Livestock carcasses: disposal: composting.

Through the bill authored by Assembly Member Papan, with Assembly Member Alanis as a coauthor, a targeted carve-out would authorize on-farm or nearby-site composting of all or part of a livestock carcass that results from routine mortality events or on-farm processing, provided a comprehensive set of regulatory conditions is met. The change introduces a narrow exception to existing prohibitions on handling unprocessed mammalian tissue, tying the activity to a framework of best management practices and oversight rather than creating a broad new disposal authority.

Core provisions establish that the composting may proceed only in accordance with BMPs for livestock composting that the Secretary of Agriculture, in coordination with the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery and the State Water Resources Control Board, must adopt. The BMPs must address groundwater protection, public health and food supply safeguards, proper management of compost piles, collaboration with local enforcement, and enforcement provisions for noncompliance. Operational limits include a hard cap of 100 cubic yards of total onsite composting material at any one time, and a requirement that all material originate from agricultural sites owned or leased by the carcass owner. If the activity occurs on a site owned or leased by the owner but not the site where carcasses were generated, it must occur in the same county or an adjacent county, with transport of carcasses complying with applicable laws and regulations. After conversion to cured compost, the material must be applied to an agricultural site owned or leased by the same owner and in accordance with the BMPs, and the operator must notify the local enforcement agency and the regional water quality control board within 30 days of starting operations.

The regulatory framework hinges on a “Notwithstanding” mechanism that overrides certain prohibitions and regulations related to dead-animal transport and unprocessed tissue, but only to permit the described on-farm composting under the BMP-driven regime. Enforcement would occur through local agencies and regional water quality control boards, with penalties and compliance expectations defined within the BMPs rather than in statute. The bill notes no new appropriation and requires fiscal committee review, leaving the cost dynamics to be determined during the regulatory development process and subsequent oversight.

Stakeholders—including livestock producers, on-farm processors, landowners, and nearby communities—face a regime that expands disposal options within explicit size, ownership, geographic, and notification constraints. Questions for implementation concern how the BMPs will translate to practical procedures, the definition of “onsite” in various facility layouts, and how off-site composting would coordinate with existing regulatory authorities. In the broader policy landscape, the act seeks to align on-farm carcass management with environmental and public-health safeguards while creating a regulated pathway that interacts with existing agricultural and environmental programs.