CITY OF SAN MATEO
CITY OF SAN MATEO
Agenda Report
City Hall
330 W. 20th Avenue
San Mateo CA 94403
www.cityofsanmateo.org
Agenda Number: 4 Section Name: {{section.name}} Account Number: 21-4678 File ID: {{item.tracking_number}} TO: City Council
FROM: Alex Khojikian, City Manager
PREPARED BY: Public Works Department
MEETING DATE: June 02, 2025
SUBJECT:
Community Composting Program — Agreement
RECOMMENDATION:
Adopt a Resolution approving an alternative purchasing procedure for an agreement with the non-profit Fresh Approach for community composting services in an amount not to exceed $225,000 for a three-year term ($75,000 per year) ending on June 30, 2028; and authorize the City Manager to execute the agreement in substantially the form submitted.
BACKGROUND:
Senate Bill 1383 (SB 1383) is a short-term climate pollutants reduction act aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions (methane) generated from landfilling organics. The City has many responsibilities under the mandate, including outreach, education, and recovered organics waste procurement.
The City's annual Recovered Organics Waste Procurement (ROWP) target is 8,244 tons. The target is based on a calculation multiplying the per capita procurement target (a defined value of 0.08 tons of organic waste estimated to be generated per California resident per year) by the City's 2021 population of 103,045. Jurisdictions have the flexibility to procure a variety of products to meet their local needs, including transportation fuel generated from renewable gas generated from anaerobic digestion, electricity from biomass conversion, compost, and mulch. However, compost is the only readily available means for meeting the target.
Currently, the City procures compost directly from the Shoreway Environmental Center for giveaway to the public, participates in the Countywide Compost Brokerage Program run by the San Mateo Resource Conservation District, and holds agreements with Tuolumne, Santa Cruz, and Monterey Resource Conservation Districts to secure and apply compost in their services areas to help meet the target. Using these methods to procure compost, the City was able to meet its 2024 ROWP target which was set by CalRecycle at 60 percent of the annual target. This reduction was put in place to allow jurisdictions time to ramp up implementation of this element of SB 1383. In 2025, the annual target will be 100 percent.
Assembly Bill 2346 (AB 2346) was recently enacted by the state in 2024 and allows communities more opportunities to achieve their annual ROWP target, including compost generated through community composting efforts. Such efforts can generate up to 100 cubic yards of compost per year per site. While this amount is insufficient to make a significant impact on our annual target, there is pending state legislation to raise the limit to 500 cubic yards per year/per site.
This agreement seeks to take advantage of AB 2346 and provide resources to expand the current food waste collection program operated by Fresh Approach, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, at the College of San Mateo and the associated composting operation at the Phoenix Garden, operated by the County of San Mateo at the Youth Services Center just outside the City limits.This program is very popular with participating residents as it allows them to drop off their food waste and pick up a clean finished compost to use at their homes. The proposed agreement will also allow staff to develop a relationship with
CITY OF SAN MATEO
the College and the existing San Mateo community gardens in order to gauge interest in developing other community composting hubs.
Further, and most importantly, this agreement will increase the amount of outreach and public awareness about SB 1383, organics diversion, and the impact that reducing the volume of organics sent to the landfill and creating and applying compost has on residents’ ability to reduce greenhouse gases and make a personal impact on climate change. This is precisely the type of human behavior change that SB 1383 anticipated and which will be required to make a significant impact on climate change.
Staff continues to work to meet the City’s annual ROWP target in other ways, such as evaluating the optimal use of the natural gas produced at the Wastewater Treatment Plant; however, to meet the annual procurement target, the City must use all available tools. Over time, community compost will be a small but innovative way to meet our SB 1383 mandates.
Staff recommends awarding this agreement to Fresh Approach in accordance with SMMC 3.60.070(h)(3), which authorizes the City Council to approve an alternative purchasing procedure when it is in the best interests of the City. Fresh Approach is currently operating the compost operations at the Phoenix Garden in San Mateo and the food scraps collection program at the College of San Mateo Farmers’ Market and is the only entity offering such services in the Bay Area. Staff chose not to conduct an RFP because Fresh Approach is currently a party to a Memorandum of Understanding with the County of San Mateo’s Phoenix Garden to conduct composting operations and provide education and outreach there. Further Fresh Approach provides the only food scraps collection program at the College of San Mateo Farmers’ Market. Therefore, Fresh Approach is in the best position to expand the types of services the City seeks through this agreement and provide more, expanded opportunities to the residents of San Mateo, including exploration of creating compost hubs at existing community gardens within the City. This agreement will expand the existing food scrap collection and composting work currently being done by Fresh Approach.
BUDGET IMPACT:
Funding for this agreement is included in the Fiscal Year 2025-26 operating budget in the Solid Waste Fund and is contingent upon the approval and adoption of the budget by Council.
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION:
This community composting program is not a project subject to CEQA, because it can be seen with certainty that it will not cause a physical change in the environment. (Public Resources Code Section 21065.)
NOTICE PROVIDED
All meeting noticing requirements were met.
ATTACHMENTS
Att 1 – Proposed Resolution
Att 2 – Agreement
STAFF CONTACT
Jack Johnson, Waste Management Supervisor
[email protected]
(650) 522-7346