City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: May 14, 2024
Agenda Item: 5.H
1 of 8
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Rick Valte, Public Works Director, Public Works, Resource Recovery & Recycling
Subject: Award Contracts to Browning Ferris Industries, Inc., Waste Management of California, and County Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County for Backup Landfill Facility Services
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Adopt a finding of Categorical Exemption pursuant to Section 15301 and 15308 of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines;
2. Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute an agreement with Browning Ferris Industries, Inc., dba Sunshine Canyon Landfill to provide backup landfill services for the Public Works Department. This recommended award is made as an exception to the competitive bidding process pursuant to Section
2.24.250 (g) and is for a total amount not to exceed $2,277,521 (including a 20% contingency) for 10 years, with future year funding contingent on Council budget approval;
3. Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute an agreement with Waste Management of California – Simi Valley Landfill to provide backup landfill services for the Public Works Department. This recommended award is made as an exception to the competitive bidding process pursuant to Section 2.24.250 (g) and is for a total amount not to exceed $1,824,264 (including a 20% contingency) for 10 years, with future year funding contingent on Council budget approval; and
4. Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute an agreement with Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts – Puente Hills Material Recycling Facility to provide backup landfill services for the Public Works Department. This recommended award is made as an exception to the competitive bidding process pursuant to Section 2.24.250 (g) and is for a total amount not to exceed $1,175,856 (including a 20% contingency) for 1.5 years, with future year funding contingent on Council budget approval.
2 of 8
Summary
The City annually generates approximately 63,500 tons (127 million pounds) of landfill trash that is sent to landfill facilities in the Southern California region. Due to operational, seasonal, and environmental factors at the City’s current primary landfill, the 639-acre Chiquita Canyon in Castaic, California, has periodically limited or delayed the City’s access to the facility. To continue to meet the Council’s Clean and Safe Santa Monica priority and in the interest of public health, it is necessary for the City to identify backup landfill locations. Staff recommends entering into three contracts with Browning Ferris Industries, Inc., dba Sunshine Canyon Landfill, Waste Management of California – Simi Valley Landfill, and Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts – Puente Hills Material Recycling Facility (MRF) as the best contractors to receive landfill trash from the City. As there will not likely be any new landfills established and as the capacity of existing landfills continues to shrink, cities will begin to vie for their use. Therefore, staff recommends a ten-year contract with each vendor.
Discussion
The City’s Resource Recovery and Recycling Division (RRR) provides solid waste management services for residents, businesses, and visitors for various waste streams: construction and demolition (C&D) materials, recyclable (blue bin) materials, organics (green bin) materials, and landfill trash (black bin) materials. Each material type is accepted and handled by different processing facilities. To increase the quantity of materials diverted from landfills, the City Council has adopted several ordinances over the years that mandate the recycling of construction and demolition materials, recyclables, and organics.
The remaining materials that are non-recyclable and not reusable are considered landfill trash, and include items such as styrofoam, plastic utensils, broken dishes, candy wrappers, chip bags, plastic bags. These materials are sent to regional landfill facilities for disposal. There are only a few landfill facilities operating in the local region. These facilities are heavily regulated and once they reach their capacity, they are permanently closed. The density of the region and the State’s regulatory requirements make it difficult for new landfills to open. 3 of 8
The City has used the Chiquita Canyon landfill facility for 15 years and will continue to use it as the primary landfill. However, due to recent delays and operational issues at the facility, staff recommends having backup options. Staff identified and assessed the following 17 landfill facilities:
Number Landfill Viable?
