Gordon Wozniak Councilmember District 8

2180 Milvia Street, Berkeley, CA 94704 ● Tel: (510) 981-7180 ● TDD: (510) 981-6903 ● Fax: (510) 981-7188 E-mail: GWozniak@ci.berkeley.ca.us

INFORMATION REPORT January 17, 2012

To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council

From: Councilmember Gordon Wozniak

Subject: Alameda County Waste Management Authority (Stopwaste.org) Single Use Bag Ordinance & Mandatory Recycling Ordinance

BACKGROUND On August 2, 2011, the Alameda County Waste Management Authority (ACWMA) distributed the Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Single Use Bag Ordinance and Mandatory Recycling Ordinance to the public in accordance with applicable law for review and comment for a 45 day period that ended September 16, 2011. On November 16, 2011, the ACWMA held a duly noticed public hearing on the EIR and Single Use Bag Reduction and Mandatory Recycling Ordinances. At its December 14, 2011 meeting the ACWMA passed the first reading of both the Single Use Bag Ordinance and Mandatory Recycling Ordinance. The proposed ordinances are scheduled for an adoption vote by the ACWMA at its January 25, 2012 meeting. SUMMARY The ACWMA prepared, considered, and certified the Mandatory Recycling and Single Use Bag Reduction Ordinance EIR, which considered two separate projects and included the environmental review required by the California Environmental Quality Act for the ordinances. The Authority certified those portions of the EIR relevant to the ordinances. The intent of the EIR and ordinances is to take a county-wide approach to reducing the use of single use bags at retail locations and to have local businesses and multi-family buildings reduce the amount of waste they send to the landfill throughout Alameda County. The Single Use Bag Reduction and Mandatory Recycling Ordinances apply to the member agencies of the Joint Powers Authority (JPA); current member agencies are the County of Alameda, the Cities of Alameda, Albany, Berkeley, Dublin, Emeryville, Fremont, Hayward, Livermore, Newark, Oakland, Piedmont, Pleasanton, San Leandro, Union City, and the Castro Valley and Oro Loma Sanitary Districts. The two ordinances are JPA level legislation covering member agencies, the ordinances are not model ordinances that each jurisdiction passes on their own like the Bay Friendly Landscaping Ordinance. Additionally, the ACWMA will be responsible for the education campaign as well as enforcement of both the Mandatory Recycling and Single Use Bag Reduction Ordinances.

Alameda County Waste Management Authority Single Use Bag INFORMATION REPORT Ordinance & Mandatory Recycling Ordinance January 17, 2012

Stopwaste.org staff reports and copies of the ordinances are attached to this item; please review them for comprehensive details of the two ordinances. This information report gives a cursory summary of the parts of the ordinances that I thought would be most useful for the Council and most relevant to Berkeley. In summary, the purpose of Single Use Bag Ordinance is to reduce the use of single use carryout bags and promote the use of reusable bags at the point of sale in Alameda County.

The ordinance goes into effect beginning July 1, 2012 and warnings and enforcement actions, provided by Stopwaste.org, will be taken as needed after January 1, 2013.

Stores included in the ordinance include retail stores with gross annual sales of two million dollars ($2,000,000) and drug stores, pharmacies, supermarkets, grocery stores, convenience food stores, foodmarts, or other entities engaged in the retail sale of goods that include milk, bread, soda, and snack foods.

The ordinance does not include restaurants or single use bags used to transport produce, bulk food or meat from a produce, bulk food or meat department within a store to the register.

The ordinance stipulates that no store shall provide a free single-use carryout bag or reusable bag to a customer at the check stand, cash register, point of sale or other location for the purpose of transporting food or merchandise out of the store after January 1, 2013. On or before January 1, 2015, a store may make available for sale to a customer a recycled paper bag or a reusable bag for a minimum price of ten cents ($0.10) and after January 1, 2015 a minimum price of twenty-five cents ($0.25). Individuals receiving WIC (Women, Infants, & Children) or SFP (Supplemental Food Program) are exempt from the cost of purchasing a paper bag.

Any member agency by a resolution of its governing body prior to March 2, 2012 may choose to exclude its service area from the ordinance.

Opt-in provision, that any member agency that chooses to exclude its service area may request of the Authority by a resolution of its governing board to be reincluded in coverage of the Ordinance at any subsequent time.

Nothing in the ordinance shall be construed to prohibit any member agency from enacting and enforcing ordinances and regulations regarding the distribution of single-use carryout bags and reusable bags, including more stringent requirements than those in the ordinance.

The purpose of the Mandatory Recycling Ordinance is to reduce the amount of recyclable and organic solid wastes deposited in landfills from businesses, multi-family residences, and self haulers.

Covered businesses include, but are not limited to, industrial or manufacturing, restaurant, retail, office, hotels, shopping centers, theaters and government entities. Multi-Family Buildings are also included in the ordinance and are defined as a structure with 5 or more dwelling units.

Alameda County Waste Management Authority Single Use Bag INFORMATION REPORT Ordinance & Mandatory Recycling Ordinance January 17, 2012

Businesses and multi-family buildings shall not discard recyclable materials which include plastic bottles, cans, glass bottles, paper, cardboard, and food waste, such that they will be deposited in landfill.

Each property owner of a business or multi-family building shall be responsible for the following: providing recycling container(s) for materials at the same location as the property owner provides container(s) for solid waste collection, providing signage describing the proper sorting of recyclable material, and provide educational material to new tenants and annual educational materials for tenants and employees.

Various waivers are available for property owners and businesses, including physical space waivers, financial hardship, and compliance schedule waivers.

A phased approach will be used for implementation of the ordinance with Phase 1 beginning July 1, 2012 and Phase 2 on July 1, 2014. For more specific details about the phasing please see attached ordinance.

Like with the Single Use Bag Ordinance, there is an opt-out provision for jurisdictions and nothing in the ordinance shall be construed to prohibit any member agency from enacting and enforcing ordinances and regulations with more stringent requirements than those in the ordinance.

Any member agency by a resolution of its governing body may, prior to March 2, 2012, choose to exclude its service area from Sections 4, 5, and 8, Phase 1 of the ordinance. Any member agency by a resolution of its governing board may, prior to January 1, 2014, choose to exclude its service area from Sections 4, 5, and 8, Phase 2.

Opt-in provision, that any member agency that chooses to exclude its service area from either Phase 1 or Phase 2 may request of the Authority by a resolution of its governing board to be re-included in coverage of the Ordinance at any subsequent time.

CONTACT PERSON Councilmember Gordon Wozniak Council District 8 981-7180 Attachments:

1) Single Use Bag Ordinance & EIR Certification Report 2) Mandatory Recycling Ordinance and EIR Certification Report