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Santa Rosa – Zero Waste Plan, Performance Review, & Procurement Assistance

R3 has conducted a wide range of projects for the City of Santa Rosa (City), including the following:

Zero Waste Plan

R3’s Zero Waste Plan (Plan) was tailored to the unique disposal and waste reduction trends and goals of the City, executable within, and measured by, 5-, 10-, and 20-year milestones.For this project, R3 formed a project team of leading experts in the fields of Zero Waste public engagement, waste stream modeling, and municipal solid waste planning. Aided by the expertise of two subconsultants, Ruth Abbe of Abbe & Associates and Cascadia Consulting Group, R3’s primary goal for this project was to provide the City with a Plan that sets the new standard in its specificity, rigor, and vision.

In developing the Plan, R3 provided the City with a quantitative, practical guide to residential, commercial and City programs that will achieve the City’s Zero Waste goals. The Plan also provided the City with cost estimates of the Zero Waste programs that would be necessary to achieve those goals, which included an analysis of current disposal and diversion tonnage and trends in the City and an estimate of what can actually be diverted with the Plan.

Core components of the Plan included developing a Waste Diversion Model and implementation outreach strategy, conducting a vigorous stakeholder engagement process, and designing a comprehensive Plan document that includes policy, program, partnership, and facility diversion options for the City. R3 also provided the City with an analysis of the economic, diversion, greenhouse gas, and financial impacts of the Plan, as well as the timeline and actionable steps for its implementation.

R3 shepherded Council adoption of Plan with recommendations for $600,000 in annual program funding.

Performance Review(s)

R3 is currently engaged by the City to conduct a comprehensive Performance Review of the City’s franchised solid waste hauler, Recology Sonoma Marin (Recology), for the calendar year 2018 and the first quarter of 2019. The review included the following main tasks:

  • Franchise Agreement (Agreement) and Regulatory Compliance Review;
  • Operational Performance Review, including management and administration, collection operations, customer service and financial management practices, and vehicle and equipment upkeep;
  • Billing Audit and Financial Assessment; and
  • Legislative Compliance Review.

R3 is working with Recology and the City to review Recology’s existing services through data analysis, observations, and on-site reviews. For this engagement, R3 is specifically addressing Recology’s efforts in support of the City’s compliance with AB 1826 and SB 1383, as well as the hauler’s achievement of its 40% diversion requirement.

Procurement Assistance

As a result of a performance review conducted by R3 in 2015, we were engaged by the City to provide assistance in procuring a new hauler for the City’s solid waste and recycling collection and processing services.  As with all of our procurement projects, R3 worked closely with City staff to complete the following tasks:

  • Conduct community workshops and City Council meetings;
  • Prepare written RFPs and Agreements;
  • Oversee the competitive procurement process;
  • Analyze waste hauler proposals; and
  • Manage the evaluation of proposers and selection of a provider for City services.

This project resulted in a high-diversion, state-of-the-art residential and commercial exclusive Agreement (that complied with AB 1826 and SB 1383) and RFP. The City received five (5) proposals for the provision of collection service – R3 reviewed and analyzed proposals, interviewed and negotiated with the highest-ranked companies, conducted site visits at proposed facilities, and provided the City with high-level information about how each company could affect the goals and collection within the City.

During this process, The Ratto Group sold its company to Recology. R3 assisted in a review of Recology to establish findings regarding the proposed contract assignment, on behalf of the various jurisdictions in Sonoma County (including Santa Rosa) holding solid waste collection franchise and other agreements with The Ratto Group. Currently, R3 is providing contract management assistance and developing a Zero Waste Plan for Santa Rosa.

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Citrus Heights – Organics Compliance Program

Citrus Heights - Organics Program

The City of Citrus Heights (City), as well as the Sacramento region, is facing challenges with the recycling of organic waste due to limited capacity at existing facilities, lack of infrastructure, and no long-term solutions. R3 is working with the City to build upon the current structure of the City’s solid waste initiatives to establish new mechanisms for implementation of a more resilient solid waste program.

