2000 Accomplishments and Priorities

California Integrated Waste Management Board

The six-member California Integrated Waste Management Board is responsible for protecting the public's health and safety and the environment through management of the estimated 56 million tons of solid waste generated in California each year.

Accomplishments during First Half of 2000

1. Sustainable Building. The Waste Board continues its leadership role in the development of sustainable building practices to ensure the optimum use of building products made with recycled and reusable materials. The IWMB coordinated a sustainable schools workshop for the Los Angeles Unified School District with assistance from green building consultants and state government environmental and health professionals who participate in the Green Building Taskforce. The workshop provided information on sustainable building issues, strategies, and resources for schools such as implementation strategies, case studies, daylighting, energy efficiency, materials selection, landscaping, water efficiency, waste management, and curriculum.
2. Orphan Site Cleanup Program. The Board completed two cleanup projects: 1)  burn ash was consolidated at the Hilltop site in Redding and capped prior to the city constructing a bike path in the area; and 2) surface trash was removed and green waste material that was not composted was processed for placement on San Diego Parks Department property (Tijuana River site). Approximately six additional approved projects have been initiated and are scheduled for completion in the second half of 2000.
3. Farm and Ranch Cleanup Grant Program. The Board approved five grants totaling $128,782 to clean up trash dumped at 32 farm and ranch sites. Three final reports verified the cleanup of 19 sites, with the remaining site cleanups in progress.
4. Recycling Market Development Zone Loan Funding. The RMDZ loan program has approved approximately $8.5 million in loans to recycling based businesses in the first 6 months of this year. It is anticipated that the remaining 6 million dollars in the RMDZ sub-account will be approved for loans before the end of the year.
5. IWMB and DGS Host Recycled Products Trade Show. The Waste Board and the Department of General Services sponsored the inaugural trade show in May aimed at state and local government procurement officers at the Sacramento Convention Center. Over 116 vendors of recycled products (RCPs) from around the country and Canada participated, with more than 1320 attendees taking advantage of the opportunity to view many quality RCPs and interact directly with vendors. Next year's show, set for April 11, 2001, will accommodate over 175 vendors.
6. Used Oil Forum. The first statewide used oil recycling forum was held in Pasadena in January. Approximately 220 representatives from local governments, non-profit organizations and private businesses attended the forum, which presented information on numerous topics including grant programs and reporting, grassroots outreach, working with certified center partners, and outreach and collection. Attendee evaluations rated the forum as outstanding. Planning is now underway for the next statewide forum, to be held in Northern California in 2001.
7. Implementation of AB 75. The Board’s implementation of AB 75 is on schedule, with all statutory deadlines being met ahead of time. AB 75 requires state government agencies to reduce waste sent to landfills by 25 percent by 2002 and by 50 percent by 2004. The Board developed and approved a "Model Integrated Waste Management Plan" at its January Board meeting and began distributing the plan in February. The Board also held a series of six workshops, with attendance reaching more than 460 state agency representatives. The attendance at this series far surpassed what the Board expected, showing the State’s commitment to AB 75. Since the workshop series, Board staff has continued to provide technical assistance to those entities that request it.
8. Time Extensions for Local Diversion Programs. Board staff conducted 11 regional workshops to solicit input regarding the implementation of SB 1066, which required the Board to develop a process allowing for time extension requests from jurisdictions in meeting the 50 percent waste diversion goal mandated by state law. Approximately 240 people attended the workshops statewide. At the workshops, Board staff presented the requirements outlined in statute and requested input from attendees on a draft extension application and optional formats. Comments received were incorporated into the final version, which was approved by the Board at its May meeting. The application is available on the Board's Web site. The Board also developed a process for reviewing the extension of the application process.
9. Education Curriculum Updated. The IWMB completed a three-year project in which the first edition of the Board's integrated waste management education curriculum was updated and revised. The main goals were to make the lessons more applicable to California content standards and frameworks; provide additional lessons in priority areas of integrated waste management (IWM); improve instructional strategies; align with literature, reference texts and videos; and utilize methods in project based learning. The 2000 edition is divided into two modules: Kindergarten through third grade and fourth through sixth grade. It received technical review from public, private and nonprofit representatives and was field-tested by more than 50 teachers.
10. State of Landfills Study. The Board approved plans for a comprehensive, cross-media assessment of Municipal Solid Waste landfill environmental performance at its February meeting. A request for proposals (RFP) was advertised in early March. The lowest qualified bidder, GeoSyntec Consultants, was approved by the Board in May as the contractor for the $588,000 study. Because of the cross-media approach being used for the study, a team consisting of representatives from the State Water Resources Control Board, Air Resources Board, and Waste Board was used in the development of the scope of work and RFP, and in the evaluation and scoring of the proposed bids.
11. Implementation of Waste Profiles on the Internet. The California Waste Stream Profiles (Profiles) database was placed on the World Wide Web in April. The Profiles is a Web-based tool that displays summary information on solid waste issues in an easy to view and up-to-date format. Currently, the Profiles display information for two areas: solid waste management issues relating to governmental jurisdictions; and waste tires. Future Profiles may include information on education, state agency recycling efforts, landfills, recycling centers, composting, transfer stations, used oil, and recycled plastics.

