Solid waste: organic waste: diversion: biomethane.

Assembly Member Aguiar-Curry frames this measure as a step to accelerate organic waste diversion by clarifying what qualifies as biomass conversion and by counting pipeline biomethane produced from organic waste toward local procurement targets. The bill adds a formal definition of “pyrolysis” to the Public Resources Code and directs the department to amend regulations so that pipeline biomethane converted exclusively from organic waste, diverted from landfills, can be counted as a recovered organic waste product attributable to a jurisdiction’s procurement target. It also contemplates alignment with changes proposed in another measure, with operative provisions contingent on that measure’s enactment and order of enactment.

Key mechanisms establish the regulatory and programmatic framework for these changes. The department must amend its regulations no later than January 1, 2027 to incorporate pipeline biomethane derived from organic waste as an eligible recovered organic waste product. The bill requires regulations that may authorize local jurisdictions to impose requirements on generators and may include penalties for noncompliance. It reiterates an edible food recovery goal—no less than 20 percent of currently disposed edible food recovered for human consumption by 2025—and directs evaluation of local benefits and potential use of recovered food in animal feed. The measure states that there will be no numeric disposal limit for individual landfills and contemplates incentives or mechanisms related to carbon farming and healthy soils. It sets a ramping schedule for penalties under the regulations: 30 percent of the jurisdiction’s procurement target beginning in 2023, 65 percent beginning in 2024, and 100 percent beginning in 2025, subject to the regulatory framework. Rural jurisdictions with exemptions under related regulations would remain exempt from some organic waste collection and procurement requirements through January 1, 2037, with a process to renew those exemptions thereafter. The bill also affects how jurisdictions count certain recovered organic waste products, allowing up to 10 percent of a procurement target to be counted from categories such as mulch and certain compost operations, edible food recovery, and related expenditures, with specified documentation, conversion factors, and regulatory compliance. It further provides for five-year procurement targets starting in 2027 and allows local per‑capita targets to be determined via local waste characterization studies that meet defined criteria.

The bill situates these provisions within a broader policy context that emphasizes methane reduction and local benefits from organics diversion. The authors contend that reducing methane and other short‑lived pollutants is an immediate climate measure and that investments in organic waste diversion projects are cost-effective relative to many other climate programs. Findings also frame the bill as aligning with existing state goals to reduce methane emissions and to divert organic waste from landfills, while seeking to expand the use of diverted organics for renewable energy, compost, mulch, and other locally beneficial products. Implementation is anchored in regulatory action, with emergency-regulation authority contemplated to address the changes, and it contemplates interplay with related legislative changes that would alter the overall regulatory and procurement landscape.