Office of the Mayor
City of Santa Rosa
100 Santa Rosa Avenue, Room 10
Santa Rosa, CA 95404
August 16, 2022
The Honorable Assemblymember Robert Rivas
State Capitol
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: AB 1985 Organic Wast e. Recovered Organic Waste Product Procurement Targets - Support (As Amended 8/1/22)
Dear Assemblymember Rivas:
The City of Santa Rosa is pleased to support AB 1985, which would assist local governments implementing the state’s organic waste diversion targets and allow time for markets to develop for organic waste products.
Organics like food scraps, yard trimmings, paper, and cardboard make up half of what Californians dump in landfills and emit 20% of the state’s methane. In a critical effort to reduce methane and other short- lived climate pollutant emissions, California set organic waste diversion targets of 50% by 2020 and 75% by 2025 (SB 1383, Lara, 2016). To drive infrastructure investment and create demand for organic waste products, the SB 1383 regulations required cities and counties by January 1, 2022, to procure a specific quantity of organic waste products based on their population.
Jurisdictions can fulfill these annual procurement targets by procuring any combination of organic waste products such as compost, mulch, or renewable energy. As jurisdictions ramp up their organic waste collection programs, many cities are struggling to meet their procurement targets due to a limited amount of organic waste infrastructure across the state. In many cases, local governments also struggle to connect with end markets for the organic waste they do process.
AB 1985 will assist local governments in achieving their procurement targets by phasing in the procurement requirements while markets and infrastructure continues to develop. This, along with other adjustments in the bill, will offer local governments the flexibility they need to meet these important requirements. For these reasons, the City of Santa Rosa is pleased to support AB 1985.
Sincerely,
Chris Rogers, Mayor