BACKGROUND:
In September 2016, Governor Edmund Brown Jr. set methane emissions reduction targets for California (SB 1383 Lara, Chapter 395, Statutes of 2016) in a statewide effort to reduce emissions of short-lived climate pollutants. The target is to reduce organic waste that ends up in the landfill by 75% by the year 2025. To achieve the reduction of landfilled waste and to increase recovery, SB 1383 mandates the following:
✓Provide organics collection services to all residents, multi-family complexes and businesses.
✓Establish edible food recovery programs.
✓Conduct education and outreach to the Community.
✓Monitor compliance and conduct enforcement.
Cathedral City has developed, adopted and implemented programs in compliance with the above mandates.
The next SB 1383 mandate that needs to be addressed:
•Procure recyclable and recovered organics products.
An important part of CalRecycle’s mission is to increase the diversion of organic materials away from landfills and toward the production of value-added products such as compost, fertilizers, and biofuels. Organic waste accounts for more than a third of the material in California’s waste stream. Reducing the amount of organic material sent to landfills is one of California’s strategies for reaching the statewide 75% recycling goal.
As required by SB 1383, CalRecycle provided each jurisdiction with a procurement target which is the amount of organic waste in the form of a recovered organics waste product that a jurisdiction is required to procure annually. Below is a list of approved Products:
•Renewable Gas in the form of Transportation.
•Electricity from Renewable Gas.
•Heat from Renewable Gas.
•Electricity from Biomass Conversion.
•Compost / Mulch.
Each jurisdiction’s recovered organics waste products procurement target is calculated by multiplying the per capita procurement target by the jurisdiction population.
Based off Cathedral City’s population, Cathedral City is required to procure 4,300 tons of organic waste annually.
DISCUSSION:
Staff proposes implementing the following programs to procure 4,300 tons of organic waste annually.
1. Cathedral City Parks
Staff had begun incorporating mulch during the maintenance of the local parks. Mulch helps:
•Reduce soil erosion and soil compaction,
•Maintain optimal soil temperatures by creating a barrier from the heat and cold, •Increase soil nutrition as it decomposes by improving soil structure, thus providing better drainage and better use of nutrients, and •Improve soil moisture, greatly reducing the need for more water.
2. Alternative Daily Cover (ADC)
Alternative Daily Cover (ADC) means cover material other than earthen material placed on a surface. Public Works is proposing to use ADC Mulch around the Tamarisk Trees installed along the border of Cathedral City and the Palm Springs Vista Chino Wash planted to help reduce the amount of blow sand negatively impacting the nearby properties.
ADC Mulch will provide nutrients to the sandy soil and improve its ability to hold water, greatly benefiting the Tamarisk Trees. The ADC Mulch will also provide a ground cover over the existing blow sand.
Pilot Projects
Public Works has worked with mulch as a ground cover and soil enhancement in the past and the only issue encountered was how labor intensive it is to manually spread mulch. During the recent Winter Renovation/Reseeding of the local parks, Public Works rented a Compost Slinger to assist with the spreading of the mulch. We learned through this pilot program, the Compost Slinger allowed the public works landscaping crew to quickly install the mulch saving the department time and money.
As a result of the successful pilot project, Staff is proposing the purchase of a Compost Slinger.
SB 1383 Local Assistance Grant Program
CalRecycle’s non-competitive grant program provided one-time funding to local jurisdictions to assist with the implementation of regulation requirements associated with SB 1383. Based off Cathedral City’s population, CalRecycle awarded Cathedral City $77,093 in grant funding (project G03533).
Staff is proposing to use the grant funds to purchase the following equipment that would be used to spread mulch at local parks and as ADC.
Dakota 4 10 Turf Tender (Compost Slinger) $46,156.00
Jacobsen Diesel XD 4WD Truckster (Transport/Pulls the Slinger) $22,554.00 Total Heavy Equipment Cost (including delivery and tax) $74,722.13 Total Expenditures for Small Tools: Walkable Mulch Spreader for small areas and landscaping hand tools.
$ 2,370.88
Total Expenditures $77,093.00
The City’s Fleet Coordinator contacted five (5) vendors both locally and in the surrounding area. Staff only received two (2) quotes, as most vendors do not carry this specialized equipment as inventory. The quotes are as follows:
Eberhard Equipment sells a much smaller Conestoga Compost Slinger. Public Works Staff has determined that the size of this smaller Compost Slinger is too small to be effectively used by the City Public Works field crews. The Dakota Turf Tender, quote received from Elms Equipment, is the same size Compost Slinger the Public Works Department rented this past year to determine if this equipment would benefit the Parks Maintenance Division. This size Compost Slinger proved effective in reducing labor and time necessary to spread the mulch where needed.
The purchase of the Compost Slinger, Truckster and small equipment will greatly reduce the manpower needed to utilize mulch within the public works parks maintenance and assist the City with SB 1383 mandate to procure 4,300 tons or organic waste annually.
Attached to this Staff Report is the quote from Elms Equipment for the purchase of the Turf Tender and Truckster. The small mulch spreading equipment will be purchased from local companies like Lowes or Home Depot.
The purchase of mulch and the maintenance of the Compost Slinger and Truckster will be paid from the Equipment Replacement fund (611) and funded by the 246 Environmental Fund (246).
FISCAL IMPACT:
The following summary identifies the funding sources for the purchase components:
Elms Equipment $74,722.13 410 Turf Tender Capacity = 23 cubic feet.
Eberhard Equipment $ 41,705.92 Conestoga Capacity = 15 cubic feet.
Dakota Turf Tender and Jacobsen Diesel $74,722.13 Project Code: G03533 Not to exceed amount for the purchase of
small equipment
$ 2,370.88 Project Code: G03533
Total Expenditures $77,093.00 SB 1383 Grant Funds