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Compost Facility CEQA and Permitting Update
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Requested Action(s)
recommendation
a) Direct Waste Connections to furnish a construction cost estimate, impact to the tipping fee, and ongoing cost to operate the facility for Board consideration at the April Full Board meeting. Or,
b) Direct Waste Connections to furnish a cost estimate and impact to the tipping fee for hauling commercial organics to WM’s Anderson Landfill compost facility for Board consideration at the April Full Board meeting.
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Financial Impact:
Background Information:
At the October 4, 2021 Board of Directors meeting the Agency Manager was given authorization to begin a feasibility study and start the CEQA process for a proposed compost facility at the Tehama County/Red Bluff Landfill. At that time the exemption from implementing the majority of California Senate Bill 1383 (Lara) and all of California Assembly Bil 1826 (Chesbro) regulations would have ended on January 1, 2027. Additionally, there were no composting facilities within a feasible distance for Tehama County’s waste to be hauled to, except for a proposed project at the Anderson Landfill owned by WM.
The Agency contracted engineering services with Lawrence & Associates (L&A), who have extensive experience with the Tehama County/Red Bluff Landfill. Beginning in January 2022 and continuing through August 2024, L&A conducted the required geologic and engineering field studies for the proposed compost facility. In November 2024, L&A submitted the Report of Compost Site Information (RCSI), Compost Site Technical Report, and revised Joint Technical Document (JTD) to the Agency and Waste Connections for review and approval. After receiving comments from the Agency and Waste Connections, the documents were submitted to the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board (CVRWQCB), CalRecycle, and Tehama County Department of Environmental Health for review in January 2025.
In April 2025, Environmental Health held a Public Information Meeting at the Agency’s office for the proposed compost facility and increases to traffic, however, no members of the public attended the meeting.
On July 17, 2025, CalRecycle provided their concurrence on the issuance of the Revised Solid Waste Facilities Permit which included the addition of the compost facility. The CVRWQCB provided their Notice of Applicability on August 5, 2025, which was the final step to being fully permitted to construct and operate a compost facility at the Tehama County/Red Bluff Landfill. A filing fee of $8,431 was required for issuance of the NOA and covered the first year permitted by it. The Agency will be required to pay an annual fee, currently undetermined, until the NOA is officially terminated regardless of whether we construct and operate a facility.
The Agency was able to offset significant costs in fiscal years 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26 associated with the permitting process through funding from the SB 1383 Local Assistance Grant. It is not known if grant funding would be available in the future to offset costs associated with constructing the compost facility.
California Assembly Bill 2902 (Wood) passed in August 2024 and was signed by the Governor on September 22, 2024. This bill extends the rural exemption in SB 1383 until January 1, 2037, or until a county granted a rural exemption reaches a population of 70,000 people. This bill does not address AB 1826, which applies only to commercial organic waste generators, and clarification from CalRecycle was sought by Agency staff. CalRecycle has indicated that the Agency’s member jurisdictions will have to comply with AB 1826 come January 1, 2027. Agency staff have presented our concerns with implementing AB 1826 at several RCRC ESJPA meetings since AB 2902 was signed and the ESJPA staff have said that AB 1826 exemptions can be extended by CalRecycle without legislative action. We will be working with the ESJPA to lobby CalRecycle to extend the exemption to be in line with SB 1383, but this is not guaranteed.
Currently, the franchise hauling agreements for each member jurisdiction do not include commercial organics collection service and will have to be amended to address this. AB 1826 also requires that all organic waste, including food scraps, be collected from commercial entities that produce two cubic yards or more of waste per week. Waivers can be granted for commercial entities that do not produce more than a half cubic yard of all organic waste per week, and staff are currently determining how many businesses this can apply to.
The Board of Directors will need to determine if the Agency should provide direction to the Landfill Operator, Waste Connections, to furnish a construction cost estimate, impact to the tipping fee, and ongoing cost to operate the facility for Board consideration at the April Full Board meeting. Alternatively, the compost facility at WM’s Anderson Landfill has begun operations. Their tipping fees for commercial organics currently are the same price they charge for commercial trash, $74.07per ton plus an 18.9% energy surcharge. The Board could direct Waste Connections to furnish a cost estimate and impact to the tipping fee for hauling commercial organics to WM’s Anderson Landfill compost facility, like how treated wood is currently handled, for Board consideration at the April Full Board meeting.
Staff are asking the Board to provide direction on either of those proposals.