Our team is assisting the City in with strategic planning for implementation of upcoming state laws, including preparation and aid in addressing challenges and providing guidance during the development of the SB 1383 planning process.

Our scope of work includes:

  • Providing the City with recommended contract negotiations with the haulers to ensure that needed services (weekly organics collection, mandatory universal commercial organics collection, Edible Food Recovery Program, etc.) are incorporated into the collection agreements via amendment(s);
  • Providing additional support for AB 341, AB 1826, SB 1383, and other applicable state laws which require City attention in order to enable the City to implement more successful compliance strategies through a establishing a stronger strategic plan;
  • Conducting community stakeholder meetings and presenting updates to elected officials on legislative requirements; and
  • Updating the City’s municipal code, amending the franchise agreement, and conducting rate adjustments.

We anticipate providing the following benefits to the City at project completion:

  • The facilitation of adjustments to existing reporting pathways;
  • Development of a streamlined strategic plan(s) for full implementation of SB 1383 by January 1, 2022;
  • Development and negotiation assistance for amendments to Municipal Code and existing residential and commercial contracts; and
  • Coordinated County wide facilitation and strategy planning for SB 1383 and overall state compliance.
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Rancho Cordova – Legislative Compliance & Solid Waste Support

Rancho Cordova

R3 has provided various on-call solid waste consulting services for the City of Rancho Cordova (City) since 2004, including comprehensive assistance in implementing AB 341, AB 1826, and SB 1383 programs. R3 is currently serving as City solid waste support staff.

R3’s specific tasks include:

  • Creating an overall branded look for the City, which included analyzing, providing recommendations, and assisting with the development of education and outreach material (letters to covered generators, brochures, updated website language, social media posts, customer guides, etc.) for AB 341, AB 1826, AB 827, and SB 1383 compliance, among other applicable state law;
  • Revising the City’s non-exclusive commercial Franchise Agreements (Agreements) and City’s Municipal Code to incorporate AB, 341, 1826, and SB 1383 requirements (provision of services, tonnage and covered generator tracking, delivery of recyclable materials and organic waste to certified facilities, education and outreach, multifamily bulky waste collection, annual planning and reporting, inspection, monitoring, etc.);
  • Revising waste hauler reporting forms to include local and state regulatory requirements;
  • Developing mechanisms for hauler tracking and monitoring;
  • Identifying covered generators and top waste food waste generators for AB 1826 and SB 1383 compliance;
  • Monitoring covered generator compliance;
  • Meeting with the City’s food recovery organizations to discuss opportunities for collaboration regarding the Edible Food Recovery Requirement in SB 1383;
  • Verifying the receipt of quarterly covered generator compliance reports and the required notification and outreach to non-compliant businesses;
  • Assisting in evaluating and reviewing annual rate increases;
  • Assisting in contract negotiations and amendments for applicable state law;
  • Assisting with annual State reporting and grant submissions;
  • Assisting the City and its haulers with the development of the required organic recycling service component;
  • Overseeing the contractual requirements and fee payments of its residential franchised hauler, Republic Services (Republic), and 10 non-exclusive franchised haulers; and
  • Providing the City with recommendations to further maintain good-standing with CalRecycle, including organizing and managing correspondence with CalRecycle, and developing associated public education and outreach.

As a result of our assistance, the City gained the following benefits:

  • City compliance with state regulations by adding waste hauler requirements to Agreements and Ordinance;
  • More efficient waste hauler tracking protocols;
  • Annual EAR reporting and grant submissions for funding mechanisms;
  • Capacity planning and edible food recovery protocols; and
  • Up-to-date Ordinances to reflect local and state regulatory requirements.
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Alameda – Food Recovery Strategic Planning Assistance

