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Staff Report
City Council
Item No. 6.A
Meeting Date: January 10, 2024
From: John Corella, Director of Engineering/Public Works Title: SB 1383 Update and FIND Food Bank Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU)
City Council
RECOMMENDATION:
To authorize the City Manager to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with FIND Food Bank for the purpose of meeting SB 1383 regulatory requirements and providing support to the Cathedral City Edible Food Recovery Program.
BACKGROUND:
Senate Bill No. 1383 was signed into law on September 19, 2016. It is the most significant waste reduction mandate to be adopted in the State of California in the last thirty years. SB 1383 required the reduction of organic waste disposal by 50% by January 2020 and 75% by 2025, respectively. Additionally, SB 1383 requires an increase of 20% in edible food recovery by 2025 and introduced regulatory requirements for both food generators and jurisdictions.
To achieve the reduction of landfilled waste and to increase food recovery, the State has mandated the following:
1. Provide organics collection services to all residents, multi -family complexes and businesses.
2. Conduct education and outreach to the community.
3. Procure recyclable and recovered organics products.
4. Monitor compliance and conduct enforcement.
5. Establish edible food recovery programs.
The City is required to establish organic recovery programs and strengthen its existing food recovery networks. Fines for non-compliance may be up to $10,000 per day.
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DISCUSSION:
Tonight, Staff is providing an update to City Council on Cathedral City’s SB 1383 Compliance.
1. Provide organics collection services to all residents, multi -family complexes and businesses.
15,492 Residential Customers:
• Received the blue cart for recycling and are now using the grey cart for trash disposal.
• Residents have been provided a kitchen pail along with information on how to properly dispose of the bagged food waste in the green organics cart.
Cathedral City offers free compostable bags for kitchen pails at no charge.
• Labels, which include information on what can be placed in each cart , are required to be added to all new carts. As carts are exchanged, residents will receive a new cart with a hot stamp label.
• There are some r esidential customers that have unpaid for additional maroon carts that they pull to the curb in which they have placed all their trash, including recycling and greenwaste disposal (unsegregated). If a home is found to still have these unpaid for additional maroon carts, Burrtec will issue a swap ticket to change the carts so that the customer has the appropriate carts.
• Burrtec is continuing to conduct neighborhood trash audits.
Commercial Customers (including multi-family):
o 455 businesses are required to comply with SB 1383 regulations. Of 455 businesses:
▪ Seven (7) are not in compliance,
▪ Six (6) are not yet ready to open, and
▪ One (1) has refused to participate.
• Burrtec is conducting annual site visits to each business which includes inspections on program compliance, participation, and contamination.
• Contamination is an on -going issue especially at multifamily locations. The Environmental Department in partnership with Burrtec will continue to support each multi-family community by providing solutions on how to resolve the issues.
• Burrtec continues to provide education, outreach, and resources to businesses.
• Burrtec submits monthly reports to the City which are documented within the Implementation Record, a requirement of SB 1383.
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2. Conduct education and outreach to the Community.
• Education and outreach for both residential and commercial customers is on - going.
• The City has updated the Refuse & Recycling Guide and the Community Mailer.
• Burrtec continues to provide education, outreach, and support to both residential and commercial customers.
3. Monitor compliance and conduct enforcement.
January 2022, the City Council amended Ordinance 6.04 ( Solid Waste Collections and Disposal) to include elements of SB 1383. Ordinance 6.04 includes the following language to address SB 1383 enforcement:
• Inspections and Investigations : City representatives are authorized to conduct inspections and investigations to confirm compliance. Regulated entities shall provide access and cooperate with City Staff during the process.
• Enforcement: Violation of any provision(s) of the Ordinance shall be a misdemeanor that may be enforced by the City in any manner authorized by law, including but not limited to, an administrative citation, criminal citation, nuisance abatement action, or civil action.
Currently, the City has not had to issue any violation citations. Burrtec did inform the City there is one business that is refusing to comply with SB 1383. The Environmental Department will reach out to the business owner to discuss the issues before moving forward with enforcement.
4. Procure recyclable and recovered organics products.
• Procure recovered Organics: The City recently purchased a compost slinger which assisted with the spreading of mulch at all City parks and around the Tamarisk Trees within the Rio Vista Community.
• Procure recyclable: Staff will confirm that all businesses from whom the City purchase paper products certify in writing or by label the minimum percentage of postconsumer material in the paper products sold to the City. T his process will be in place early 2024.
5. Establish edible food recovery programs.
SB 1383 requires each jurisdiction in California to establish and monitor a robust food recovery program, which will strengthen the relationships between commercial edible food generators and food recovery organizations within their communities, requiring certain food businesses to send the maximum amount of edible food they would otherwise dispose to food recovery organizations.
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SB 1383 places commercial edible food generators into two tiers to allow businesses and jurisdictions time to expand or build new food recovery infrastructure and capacity to donate foods that are harder to safely store and distribute.