1 Puente Hills MRF Y
2 Sunshine Canyon Landfill Y
3 Simi Valley Landfill Y
4 Athens Services Y
5 Commerce Waste-to-Energy Facility N
6 Palmdale Landfill & Recycling Center N
7 Lancaster Landfill & Recycling Center N
8 Azusa Land Reclamation N
9 Burbank Landfill No. 3 N
10 Calabasas Landfill N
11 Orange County Waste & Recycling N
12 Pebbly Beach Landfill N
13 Puente Hills Landfill N
14 San Clemente Landfill (Orange County) N
15 Savage Canyon Landfill N
16 Scholl Canyon Landfill N
17 Southeast Resource Recovery Facility N
The three primary reasons for the City’s limited options are:
1. Facility closures: Three facilities
• The Puente Hills Landfill closed on October 31, 2013. • The Commerce Waste-to-Energy Facility closed on June 24, 2018. • The Southeast Resource Recovery Facility (SERRF) closed on January 31, 2024.
2. The establishment of wasteshed areas (service areas): Eight facilities • In 1972, Orange County, California adopted Ordinance No. 2622, making it unlawful for any person to place, deposit or dump or cause to be placed, deposited, or dumped in or upon any County disposal station any solid wastes originating outside of the County, which prohibits use of the Orange County Waste & Recycling and San Clemente Landfill facilities.
4 of 8
• In 1987, the City of Glendale implemented a defined wasteshed area that limited the cities which could utilize Glendale’s Scholl Canyon Landfill. The purpose was to provide access to those agencies which did not have a landfill within their own jurisdiction.
• On February 13, 1991, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors adopted Ordinance No. 91-0003, which established the Calabasas Landfill wasteshed. The Ordinance prohibits the Calabasas landfill from accepting waste, including tires, from outside of the wasteshed area. • Azusa Land Reclamation provides disposal services for communities, businesses and industries serving Los Angeles metro and eastern Los Angeles County.
• Several cities that own a landfill restrict usage to residents and businesses of their city, such as Burbank (Burbank Landfill No. 3), Whittier (Savage Canyon Landfill), and Avalon (Pebbly Beach Landfill).
3. Distance: Two facilities
• Two other landfill facilities in Los Angeles County are in Palmdale and Lancaster, which makes the use of these locations prohibitive due to the hauling distance and cost.
To provide coverage for Santa Monica’s landfill trash disposal needs and continue the uninterrupted transportation of landfill trash out of the City, staff recommends awarding three contracts with Browning Ferris Industries, Inc., dba Sunshine Canyon Landfill, Waste Management of California – Simi Valley Landfill, and Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts – Puente Hills MRF, as these three facilities would be used as alternatives to the current primary facility and contracted for between 1,200 to 5,400 tons of landfill trash per year.
The Sunshine Canyon Landfill and Simi Valley Landfill contracts would be for a period of ten years and the Puente Hills MRF contract for 1.5 years, due to the facility’s anticipated rate restructuring in January 2026, with a not to exceed amount as outlined in the recommended action, and the City paying only for the actual amount of landfill 5 of 8
trash delivered with no guarantee of additional service. The contract amounts are set at the upper limits of possible expenditures based on historical landfill service.
Staff recommends Puente Hills MRF as the primary backup landfill facility based on its distance and overall cost, followed by Sunshine Canyon Landfill and Simi Valley Landfill. Having a wider range of disposal options is the most prudent path to ensure uninterrupted landfill trash disposal for the City. Athens Services, the fourth viable site listed in the landfill assessment table above, will also be used as a backup under a larger contract that is currently under negotiation.
Vendor Selection
Exception to Competitive Bidding
Staff recommends Browning Ferris Industries, Inc., dba Sunshine Canyon Landfill in Sylmar, Waste Management of California – Simi Valley Landfill, and Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts – Puente Hills MRF in the City of Industry to provide landfill services as an exception to competitive bidding per Muni Code 2.24.250 (g). This purchase meets the City’s exception to competitive bidding criteria because of the limited number of landfill facilities available for City use. To prepare for the unexpected, the Resource Recovery and Recycling Division would need immediate access to an alternate facility if operational, seasonal, or environmental factors force a road closure or otherwise restrict the access to one or more facilities, leaving the City with no place to take its landfill trash. Not having this option would significantly interfere with the City’s refuse collection operation, affecting both public health and the Council’s Clean and Safe Santa Monica priority. The City has used each of these three facilities in the past with positive results. They are also the three closest landfills available for use by the City, which lowers our hauling costs. Additionally, they have the capacity to accept the proposed volumes of landfill trash from the City.
