement toolbox to ensure that they can act where district attorneys may be unable to pursue violations because of insufficient resources or competing priorities.
For more information on the cannabis proposals, please contact Sarah Dukett, RCRC Policy Advocate. For more information on the solid waste and hazardous materials enforcement measures, please contact John Kennedy, RCRC Policy Advocate.