Food Recovery

R3, with the assistance of Debra Kaufman Consulting, is currently engaged by the Alameda County Community Food Bank (ACCFB) to assist with the development of a Strategic Plan for its Food Recovery Program (FRP). The R3 Team’s objective is to develop a Strategic Plan to guide the FRP’s efforts over the next 3 to 4 years with a particular focus on SB 1383, and set appropriate performance targets for the program. We are performing the following main tasks for this engagement:

  • Driving the strategic planning process;
  • Facilitating and managing the project timeline and keep the project on track to its completion in collaboration with FRP Team members;
  • Setting timeline goals for meetings;
  • Establishing milestones and deliverables throughout the planning process, including engaging other stakeholders as agreed to with the FRP Team;
  • Assisting in initiating a coordinated effort between the FRP and ACCFB and the Alameda County Waste Management Authority (ACWMA) and its Member Agencies;
  • Preparing an Initial Draft of the Strategic Plan; and
  • Revising and Finalizing the Final FRP Strategic Plan.

The Strategic Plan being developed will be focused on infrastructure, staffing structure, logistics, and projected growth. It is being designed to help the FRP effectively support:

  • Increasing the number of meals that the ACCFB and its partner agencies distribute; and
  • Improving the quality and desirability of those meals to ACCFB’s consumers.

As part of this project, the R3 Team is also working with the Alameda County Waste Management Authority (ACWMA) and its Member Agencies to assist in implementing a coordinated Countywide SB 1383 food recovery effort.

Significant issues impacting the FRP and ACCFB that the R3 Team is considering as part of the strategic planning process include:

  • Transportation and Logistics: The main challenge is to develop the logistics and providing sustainable funding for the necessary food collection and distribution system that also addresses the volatility in the availability and need for food on any given day;
  • Smaller Quantities = Increased Unit Costs: As larger donors are secured, securing food from smaller quantity generators will become more prevalent, with reduced economies of scale and higher per pound food recovery costs;
  • Public Education and Outreach: There is a constant need to reeducate donors due to high rates of employee turnover at the businesses donating food;
  • Storage Space and limited Additional Facility Capacity: The need for increased facility capacity for the ACCFB and its partner agencies, as well as increased refrigerated and non-refrigerated storage, must be addressed;
  • Students and Homeless: Homelessness within the ACCFB’s service area has increased 30-40% in the past 2 years, and in Oakland 75% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches; and
  • Patchwork System: There is an opportunity to replace the current patchwork food recovery system with a more efficient, effective and coordinated, Countywide SB 1383 food recovery effort.
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Merced – Solid Waste Rate Study & 5-Year Financial Plan

City of Merced

R3 was recently engaged by the City of Merced (City) to assist with the preparation of an amended solid waste and revenue Rate Study and 5-Year Financial Plan to meet the projected future expenses and obligations for municipally-operated hauling division over the coming five years. This study served as an amendment to the rate model R3 developed for the City in 2014, providing calculated rate adjustments following the City’s recently adjusted January 2019 rates and five scenarios with recommended rate adjustments to set forthcoming rates through January 2023.

Project tasks R3 conducted for this engagement included the following:

  • Reviewing the City’s current utility policies, procedures, and regulatory requirements as they relate to the City’s solid waste collection operations, capital projects, revenue program requirements;
  • Updating R3’s previous Rate Model and determining whether additional revenues were needed to meet projected expenses costs associated with residential, commercial, and/or development growth, and the possible expansion of collection programs, including commercial recycling and organics services;
  • Developing alternative scenarios for adjusting rates to meet expense and revenue requirements over the planning period, and providing recommended rate adjustments for each scenario;
  • Reviewing the City’s Municipal Code as related to the collection of solid waste and recyclables within the City; and
  • Conducting a residential and commercial rate and service survey to establish benchmarks and analysis of how similar jurisdictions are setting rates and allocating services and expenses based on Proposition 218.

