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: 7 Section Name: CONSENT CALENDAR Account Number: 21-4678 File ID: 25-10566 TO: City Council
FROM: Alex Khojikian, City Manager
PREPARED BY: Public Works Department
MEETING DATE: January 26, 2026
SUBJECT:
County of San Mateo Compost Broker Program — Memorandum of Understanding RECOMMENDATION:
Approve a Memorandum of Understanding with San Mateo County to participate in the Senate Bill 1383 Compost Broker Program; authorize the City Manager to execute the Memorandum of Understanding in substantially the form presented; authorize the City Manager to execute future renewals of the MOU to allow continued participation in the Compost Broker Program, subject to City Council approval of associated costs; and authorize payment to San Mateo County in an amount not to exceed $300,000 for calendar year 2026 program costs.
BACKGROUND:
Senate Bill (SB) 1383 is a short-term climate pollutants reduction act requiring, in part, a statewide 75 percent reduction in the disposal of organic waste compared to 2014 levels by 2025. To meet this goal, the City is required to procure an amount of recovered organics waste product (e.g., compost, mulch) proportional to the population and amount of organic waste generated in the City. The City’s annual recovered organic waste product (ROWP) procurement target is 8,244 tons.
Currently, the City participates in the San Mateo Resource Conservation District’s (SMRCD) Compost Broker Program (Program) which is a collaboration between the SMRCD, every city and town within San Mateo County, and the County of San Mateo to help jurisdictions meet the SB 1383 ROWP procurement target. Through the Program, the SMRCD functions as the City’s direct service provider procuring and distributing compost to farm and rangeland to assist in reaching the City’s ROWP procurement target.
The Program has been recognized by CalRecycle, the California Resource Recovery Association, and the U.S. Composting Council as a first-of-its-kind public-private partnership that both advances SB 1383 procurement goals and improves the health and resiliency of California’s working lands.
While an important part of meeting the City’s annual target, the current Program secures only 13% of the requirement.
The City meets the remainder of its annual ROWP target through additional agreements between the City and multiple other resource conservation districts (RCDs) in the state, including RCDs in Monterey, Santa Cruz, Placer, and Tuolumne Counties. The revised Program implemented by this Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is intended to allow the City to meet a higher percentage of the City‘s procurement target at a much lower cost.
Using administrative efficiencies, partnerships with other regional Resource Conservation Districts, and economies of scale, the County proposes to, over time, lower the compost procurement costs from what the City currently pays for compost from $75-$78/ton to perhaps as low as $42-$46/ton.
CITY OF SAN MATEO
The current Program will conclude in 2026 unless a new agreement is adopted. To continue, the County proposes a new MOU structure. Under this agreement, the City will provide an annual contribution and receive procurement credit in proportion to its participation. Starting in 2026, the County will administer the Program, including overseeing the agreement with the SMRCD, contract management, billing, record keeping, and reporting. This arrangement reduces administrative burden for the City, lowers costs significantly, and strengthens regional collaboration while supporting the City‘s SB 1383 obligations.
The City’s contribution for calendar year 2026 is $300,000. Of the City’s annual contribution, 96-98% of the funding will support activities that help meet the City’s annual procurement target and 2-4% will cover the County’s administrative costs, though administrative costs may be increased above 4% after the first year of implementation based on the total staff time required to administer the Program. Once the MOU is executed, the City may annually renew the MOU under the same terms and conditions, which staff recommends for the City Manager to be given authority to execute.
Contribution amounts for each subsequent Program year will be subject to City Council approval. The MOU may be ended by either party with 30 days written notice.
While the County administers the program, the City remains responsible for meeting the total procurement target. In September of each year, the County will provide to the City the anticipated tons of ROWP procurement credit to be received in the calendar year following, which will allow the City to plan for how much ROWP procurement credit will need to be met beyond the Program’s support. Participation offers significant advantages by reducing duplicative effort, ensuring consistent reporting, and leveraging economies of scale to lower costs.
Participation in the current Program has been very successful in assisting the City in meeting the SB 1383 requirements.
Staff has participated in the development of the Program and advocated for the County to take on the role outlined in the MOU.
BUDGET IMPACT:
The City can self-determine its annual funding contribution to the Program and will receive a ROWP procurement credit proportional to its financial contribution. To fund calendar year 2026, the County will invoice the City for an initial contribution of $300,000. Of the total invoiced amount, the County will retain between 2% and 4% of the total amount to offset staff time costs required to administer the Program. The percentage of funding retained for County administrative costs will be adjusted in future years based on the total staff time required to administer this Program. There are sufficient funds in the Solid Waste Program’s annual FY 2025-26 budget for this initial contribution.
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION:
Approval of the MOU between the City of San Mateo and the County of San Mateo to establish a SB 1383 compliant procurement program is not a project subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (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 – Memorandum of Understanding
STAFF CONTACT
Jack Johnson, Waste Management Supervisor
[email protected]
6505227346