RES23 Eliminate the Need for the California Integrated Waste Management Board to Approve Solid Waste Facility Permits

The California Integrated Waste Management Board (Waste Board) performs an unnecessary role in the solid waste facility permitting process. Specifically, although local governmental entities have the legal authority and are certified by the Waste Board to issue solid waste facility permits, the Waste Board's concurrence is still needed before a permit is issued. Moreover, the Waste Board's role in the permitting process adds time and money on the part of local governmental entities and permit applicants without adding any significant value.

Local government agencies, known as local enforcement agencies (LEAs), issue permits to solid waste facilities including landfills, material recovery facilities/transfer stations, composting facilities and transformation facilities that burn solid waste to produce heat or electricity. [1] LEAs review permit applications for completeness and adequacy, write permits with conditions that protect public health and safety, and ensure compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). LEAs, certified by the Waste Board, and have the public and environmental health background and expertise to deal with pests such as mosquitoes and rodents, nuisances, daily operational issues and landfill gas. LEAs conduct monthly inspections of solid waste facilities and enforce permit terms and conditions; and the Waste Board inspects facilities every 18 months. [2]

The LEA permitting process is lengthy and thorough, including local land-use decisions, zoning, CEQA compliance and public hearings. Long before a facility can apply for a permit, it must be considered as part of an extensive local planning process. State law requires each county to prepare a Countywide Integrated Waste Management Plan (Waste Management Plan).

One component of the Waste Management Plan is a Countywide Siting Element identifying the types and possible locations of new or expanded solid waste facilities needed to provide a minimum of 15 years of permitted disposal capacity. Affected governmental agencies, the solid waste industry, environmental organizations, the general public and special districts have an active role in this planning process for solid waste programs and facilities in the region. [3]

In addition to the local role in permitting solid waste facilities, local air quality management districts deal with air quality impacts and the State Water Resources Control Board, through its Regional Water Quality Control Boards, have jurisdiction over water quality issues. All landfills are required to have permits issued by a regional board for waste discharge requirements, which govern significant design aspects of the landfill, such as leachate control, and regulate the disposal of wastes to land. [4]

The six-member Waste Board works with local governments and the waste industry to manage the estimated 76 million tons of solid waste generated in California each year. The Waste Board's goal is to reduce waste, promote the management of all materials to their highest and best use, and protect public health and safety and the environment. The Waste Board has the legal authority to concur or object to the issuance of solid waste facility permits. To object to a permit, four board members must vote not to concur. If fewer than four members object, or if the Board does not act within 60 days, the LEA can issue the permit. [5]

By statute, the Waste Board has limited grounds on which it can object to a permit: [6] It can find that a permit is not consistent with state minimum standards; however, this is a determination that has already been made by the local agencies. It can also object if a facility does not comply with requirements of the regional water board, but, this is an issue the Regional Water Quality Control Boards already directly enforces. [7]

Over the past five years, the Waste Board concurred in 264 of the 272 solid waste facility permit applications it considered. Of the remaining eight, the Waste Board took no action within the 60 day time period, effectively concurring with the LEA. [8] In some cases, objections to permits have been raised by Waste Board members driven by issues related to landfill siting, rather than state minimum standards or water quality issues that are within the statutory purview of the Waste Board's decision-making authority. [9]

The Waste Board's involvement in the permit approval process adds unnecessary time and costs on local governments and permit applicants without adding value. The Waste Board has the authority to review CEQA documents for solid waste facilities and can raise concerns about these facilities during this process. In addition, the Waste Board can address inadequacies in the LEAs' performance such as writing permits that are not in the protection of public health and the environment, conducting inadequate inspections and allowing violations of state minimum standards, as part of its LEA certification authority. [10]

The Waste Board's state Fiscal Year 2004-2005 budget proposes 27 personnel years and $2 million for permitting functions. The program is funded primarily from the Integrated Waste Management Account which is supported by fees paid to the state by solid waste facilities. Eliminating the concurrence function of the board would reduce 20 personnel years. Seven positions would be retained to assist LEAs with permit-related issues and required inspections of solid waste facilities.