Office of the Mayor
City of Santa Rosa
100 Santa Rosa Avenue, Room 10
Santa Rosa, CA 95404
May 23, 2022
Assemblymember Robert Rivas
State Capitol
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: AB 1985 Organic Waste List: available products (As Introduced 2/10/22)
Dear Assemblymember Rivas,
On behalf of the City of Santa Rosa, I write to express our support for your Assembly Bill 1985, which requires the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) to compile, maintain and update every six months a list of entities that have organic waste products available.
The bill would require that a person or entity seeking to be on the list send a written request to the department and the bill would also require the department to verify the accuracy of the information provided prior to posting the information on its internet website.
It is no secret that California has major waste diversion goals and plans to severely reduce methane production as well as other short-lived climate pollutants emissions from the atmosphere. Recent studies have shown that over half of all waste in California is organic waste. While this is not good news outright, the high level of organic waste presents a unique opportunity to upgrade and better utilize California’s waste management infrastructure to help California reach our waste diversion goals.
Recycling can only succeed if there is a market for the recycled materials, and organic waste recycling is no different. AB 1985 provides a means of connecting local farmers with community members in need of organic waste products. This will not only help California reach its organic waste reduction goals but will also provide a plethora of environmental benefits to the state.
Thank you for your leadership on this matter, the City of Santa Rosa is pleased to support this measure.
Should you have any questions about our position, please contact our legislative advocate, Dane Hutchings, with the Renne Public Policy Group, at (916) 974-9270.
Sincerely,
Chris Rogers, Mayor