As a result of our work, the City gained the following benefits:

  • Ability to project capital and operational revenues and expenses on a cost-of-service basis over an extended planning period, and analyze and set appropriate rates;
  • Excel-based five-year Financial Plan and rate model; and
  • Assessment of expenses related to implementation of new programmatic requirements in response to new legislation including AB 341, AB 1826 and SB 1383, as well as the requirements of Proposition 218.
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Fairfield – Legislative Compliance Assistance and On-Call Services

City of Fairfield

R3 is engaged by the City of Fairfield (City) to provide a Legislative Compliance Plan to assist with the requirements of AB 341, AB 1826, AB 1594, and SB 1383. We are conducting the following main tasks on behalf of the City:

  • Identifying legislative requirements and action items for the City and Republic;
  • Reviewing Republic’s residential organics waste plan for composting 100% of source-separated green and food waste from residential premises in the calendar year 2020 and beyond, as per a 2016 Amendment to Republic’s Agreement;
  • Developing a Legislative Compliance Plan for the City, including updates to City Council on the legislative compliance requirements of AB 341, AB 1826, and AB 1594, as well as the draft regulation requirements of SB 1383;
  • Reviewing the sections of the City’s Municipal Code regarding solid waste collection and management to provide recommendations for modernizing and streamlining Code language in accordance with industry best practices, state legislation, and the City’s needs;
  • Providing the City with full-service negotiation assistance with Republic as necessary, based on the legislative requirements identified as best suited for the City;
  • Conducting a survey of comparable services and rates specifically related to organics collection services for at least ten (10) other jurisdictions, focused specifically in the Solano County and surrounding areas; and
  • Assisting the City in revising its current C&D Agreements to incorporate legislative requirements as necessary.

We are also providing on-call support services, which include:

  • Managing the exclusive Collection Agreement with Republic and the non‐exclusive Agreements for C&D collection services;
  • Monitoring and managing the City’s mandatory commercial and multi‐family recycling and organics programs;
  • Assisting with on‐site “right‐sizing” of customer service levels and collection frequency;
  • Assisting with code enforcement training / guidelines;
  • Managing grant applications;
  • Reporting to CalRecycle; and
  • Providing updates at public meetings and/or subcommittees.
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CalRecycle – SB 1383 Cost Impacts to Local Service Rates

CalRecycle - SB 1393 Local Services Rates Analysis Report

CalRecycle engaged R3 (along with subconsultants Cascadia Consulting Group and Integrated Waste Management Consulting) to conduct research and analysis related to cost impacts of SB 1383 to local jurisdictions and organics infrastructure needs. R3’s primary objective was to provide CalRecycle with a comprehensive understanding of the State’s municipal solid waste and recycling rates, policies, and programs that support organic waste infrastructure development, and resources that may be used by local jurisdictions in the future. This information will be used by CalRecycle in the market analysis required by SB 1383.

R3 developed and distributed questionnaires to collect customer rate structure, funding, and policy data from regional agencies throughout California. In total, R3 identified 567 jurisdictions including 58 counties, 482 cities, and 27 active regional agencies to survey. In addition, R3 contacted waste haulers and facility operators to obtain information related to rates, anticipated capital investment, and facility capacity. R3 supplemented the findings with an existing inventory of rate and policy data.

The most common challenges and barriers mentioned during the surveys of jurisdictions, haulers, and facilities fell into one of three categories:

  • Current rate structures and rate-setting considerations;
  • Contracting and enforcement options; and
  • Lack of infrastructure for processing.

After analyzing the data collected through surveys, these and other solutions and policy alternatives were developed to overcome the barriers and challenges identified:

  • Directly develop organics processing infrastructure;
  • Offer universal collection service rate structure;
  • Roll out universal commercial organics;
  • Increase route efficiencies / change weekly service requirements;
  • Require registration and periodic reporting by self-haul;
  • Extend term of Franchise Agreements;
  • Ban organics disposal at landfill;
  • Include organics processing in disposal / processing Agreements; and
  • Require haulers and facilities to support organics processing costs through disposal fees.