Athens Services will also be used as a backup under a larger contract, and that contract is currently under negotiation.
g. due to circumstances outside of the control of the City, would result in a substantial economic loss, substantially compromise a legal position, or substantially interfere with a required City operation;
Environmental Review
6 of 8
The award contracts for landfill trash disposal service are categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) under Sections 15301 and 15308. Section 15301 of the CEQA State Guidelines provides Class 1 (Existing Facilities) exemption for projects that consist of the operation, repair, maintenance, leasing, licensing, permitting, or minor alteration of existing public or private structures, facilities, mechanical equipment, or topographical features, involving negligible or no expansion of the existing or former use. The award contracts for trash hauling and disposal would not result in any modifications to existing landfills or disposal facilities. Solid waste disposal and diversion services currently exist, and the proposed award contract would not expand or materially change existing landfill facilities or waste disposal operations. The selected vendors will be required to comply with existing solid waste regulations and terms of the agreement and provide similar services to those currently being required and provided. Therefore, the project is categorically exempt as set forth in Section 15301 of the CEQA State Guidelines.
The project is also exempt pursuant to Section 15308 of the CEQA Guidelines. Section 15308 (Class 8 Actions for Protection of Environment) exempts actions taken by a regulatory agency, as authorized by state and local ordinances, to assure the maintenance, restoration, enhancement, or protection of the environment where the regulatory process involves procedures for the protection of the environment. The award contracts would ensure City compliance with solid waste disposal regulations for the protection of the environment including:
• Integrated Waste Management Act (IWMA) of 1989 requires cities to permit and regulate solid waste handling;
• Assembly Bill 341 (2011) requires both businesses that generate four cubic yards or more of solid waste and multifamily projects with five units or more to participate in a recycling program;
• Assembly 1826 (2014), requires businesses, including public entities and multifamily projects, to recycle their organic waste. Businesses must develop strategies to reduce and/or arrange for recycling services for the 7 of 8
following types of organic waste: food waste, food-solid paper, green waste, landscaping and pruning waste, and non-hazardous wood waste; • Senate Bill 1383 (2016) established methane emission reduction targets for California, requiring a 50 percent reduction of organics sent to the landfill by 2020, and a 75 percent reduction by 2025; and • City’s Zero Waste Plan (Updated 2019) provides an environmental policy framework to guide the City on its path to achieving zero waste.
The award contracts require the landfill disposal vendors to comply with both State and local regulations for disposing of waste and ensures the protection of the environment since the contract contains compliance requirements with State mandates. Therefore, the project is categorically exempt as set forth in Section 15308 of the CEQA State Guidelines.
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
Staff seeks authority to approve available funding from the RRR Fund to award contracts with Browning Ferris Industries, Inc., dba Sunshine Canyon Landfill, Waste Management of California – Simi Valley Landfill, and Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts – Puente Hills MRF for backup landfill services.
Contract Request
Vendor
FY 2023-
24 Request
Amount
Future Years
Amount
Department
Account #
Total
Contract
Amount
Browning Ferris
Industries, Inc., dba
Sunshine Canyon
Landfill
$37,959 $2,239,562 54500002.523010 $2,277,521
Waste Management of
California
Simi Valley Landfill
$30,404 $1,793,860 54500002.523010 $1,824,264
Los Angeles County
Sanitation Districts
Puente Hills MRF
$130,651 $1,045,205 54500002.523010 $1,175,856
Total: $199,014 $5,078,627 $5,277,641
Future year funding is contingent on Council budget approval. 8 of 8
Prepared By: Ryan Kraemer, Senior Administrative Analyst Approved Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. Levine Act Disclosure Form - BFI
B. Oaks Initiative Form - BFI
C. Levine Act Disclosure Form - Waste Management of California, Inc., dba Simi Valley Landfill
D. Oaks Initiative Form - Waste Management of California, Inc., dba Simi Valley Landfill