Foster City, like every city in California, was directed in 1991 to reduce solid waste by 50%. The compliance date was January 1, 2000. This requirement, generally known as AB (Assembly Bill) 939, is officially The California Solid Waste Reuse and Recycling Access Act of 1991. It is an ambitious and complex law that places a significant burden on all cities in California.
Cities and Counties must divert 50 percent of all solid waste by January 1, 2000, through source reduction, recycling, and composting activities. Environmental concerns, including limited availability of landfill sites for solid waste was the driving force behind AB939. The 50 percent number although arbitrary and possibly unrealistic, is a noble goal.
Many cities in California, including Foster City, have not been able to achieve this mandatory reduction of solid waste. In 1996, it became apparent to the State that the 50 percent reduction goal would require additional time. In order to relieve this problem, the State Legislature enacted SB (Senate Bill) 1066. SB 1066 authorized the California Integrated Waste Management Board to grant extensions to those cities that were unable to meet the required 50 percent solid waste diversion rate by January 2000.
Foster City is now in the final year of the second extension granted by the Waste Management Board. No additional extensions are available; therefore we have a serious compliance problem. Foster City is working closely with BFI, Foster City’s waste collection contractor, to achieve new diversions of solid waste through additional recycling efforts. However, it does not appear that these additional efforts will achieve the necessary diversions. Existing legislation includes punitive action if the required diversion rate is not achieved.
The City Council is well aware of this and believes that the method of calculating waste diversion must be revised. The present formula for calculating solid waste reduction contains a number of factors that do not accurately reflect the diversion effort.
Foster City is one the Peninsula Cities that have not been able to meet the solid waste diversion target of 50 percent. The California Integrated Waste Management Board is also aware of the problem. John Lisenko, Foster City’s Public Works Officer has alerted the League of California Cities about this problem. I believe additional legislation will be necessary to correct the diversion measurement problem.
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