The Agreement requires Allied, owner and operator of the Contra Costa Transfer and Recovery Station (CCTRS) in Martinez, to pay the County solid waste tonnage fees on commercial food waste that is separately collected by Allied within the jurisdiction of the CCCSWA and received at CCTRS. The Agreement thus will assist the County in recovering revenues from these fees, which fund costs of solid waste enforcement incurred by the County LEA.
The Environmental Health Division of the County Health Services Department, in its capacity as the County LEA, is responsible for solid waste enforcement in all of Contra Costa County except the City of Pittsburg. Among other duties, the County LEA reviews applications for, and issues, permits to operate solid waste facilities. The activities of the County LEA are funded by revenues from a tonnage fee on solid waste received at solid waste facilities throughout the County. This fee is authorized by Public Resources Code section 43213 and County Resolution No. 2007/509.
The CCTRS is currently permitted to operate as a transfer station and wood grinding facility. Allied has requested a revision to the CCTRS permit to also allow the processing of commercial food waste received at the facility. As part of a project involving Allied, CCCSWA and the East Bay Municipal Utility District (“EBMUD”), commercial food waste would be collected separately by Allied and delivered to CCTRS for processing. After processing, the food waste would be transported to an EBMUD wastewater treatment plant in Oakland, where the processed waste would be anaerobically digested, producing methane, which would in turn be used to fuel an on-site power generation station.
The County LEA has completed an environmental review of the food waste project and has been working with CalRecycle, the state agency that oversees local enforcement agencies, to draft a revised permit. As part of that process, CalRecycle advised that the new permit may not contain a condition requiring Allied to pay the County’s solid waste tonnage fees. The current CCTRS solid waste facility permit does contain such a condition. The intent of the condition is to encourage payment of the fees, as noncompliance with permit conditions can lead to permit suspension or revocation. Without the condition, if fees are not paid, the County would need to evaluate other avenues of enforcement. Nonpayment of these fees is a concern to the County LEA, as Allied disputes that the food waste is subject to the solid waste tonnage fee.
The County LEA disputes CalRecycle’s position, but in the interest of moving the food waste project forward, devised an alternative approach to the recovery of these fees. In lieu of the permit condition, staff with the County LEA, CCCSWA and Allied negotiated the Agreement, under which Allied would be required to pay the fee in return for the right to pass the cost through to its commercial ratepayers in commercial collection rates set by CCCSWA. The Agreement would also require this Board to formally request that the County LEA staff use its best and reasonable efforts to expedite the issuance of the revised solid waste facility permit to allow the Project to proceed as soon as possible. Approval and execution of the letter attached as Exhibit B would satisfy the County’s obligation under Paragraph 3 of the Agreement.
If the Agreement is not approved, and if Allied does not pay the required fees, the County may need to evaluate other options for compelling payment.
Speakers: Tim Arganti, Allied Waste Services.