Priorities for Second Half of 2000

1. Strategic Planning. The Board will be updating the strategic plan that was developed and adopted in 1997. In addition to addressing critical areas such as sustainability and green building issues, the Board will use Cal/EPA's recently drafted strategic vision as a guide for establishing new priorities and strategies.
2. Facility Compliance Loan Program. The Budget Act of 1999 authorized $1.44 million and the 2000-01 Budget Bill appropriated an additional $1.44 million for interest-free loans to assist owners and operators of solid waste facilities with environmental compliance. The Board approved eligibility and loan criteria for the Facility Compliance Loan Program at its January and April meetings. The loan program application period ends July 31, 2000. Board staff expects to bring project recommendations to the October Board meeting with funding approval expected by December. As required by the Budget Act, staff prepared a report on program eligibility and loan criteria for submission to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee.
3. Closed Illegal and Abandoned (CIA) Site Program. Planning is underway for implementation of the CIA Site Enforcement Program. This program will enhance the identification, assessment, enforcement, and cleanup of closed Illegal and abandoned waste disposal sites.
4. Interactive Permit Toolbox. Staff is developing an on-line, interactive permitting tool to assist stakeholders who are applying for or processing a Solid Waste Facility Permit (SWFP). The "Permit Toolbox" will be user-friendly and available for access and use on the Board's Web page by local enforcement agencies (LEAs), Board staff, and other stakeholders. The linked tools and resources will be based on the skills and tasks that are necessary to successfully and efficiently process a SWFP. A working group of LEAs, Board staff and operators identified critical topics to be included in the permitting tool. The estimated completion date is March 2001 with the first tools available on-line by August 2000.
5. Sustainable Building Project. With the IWMB acting as lead, the Green Building Taskforce prepared a sustainable building executive order for Governor Davis' signature. The executive order would establish the expectation that environmental sustainability be a key feature of all new state buildings, as well as create an executive committee comprised of several agency secretaries, including the secretary of Cal/EPA, and the director of finance.

   Staff is continuing to work closely with the Green Building Task Force members, Public Employees' Retirement System, Department Of Finance, Department of General Services and Franchise Tax Board to "green" their upcoming building projects.

