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0 DATE: March 4, 2024
TO: Mayor and Members of the City Council
VIA: Stefan Chatwin, City Manager
Marlene Subhashini, Assistant City Manager
FROM: Andrew Brozyna, Public Works Director
‘Andra Lorenz, Principal Management Analyst
DEPARTMENT: Public Works
SUBJECT: CONTRACT AMENDMENT NO. 1 TO THE AGREEMENT WITH
SAN MATEO RESOURCE CONSERVATION DISTRICT DATED
AUGUST 22, 2022, FOR THE COMPOST BROKER PROGRAM
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council authorize the City Manager to sign Amendment No. 1 to the Agreement with the San Mateo Resource Conservation District (RCD) dated August 22, 2022, to extend the agreement to May 1, 2026, and replace Exhibit A Scope of Work and Exhibit B Fee Schedule for the Compost Broker Program; and find Contract Amendment No. 1 exempt from review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15061(b)(3).
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The City is currently in a two-year agreement with the RCD for the Compost Broker Program, which expires on March 31, 2024 (“Agreement”). This program is funded through Local Assistance grant funds from the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) in an amount of $44,096 and is for the purpose of fulfilling the compost procurement requirements of SB 1383 and expanding the capacity of local compost markets.
Foster City has applied for and anticipates receiving non-competitive grant funding from CalRecycle for an additional two-year term. Staff recommends using a portion of this funding to continue to participate in the Compost Broker Program. In order to continue
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0 participation, it is necessary to extend the contract with the RCD. Foster City’s share of the County-wide program for the upcoming two-year term (April 2024 through April 2026) is $54,709.04. Any additional grant funding will be used for direct compost procurement.
Contract Amendment No. 1 extends the Agreement with the RCD for the Compost Broker Program through May 1, 2026, and revises the scope of work based on lessons learned during the first contract term.
BACKGROUND
Passed in September 2016, SB 1383 established statewide methane emissions reduction targets in an effort to reduce emissions of short-lived climate pollutants. It includes statewide goals to reduce the disposal of organic waste and recover edible food for human consumption. Among the many regulations associated with SB 1383, all cities and counties must procure target amounts of recovered organic waste products such as compost, mulch, renewable energy from anaerobic digestion and electricity from biomass conversion. Realistically, however, the most typical way for a city to achieve its target is through procurement of compost and mulch. Foster City’s procurement target is 2,627 tons per year.
Public Resources Code sections 48000 et seq. authorize CalRecycle to administer various grant programs (grants) in furtherance of the State of California’s (State) efforts to reduce, recycle and reuse solid waste. In January 2022, CalRecycle offered its first round (Fiscal Year 2021-2022) SB 1383 Local Assistance Grant Program funding. These are non-competitive grants based upon population. Foster City applied for and received $47,314, most of which ($44,096) is currently being used to fund Foster City’s participation in a County-wide collaboration with the RCD.
Through the County-wide collaboration, Foster City contracts with the RCD to act as a direct service provider, procuring and applying compost to farm and rangeland in San Mateo County, identifying and developing additional partnership opportunities with the county’s agricultural communities to support our long term SB 1383 compliance, and assessing innovative compost procurement and application funding strategies to fund the program long-term while also purchasing and distributing compost in pursuit of the City’s target compost procurement requirement.
Since the Agreement with the RCD was under $50,000, it was signed by the City Manager in 2022 but because Contract Amendment No. 1 would cause the contract amount to exceed the City Manager’s authority, the amendment must be approved by the City Council.
ANALYSIS
The existing two-year Agreement with the RCD expires on March 31, 2024. In the meantime, Foster City has applied for and anticipates receiving non-competitive grant funding from CalRecycle for a new two-year term through 2026 in the amount of $75,000. 5 6
0 The application specified that the funding was meant to be used to achieve compost procurement targets.
Staff is recommending that the City Council approve extending the Agreement with the RCD for an additional two-year term utilizing this funding. The proposed Contract Amendment No. 1 to the Agreement would be for Foster City’s share of the County-wide program which is $54,709.04. The remaining grant funding is specified to be used for the direct procurement of compost and mulch in furtherance of the SB 1383 recycled content products requirement.
Contract Amendment No. 1 is attached to this staff report. In summary, the proposed amendments are comprised of an extension of the contract term through May 1, 2026, an update of program costs to reflect the additional term, and revisions to the scope of work based on lessons learned during the first contract term. Most of the proposed changes to the scope are meant to make the reporting process easier and to increase the flexibility in the methods that can be used to meet Foster City’s goals to procure recycled content products (mulch and compost).
CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENT QUALITY ACT
This Contract Amendment No. 1 to the Agreement is exempt under the “common sense” exception (14 Cal. Code Regs. § 15061(b)(3)) because it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that this action may have a significant effect on the environment.
FISCAL IMPACT
The RCD Compost Broker Program is designed to expand the demand for local compost and mulch applications, which will help the City to achieve its recycled-content product procurement targets in the long term by increasing the outlet for these products and reducing transportation costs by keeping the product local. It has the potential to provide environmental benefits to the County and it utilizes $54,709.04 in grant funding to achieve these goals with no impact to the City’s General Fund.
CITY COUNCIL VISION, MISSION, AND VALUE/PRIORITY AREA
Sustainability
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment 1 – Resolution
Attachment 2 – Contract Amendment No.1
Attachment 3 - Agreement with Resource Conservation District Dated 8/22/2022