Livestock carcasses: disposal: composting.

Assembly Member Papan's livestock composting legislation would permit California farmers to compost routine livestock mortalities and on-farm processing remains, creating a targeted exception to current restrictions on mammalian tissue composting. The bill, known as the Caring About The Terrain, Livestock, and Ecosystems (C.A.T.T.L.E) Act, establishes specific parameters for this practice while maintaining core public health and environmental safeguards.

Under the proposed framework, agricultural operators could compost up to 100 cubic yards of livestock remains at a time, provided the material originates from owned or leased agricultural land. The composting process must follow best management practices approved jointly by the Secretary of Food and Agriculture, Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, and State Water Resources Control Board. For off-site composting operations, the finished material must return to the original agricultural property or transfer to an approved composting facility.

The authorization applies only to natural livestock deaths and certain on-farm processing scenarios. The bill explicitly excludes animals euthanized with barbiturates, those that died from reportable diseases, or mortalities occurring in quarantined areas. These limitations preserve existing controls over high-risk disposal scenarios while offering farmers an additional management option for routine operational needs.