A Resource Toolkit was developed to assist jurisdictions in implementing new programs related to organic material collection, tracking, and infrastructure development, including:

  • Model waste enclosure guidelines;
  • Supporting education and outreach examples; and
  • Case studies.

In January 2020, CalRecycle released R3’s draft report titled SB 1383 Local Services Rates, which included R3’s research and analysis regarding the cost impacts of SB 1383 to local jurisdictions. The report is available at https://www2.calrecycle.ca.gov/Docs/Web/116805.

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County Of Los Angeles – Solid Waste Tonnage and Residential and Commercial Franchise Fee Verification

Since 2016, R3 has been engaged by the County of Los Angeles (County) Department of Public Works to audit monthly facility and franchised hauler payments and tonnage reports required by the County. These audits are being conducted pursuant to Los Angeles County Code Chapter 20.88, which requires that all disposal sites, transfer/processing stations, or waste exporters in the County remit a fee based upon the tons or cubic yards of solid waste received, collected, conveyed, or hauled during a calendar month.

The County’s goal for this engagement was to confirm and/or correct the facility and hauler fee payments and reported tonnages. To that end, R3 was contracted to conduct approximately 48 facility and hauler audits annually over the course of four (4) years. R3 reviewed the accuracy of solid waste management tonnage fees remitted to the County by disposal sites, transformation facilities, transfer/processing stations, and/or waste exporters operating in the County (4 per month);

To accomplish the County’s objectives, R3 performed the following tasks:

  • Managed the logistics and communications between County and operator/franchisee staff for monthly verifications and site visits;
  • Notified the County Contract Manager of any issues related to the cooperation of operators/franchisees;
  • Provided advance notice to each operator/franchisee of documentation required for review at the confirmed date and location, covering the entire verification review period;
  • Conducted scheduled on-site operator/franchisee staff interviews to gain an understanding of operations and internal tracking procedures and confirmed that the operator/franchisee provided all required documents and records necessary for verification;
  • Reviewed and analyzing the required documents and records in order to verify accuracy of fees, tonnages, and other required elements, and identified possible underpayments or overpayments, if any;
  • Worked with each operator/franchisee to clarify any inconsistencies between R3’s calculated values and the values submitted by the operators/franchisees;
  • Provided the County Contract Manager with paper and electronic copies of the required documents for each verification; and
  • Conducted all work necessary to the completion of the Findings Report for each verification and submits it to the County Contract Manager within 60 calendar days of each site visit.
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City Of Santa Monica – Solid Waste Operational Analysis, Rate Study, and Zero Waste Plan Update

R3 was recently engaged by the City of Santa Monica (City) to conduct an Operational Analysis, Rate Study, and Zero Waste Plan Update for the Resource Recovery and Recycling Division (RRR Division)’s municipally operated solid waste collection and recycling operations. The primary objective of this project is to determine how to continue achieving the City’s long-term sustainability goals and initiatives while preserving the health of the RRR Enterprise Fund. R3 is leading a multi-consultant team (Sloan Vazquez McAfee, HDR and Abbe & Associates) in conducting the following six primary tasks for this engagement:

  • Staffing, Routing and Vehicle Efficiency Analysis;
  • Billing Audit;
  • Technology & Systems Review;
  • Zero Waste Strategic Operations Plan Review & Update;
  • Rate Study & Financial Analysis; and
  • Community Engagement Plan Development.

By working closely with the City and engaging its ratepayers through a robust community outreach process, the R3 Team will provide recommendations for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of its solid waste operations and determine rate adjustments that may be necessary to sustain the RRR Division’s activities for the next 10 years while supporting the City’s Zero Waste goals.

This engagement includes the following components:

Staffing, Routing and Vehicle Efficiency Analysis: The R3 Team is assessing the efficiency of the RRR Division’s operational aspects by reviewing staffing, routing, and vehicle information and reports, and conducting onsite visits and interviews of City staff and customers. This comprehensive review will include but is not limited to: analyzing the RRR Division’s organizational structure, management system, staffing practices and safety procedures; evaluating routing and schedule efficiency; and reviewing collection vehicle maintenance practices and procedures. R3 will develop recommendations for the City to improve the long-term functionality, productivity, and safety of the RRR Division’s operations and management structure based on solid waste industry practices.