Tier One Donors
Required to send surplus food to Food Organizations starting January 1, 2022.
• Supermarkets with revenue ≥ $2 million.
• Grocery Stores with Facilities ≥ 10,000 sq. ft.
• Food Service Providers.
• Food Distributors.
• Wholesale Food Vendors.
Cathedral City has seven (7) Tier One Establishments.
Tier Two Donors
Required to send surplus food to Food Organizations starting January 1, 2024.
• Restaurants with Facilities ≥ 5,000 sq. ft. or 250+ seats • Hotels with an On-Site Food Facility and 200+ Rooms
• Health Facilities with an On-Site Food Facility and 100+ Beds • Large Venues and Events
• State Agency Cafeterias with Facilities ≥ 5,000 sq. ft. or 250+ seats • Local Education Agency with an Onsite Food Facility
• Non-Local Entities
Cathedral City currently has 32 Tier Two Establishments.
Purpose
For capacity planning, jurisdictions must first identify which commercial edible food generators, with a physical location within the jurisdiction , are commercial edible food generators. Once the list is confirmed, the following activities need to be completed:
• Provide education and outreach to Tier One and Tier Two commercial edible food generators.
• Assess their community’s current food recovery capacity and plan for additional capacity if it is insufficient to accommodate the amount of food that commercial edible food generators must send to food recovery organizations. • Inspect commercial edible food generators to ensure they are sending the maximum amount of edible food they would otherwise send to a landfill. • Post contact information for food recovery organizations on the jurisdiction’s website so that commercial edible food generators can identify which organizations could potentially accept their food.
To successfully divert edible food from landfill disposal there is considerable infrastructure, systems and staffing needed to include:
• Tracking and coordination of systems.
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• Edible food contract management.
• Data collection of types and weights of food recovered. • Coordination and transportation of food and food safety training.
There would be considerable expense and staffing needed if the City were to implement an effective program internally. To offset these expenses and requirements, a partnership with a food recovery organization would enhance the success, reduce the costs, and ensure compliance by Cathedral City businesses.
December 2022 , the City entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with FIND Food Bank to ensure that Tier One generators donate edible food, have contracts in place with the non-profit organization to receive recovered edible food and ensure these generators are keeping records for inspection. The original Memorandum of Understanding expired on December 30, 2023.
FIND Food Bank has submitted an updated proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) (attached) to the City of Cathedral City to help meet regulatory requirements and provide support to the Cathedral City Edible Food Recovery Program for Tier One and Tier Two Establishments.
FIND Food Bank is the Coachella Valley’s Regional Food Bank and has been operating since 1983. FIND has expertise, established systems, a network of volunteers and a history of providing food assistance directly, as well as distribution through other non - profit organizations. A partnership with FIND food bank will help the City and its edible food generators meet the SB 1383 requirements, reducing the risk of unnecessary fines.
FIND Food Bank Agreement (Agreement)
The proposed MOU includes a 3 -year term expiring December 31, 2026. The proposed fee schedule is as follows:
Number of Tier One Establishments: 7 Total Rate Annually: $17,325 Number of Tier Two Establishments: 32 Total Rate Annually: $40,000
Total Rate Annually for Tier One and Tier Two Establishments: $57,325
Total Rate per 3-year Agreement for both Tier One and Tier Two: $171,975
Funding and SB 1383 Local Assistance Grant Program
Staff has budgeted program funds within the 246 Environmental Fund to support SB 1383 programs.
In addition, CalRecycle has allocated $102,000 from the SB 1383 Local Assistance Grant Program to Cathedral City towards programs support ing edible food recovery partnerships with organizations like FIND Food Bank.
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Staff is requesting the City Manager be authorized to execute the proposed MOU with FIND Food Bank and allocate funding in an amount not to exceed $57,325 annually for a 3 -year term from the City’s Environmental Fund to help meet SB 1383 regulatory requirements and provide support to the Cathedral City Edible Food Recovery Program.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The program cost for Tier One and Tier Two Edible Food Recovery Program for calendar year 2024 through 2026 would be $171,975. The program would be funded from the Environmental Fund 246 – project MO3533 SB 1383 Program funds and the SB1383 Local Assistance Grant Program funds allocation for this program.
$102,000 Environmental Fund SB 1383
Local Assistance Grant Program
$ 69,975 Environmental Fund 246
FIVE-YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN:
GOAL B: COMMUNITY INVESTMENT
Objective: Cathedral City roads, gateways, public spaces, and other city infrastructure are well planned, designed, constructed, and maintained.
GOAL D: INNOVATION
Objective: Cathedral City continually focusses on improving service delivery and customer experiences by successfully leveraging technology and creative initiatives to improve public services, public safety, and stimulate economic growth.
ATTACHMENTS:
FIND Food Bank MOU Tier 1 & 2