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: 5 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:
SB 1383 Recovered Organics Waste Products Procurement Services — Agreement and Amendments RECOMMENDATION:
Approve SB 1383 recovered organics waste product procurement services as follows: (1) an agreement with the Placer County Resource Conservation District for a one-year term in an amount not to exceed $100,000, with three optional one- year extensions at $100,000 each, for a total potential not to exceed amount of $400,000; (2) Amendment No. 1 with the Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz County to increase the payment rate for compost from $60 per ton to $75 per ton; (3) Amendment No. 2 to the Agreement with the Tuolumne County Resource Conservation District to increase the payment rate for compost from $60 per ton to $75 per ton; and authorize the City Manager to execute the Agreement and the Amendments in substantially the form presented.
BACKGROUND:
Senate Bill 1383 (SB 1383) is a short-term climate pollutants reduction act regulating greenhouse gas emissions (methane) generated from landfilling organics. To build a market for the organics diverted from landfills, the City is required to procure recovered organics waste products such as compost, mulch, and renewable natural gas. The City’s annual recovered organics waste products procurement 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 recovered organics waste products to meet their local needs, including transportation fuel, electricity, and heat from renewable gas, electricity from biomass conversion, compost, and mulch.
Currently, compost is the only SB 1383 compliant recovered organics waste product available to the City. When meeting the target through the procurement of compost, the City is required to procure 4,825 tons annually. In 2024, through compost giveaways at the City’s Corporation Yard and Wastewater Treatment Plant, the City’s participation in the Countywide Compost Broker Partnership with the San Mateo Resource Conservation District (RCD), and the existing agreements we have with the RCDs for Tuolumne, Santa Cruz, and Monterey Counties, the City procured 3,040 tons of compost. While this met the reduced 60 percent target set for 2024 by CalRecycle, it leaves a gap of 1,785 tons for 2025 when the reductions for ramping up to full compliance end. The proposed new Agreement with the Placer County RCD and Amendments to existing RCD agreements will allow the City to fully meet its 2025 Recovered Organics Waste Products Procurement target.
Staff is also working to meet the City’s annual procurement target in other ways, such as exploring renewable natural gas production at the Wastewater Treatment Plant; however, to meet the annual procurement target, the City must contract with the agricultural community in other regions of California to procure SB 1383-compliant compost and find appropriate sites for its application.
SB 1383 allows the City to enter into “direct service provider” agreements with entities such as RCDs for the purpose of
CITY OF SAN MATEO
procurement of recovered organics waste products, such as compost, provided a written contract or agreement is in place for such procurement. The Agreement and Amendments proposed here meet the definition of “direct service provider agreement” and continue to be a necessary step to meet the City’s annual target with the help of the regional agricultural community. The agreements provide for procurement of SB 1383-compliant compost to help meet the City’s target and are based on the successful Countywide Compost Broker Program in San Mateo County, of which the City is a member, and which has become a model for other communities seeking to meet their SB 1383 mandates.
On November 18, 2024, City Council approved an agreement with RCD of Santa Cruz County and Amendment No. 1 to an agreement with Tuolumne County RCD authorizing three optional one-year extensions, in the amount of $100,000 for each extension. The current proposed amendments for RCD of Santa Cruz County and Tuolumne County RCD are before Council because they seek approval of an increase to the not to exceed payment rate from $60 per ton, to $75 per ton of compost. This adjustment creates a consistent not-to-exceed $75/ton payment rates for all existing agreements with all the RCDs. The City will also be exercising an extension with RCD of Monterey County; however, that amendment is not before Council as it is within the parameters of Council’s previous authorization.
Based on the above, staff recommends approval of increasing the payment rates for the Tuolumne County RCD and the RCD of Santa Cruz County and approving an agreement with the Placer County RCD for SB 1383 compost procurement services.
BUDGET IMPACT:
There are sufficient funds in the Solid Waste Fund Operating Budget to fund the Agreement and Amendments.
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION:
Approving the agreement with Placer County Resource Conservation District and the amendments to the agreements with Tuolumne County Resource Conservation District and the Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz County to assist the City in procuring SB 1383 compliant compost to meet the City’s annual recovered organics waste products procurement target is exempt from CEQA, because it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment. (CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3).)
NOTICE PROVIDED
All meeting noticing requirements were met.
ATTACHMENTS
Att 1 – Agreement with the Placer County Resource Conservation District Att 2 – Amendment No. 1 to the Agreement with the Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz County Att 3 – Amendment No. 2 to the Agreement with the Tuolumne County Resource Conservation District
STAFF CONTACT
Jack Johnson, Waste Management Supervisor
[email protected]
650-522-7346