Billing Audit: The R3 Team is determining if the City has been accurately billing all of its residential and commercial customers based on a paper review of billing records in the NorthStar customer billing system as compared to the City’s routing records. The RRR Division currently shares the NorthStar customer billing system, which was designed for the City’s Water Resources Department and provides combined bimonthly billing of water, sewer, and solid waste services. Since the technology was not specifically designed for the solid waste industry, it does not allow for routing solutions, route sheets, or expanded solid waste customer service information, and runs the inherent risk of producing customer billing errors.

Technology and Systems Review: The R3 Team is evaluating the current technology system(s) in use by the City to identify and evaluate the costs, efficiency, and effectiveness of several operations systems enhancements, and to provide recommendations on whether the systems would be cost-effective and beneficial to the City. This review will include a comparison of the capabilities of the NorthStar systems to other billing and routing technology systems.

Zero Waste Strategic Operations Plan Review and Update: The R3 Team is assisting the City in updating its 2014 Zero Waste Plan and recommending additional strategies to further the City’s progress towards its goal of achieving 95% diversion by 2030 in the event that current strategies are not sufficient, or if the Zero Waste goal is determined to no longer be realistic for the City.

For this task, R3 is taking a data-driven approach to assessing the City’s progress toward achieving its Zero Waste goals by using multiple metrics including, but not limited to: tonnage of waste disposed and diverted; the diversion rate; total pounds per person per day (PPD) and CalRecycle diversion rate equivalent; estimated greenhouse gas emission reductions; customer participation; and AB 341 and 1826 commercial recycling compliance. Based on these metrics, the R3 Team will project Citywide disposal through 2030 to determine if the City is on track to meet its 95% diversion goal and recommend strategies to enhance the effectiveness of current programs or implement new programs that will increase diversion in a cost-effective manner. For each Zero Waste strategy recommendation, the R3 Team will provide the City with an analysis of estimated additional diversion and implementation costs.

Rate Study and Rate Model: The R3 Team is determining the sustainability of the City’s current rate structure to continue supporting solid waste operations without depleting the City’s RRR Enterprise Fund, which receives 90% of its revenue from solid waste operations. The R3 Team is conducting a comprehensive analysis of the Fund’s financial forecast, revenues, and expenditures for solid waste and recycling operations over a 10-year planning period and assisting the City in transitioning from line-item to program-based budgeting.

For this task, the R3 Team is developing an Excel-based Rate Model for use by the City to project revenues and expenses, and evaluate current and future rate-adjustment options, including cost-of-service rate options, over an extended planning period. R3 is also conducting a Benchmarking Survey of solid waste rates and service of (a minimum of five) comparable communities, including analysis of how other municipalities have managed the financial impact of Proposition 218.

Community Engagement Plan: As part of this engagement, the R3 Team is also developing a Community Engagement Plan and outreach materials for the Zero Waste Plan and Rate Study Model. The objective is to provide opportunities for residents and businesses to learn about and provide meaningful feedback on changes to the City’s Zero Waste Plan and rate structure to ensure that both meet the needs of the City and its ratepayers.

The anticipated benefits of this engagement include:

  • Recommendations for improving the long-term functionality, productivity, and safety of the RRR Division’s operations and management structure;
  • Verification of the accuracy of residential and commercial customer billing;
  • Recommendations for improving costs, efficiency, and effectiveness of the City’s current technology systems, including billing and routing;
  • Analysis of the City’s current efforts towards achieving its Zero Waste goal of 95% diversion by 2030, and recommended strategies to further the City’s progress towards that goal;
  • Determination of the current rate structure’s ability to support ongoing solid waste operations in the City;
  • Development of an Excel-based Rate Model to project revenues/expenses and evaluate rate-adjustment options over an extended planning period; and

Community engagement process for residents and businesses to learn about and provide feedback on changes to the City’s Zero Waste Plan and rate structure.

