Governor Signs AB 1046 (Bains)

Governor Gavin Newsom has signed AB 1046 (Bains) co-sponsored by the Association.  Up to this point, existing law has required the State Air Resources Board to implement a comprehensive short-lived climate pollutant strategy to achieve a reduction in statewide emissions of methane by 40% below 2013 levels by 2030. Existing law requires the methane emissions reduction goals to include a 75% reduction in the level of the statewide disposal of organic waste from the 2014 level by 2025. Accordingly, the state had required any “food facility” to report the amount of food waste they send to a landfill. Tree nut hullers and processors do not, and have not, sent any waste to a landfill. However, that did not stop some counties in the state and CalRecycle from mandating that some tree nut hullers and processors not only report their waste but also be subject to annual inspections and in some counties pay fees. Other counties simply accepted a letter from the Western Tree Nut Association explaining that these facilities utilize every part of the nut including the hull and shell and nothing goes to waste. Since some counties did not accept this, the Association worked with Assemblymember Dr. Jasmeet Bains to introduce AB 1046 to exempt these operations.  Specifically, this bill would exempt from these requirements a agricultural crop preparation service, as defined, that demonstrates to the department that it has not disposed of organic waste in a landfill on or after January 1, 2016.  In response to the Governor’s signing of AB 1046, Association President/CEO Roger A. Isom stated “We are thankful for the Governor’s signing of AB 1046 and for the efforts of Assemblymember Dr. Jasmeet Bains for her efforts in carrying the bill.  This marks the end of some of the most ridiculous regulatory overreach our industry has ever had to deal with and in some cases pay for.  Common sense has finally prevailed.”