6. Statewide Buy Recycled Campaign. The Board is soliciting proposals to develop and conduct a statewide public awareness campaign encouraging consumers to identify and purchase products that are made with recycled resources and that are packaged in environment-friendly materials. The goals of the campaign are to link in the public's mind their actions to separate recyclable materials from the waste stream to the productive reuse of those materials in another form; to "brand" products made with recycled materials in a way that encourages manufacturers to increase the use of recyclable materials in their production; and to reward manufacturers when they do so.
7. Waste Tire Program. The Board will continue to work toward passage of two pieces of proposed legislation related to the waste tire program, Senate Bill 876 and Assembly Bill 603. Passage of one or both bills is anticipated by the fall, which will likely result in an increased tire disposal fee and an expanded program. Special Waste Division management will develop program plans, budget change proposals, allocation recommendations, and hire additional staff as needed. Additionally, the Board's contractor will continue to process the unburned oversized tires and expand the winterization effort at the Filbin Tire Site. Special Waste Division staff continues to meet with Cal/EPA, U.S. EPA, and other state and local agencies to characterize the site and ultimately develop a long-term remediation plan for the ash and contaminated soils.
8. State Agency Integrated Waste Management Plans (IWMP). AB 75 requires a 25 percent reduction in State government waste sent to landfills by January 1, 2002 and 50 percent by January 1, 2004 along with development of an IWMP explaining how this will be achieved. The Board’s primary focus in regard to implementation of AB 75 will be the review and approval of the IWMPs submitted by state agencies, California State University campuses, and community colleges by the statutory deadline of January 1, 2001. In addition to approving the plans, the Board will continue to provide technical assistance to further increase California’s diversion efforts, including the State Agency Buy Recycled Campaign (SABRC). SABRC staff is finalizing a new SABRC manual which includes definitions of terms, reporting forms and answers to common questions to promote state agency compliance with the recycled product procurement mandates. Waste Board staff will provide training to state agencies focusing on those agencies that either do not report or underreport their purchases
9. Biennial Review of Jurisdictions' Progress and Time Extensions for Local Diversion Programs. At least every two years the Board reviews the Source Reduction and Recycling Element (SRRE) and Household Hazardous Waste Element (HHWE) of each jurisdiction’s Integrated Waste Management Plan. Jurisdictions that fail to implement their SRRE and/or HHWE may be issued a compliance schedule by the Board for implementing those elements. By the end of June 2000, the Board had completed and approved 1997/98 biennial reviews for 249 of the 456 jurisdictions. Additionally, the Board will finalize the process for review of jurisdictions’ applications for extensions to the December 2000 deadline for diverting 50 percent of solid waste from landfills.
10. Integrated Education Strategy. The IWMB and Cal/EPA have developed and implemented a nationally acclaimed education program and curriculum that can serve as a model for all of Cal/EPA. The goal for the second half of 2000 will be to develop a strategic plan to build on the Board’s program and expand environmental education efforts through a unified and coordinated effort. In addition, the Board will continue with the following efforts targeted at schools:

    Playground Act Grant applications will be reviewed and ranked and presented to the Board for award in either September or October.

    $150,000 provided through CDE in school garden grants will be awarded to school districts and county offices of education to support the development of school gardens. Grant recipients will participate in training workshops in the fall co-conducted by CDE and Board staff, focusing on garden construction, composting/vermicomposting, curriculum connections and resources, and contacts for free tools and supplies from local Agricultural Network representatives.

    Education staff are partnering with information management to develop an interactive Web site targeting teachers and students. This site will use animation and interactive programs to engage K-6 students, teaching them environmental concepts through computer technology.

11. State of Landfills Study. This study, which is being undertaken by GeoSyntec as the contractor, is the first of its kind. It is intended to provide a complete picture of MSW landfill performance across the environmental media of air, water, and gas so that the current status of MSW landfills and environmental impacts, and regulatory requirements are fully comprehended. Because of the cross-media approach being used for the study, the Waste Board will work with staff from other Cal/EPA boards and departments.
12. Information/Knowledge Management. Management of information and organizational knowledge is critical to Board members, staff, and external customers. The Board has developed and maintains numerous source databases that contain program-specific information needed by staff and external stakeholders. The Board is currently developing a Knowledge Management strategy to better organize the information and to assure that future requests from both internal and external clients are responded to quickly, providing accurate information in an easy-to-use format.

Back to Report of Accomplishments & Priorities