The California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB), in conjunction with local agencies, is responsible for promoting waste management practices aimed at reducing the amount of waste that is disposed in landfills. Cities and counties develop solid waste management planswhich must be approved by CIWMBshowing how 50 percent of solid waste will be diverted from landfills by the end of 2000. The CIWMB administers various programs which promote waste reduction and recycling, with particular programs for waste tire and used oil recycling. The board also regulates landfills through a permitting, inspection, and enforcement program that is mainly enforced by local enforcement agencies that are certified by the board. In addition, CIWMB oversees the cleanup of abandoned solid waste sites.
The budget proposes expenditures of $98.5 million from various funds (primarily special funds) for support of CIWMB. This is a reduction of $28.1 million, or 22 percent, from estimated 1999-00 expenditures. Major budget proposals include increases of (1) $1.3 million for enforcement at closed, illegal, and abandoned waste sites; (2) $745,000 for technical assistance to business; and (3) $303,000 to assist state agencies in their recycling efforts. The net reduction reflects a decrease of $25 million in used oil recycling grants due to lower resources in the California Used Oil Recycling Fund.
The California Integrated Waste Management Board should submit a required report on the implementation of the Integrated Waste Management Act prior to budget hearings, and discuss the report's findings and recommendations at budget hearings, to assist the Legislature in its evaluation of the board's budget proposal.
Legislature Required Report on Status of Integrated Waste Management Act Implementation. This past session, the
Legislature directed the board to report by January 10, 2000 on the status of the board's implementation of the Integrated
Waste Management Act (Chapter 1095, Statutes of 1989 [AB 939, Sher]). The Legislature requested this report largely out
of concern that about 25 percent of California's local jurisdictions were not on track to meet AB 939's mandate that
50 percent of waste be diverted from landfills by the year 2000. (According to the board, the statewide diversion rate was
about 34 percent at the end of 1998.) Because
AB 939 charges the board with assisting localities achieve this diversion rate, the Legislature requested the board's report to
include the statutory and budgetary actions necessary to ensure compliance with AB 939's provisions.
Report Should Be Submitted Prior to Budget Hearings. The board recently notified the Legislature that it will not be submitting its report until March 1, 2000. We think that it is important for the Legislature to have this report prior to budget hearings. This is because the report will provide up-to-date information on diversion rates, barriers faced by local jurisdictions in meeting diversion requirements, and on actions the board has taken and plans to take to increase diversion of waste from landfills. This information will assist the Legislature in evaluating whether the board's budget proposal adequately addresses the Legislature's objectives as found in AB 939. Therefore, we recommend that the board submit its report prior to budget hearings and discuss the report's findings and recommendations at budget hearings.