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Zero Waste Marin – Materials Flow & Capacity Analysis

Zero Waste Marin Final Report Organics Graphic

The Marin County Hazardous and Solid Waste Management Joint Powers Authority (Zero Waste Marin) represents Marin County, 11 incorporated cities or towns within Marin County, and 12 special collection districts that franchise for hauling services, for a total of 24 agencies. R3 was engaged by the Marin County Hazardous and Solid Waste Management Joint Powers Authority (Zero Waste Marin) to assist in its development of a “Materials Flow & Capacity Analysis” in order to improve its regulatory compliance and long-term planning. This project included an analysis of organic waste processing capacity and tool development to evaluate potential organic waste diversion scenarios through year 2025. The primary goal was to improve Zero Waste Marin’s regulatory compliance with state solid waste and recycling requirements and long-term planning.

The main tasks of this engagement included:

  • Supporting legislative and regulatory compliance with a specific focus on SB 1383, AB 876 and AB 901;
  • Verifying the accuracy of the 2012 Environmental Science Associates (ESA) projections of long term disposal capacity at Redwood Landfill and updating those projections through 2017;
  • Developing an Excel-based tool to enhance Zero Waste Marin staff reporting capabilities and facilitate long-term solid waste planning; and
  • Presenting the Zero Waste Marin Board with a list of pressing, actionable policy matters to support the region’s access to cost-effective, environmentally responsible solid waste infrastructure in both the short and long term.

To assist in supporting legislative and regulatory compliance, R3 reviewed the Organics Management Infrastructure Planning Calculator used in the 2017 EAR (for reporting year 2016) and assisted Zero Waste Marin in refining the assumptions and worksheet to determine the need for and availability of organic waste processing capacity. This helped Zero Waste Marin characterize SB 1383 compliance related to a 50% reduction in organic waste disposal from the 2014 level by 2020, and a 75% reduction by 2025. R3 also reviewed Zero Waste Marin’s Excel workbook for CalRecycle State Disposal Reporting System (DRS) reports to identify new hauler and facility reporting needs from AB 901, update the workbook for AB 901 preparedness, and assess the AB 901 data gathering system in order to determine what information Zero Waste Marin should obtain directly from the haulers and facilities for Zero Waste Marin assessment calculations.

R3 reviewed findings of the 2012 Environmental Science Associated (ESA) projections of long-term disposal capacity at Redwood Landfill to verify accuracy of disposal capacity in the ESA projections. Using the ESA model, with corrections as necessary, R3 updated landfill capacity projections based on information through 2017.

R3 also developed an Excel-based tonnage scenario modeling tool for Zero Waste Marin that meets legislative and regulatory specifications and builds upon the updated disposal reporting workbook. The Excel tool allows Zero Waste Marin staff to “plug in” scenarios for alternative disposal and materials handling situations, allowing for consideration of various scenarios over time and better planning for future changes.

Finally, R3 prepared a draft and final report, and prepared and delivered presentations to Zero Waste Marin.

Project benefits included the following:

  • Characterization of SB 1383 compliance related to a 50% reduction in organic waste disposal from the 2014 level by 2020, and a 75% reduction by 2025;
  • Projection of organics processing capacity and needed processing capacity over several scenarios;
  • Detailed analysis of upcoming policy requirements under AB 901 and SB 1383, among other legislation;
  • Updates to Zero Waste Marin’s Excel workbook for CalRecycle State Disposal Reporting System (DRS) for reporting under AB 901, including new hauler and facility reporting needs and specification of information to obtain directly from the haulers and facilities for JPA assessment calculations; and
  • A user-friendly Excel tool for Zero Waste Marin staff that enhances Marin County reporting capabilities and facilitate long-term solid waste planning.
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