SB5286 – Sets goals and lists possible agency steps to support diverting and reducing organic waste.
Prime Sponsor – Senator Das (D; 47th District; Kent) (Co-sponsor Saldaña – D)
Current status – Referred to the Senate Committee on Environment, Energy and Technology
Next step would be – Scheduling a hearing
Legislative tracking page for the bill.
Summary –
The bill establishes a State goal of diverting and reducing at least 50% of the current level of organic waste by weight from landfill disposal by 2025, and at least 90% of it by the end of 2030. The goal’s to guide the Department of Ecology in developing solid waste handling standards, the State’s solid waste management plan, and the criteria for municipal landfills. It lists actions for better integrating the State’s strategies, policies, and programs, including:
1. Having specific elements on the role soil amendments derived from the solid waste system should play as part of climate sequestration strategies, as well as identifying future research and analysis needs;
2. Including the role of material derived from solid waste systems when developing plans for carbon markets and finance, with special attention to recycling organics and to developing landfill gas mitigation infrastructure; and
3. Establishing practices for monitoring and improving soil health using compost in coordination with the Department of Agriculture, public institutions of higher education, and other parties.
Other actions it mentions as consistent with the goals include developing a revised permitting system for organic waste management facilities to create consistent standards and coordinated permitting; increasing the availability and convenience of collection service for organic materials; setting methane emission standards for landfills to encourage reduction of organic waste; establishing policies and practices to reduce its generation and diversify how its managed; developing a robust in-state market for organic waste products, including through outreach to local governments, state government, and agricultural producers; establishing local procurement policies; and identifying methods for soil carbon sequestration using organic waste.
If money were appropriated specifically for it, cities and counties with over 50,000 people would have to ensure that their waste management plans incorporated approaches for source reduction, on-site and off-site management of organics, and levels of service that would achieve these goals when practicable. The Department of Ecology would be allowed to approve a plan or amendment that didn’t meet these requirements if it determined that areas within a city or county didn’t have a composting facilities within a reasonable distance, but it could convene jurisdictions and the waste handling and recycling industry to evaluate how to meet the goals given local conditions.