Official Summary Text
AB 2112, as amended, Bains.
Integrated waste management plans: annual report.
Greenhouse gases: soil carbon sequestration.
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 establishes the State Air Resources Board as the state agency responsible for monitoring and regulating sources emitting greenhouse gases and requires the state board to ensure that statewide greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to at least 40% below the 1990 level no later than December 31, 2030. The act declares the policy of the state to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible, but no later than 2045, and to achieve and maintain net negative greenhouse gas emissions thereafter.
The act also requires the Natural Resources Agency, in collaboration with specified entities, to determine an ambitious range of targets for natural carbon sequestration, and for nature-based climate solutions,
that reduce greenhouse gas emissions for 2030, 2038, and 2045 to support state goals to achieve carbon neutrality and foster climate adaptation and resilience. The act requires the Natural Resources Agency and the state board to establish an expert advisory committee composed of specified entities to provide recommendations on addressing barriers to efficient implementation of the provisions relating to climate targets.
This bill would additionally require that expert advisory committee to include an expert in soil carbon sequestration. The bill would establish the Climate-smart Organics Management for Protecting Our Soil and Terrain (COMPOST) Act of 2026. The bill would require the Natural Resources Agency, in collaboration with specified entities, to, on or before January 1, 2028, develop an integrated nature-based climate strategy to link waste diversion goals with soil health practices on natural and working lands. The bill would require the strategy to include
multiagency recommendations and incentives to increase climate-friendly on-farm compost production and use, including compost application on grasslands and priority rangeland for improved vegetation and carbon storage. The bill would require the recommendations to be consistent with specified publications, standards, and strategies, including the reduction of at least 5,000,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions in the state annually.
This bill would require the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency to use best available science, mapping, and land management planning tools to support prioritization, siting, and deployment of soil amendment strategies to maximize climate benefits. The bill would require the Natural Resources Agency to publish, and annually update, the nature-based climate strategy for compost on its internet website.
Existing law, the California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, establishes an integrated waste management program. Existing law requires each city, county, and regional agency, if any, to develop a source reduction and recycling element, household hazardous waste element, and nondisposal facility element of
an integrated waste management plan. The act requires the source reduction and recycling element to divert from disposal 50% of all solid waste subject to the element through source reduction, recycling, and composting activities, with specified exceptions. Existing law requires each jurisdiction to submit an annual report to the department summarizing the jurisdiction’s progress in reducing solid and household hazardous waste. Existing law requires the annual report to, among others, identify locations for new or expanded organic waste recycling facilities capable of safely meeting the additional organic waste recycling facility capacity need identified in the annual report.
This bill would, on and after August 1, 2027, clarify that the locations for new or expanded waste recycling facilities include, but are not limited to, a medium compostable material handling facility or operation and a small compostable material handling facility or operation, as defined. To
the extent the bill would require a local jurisdiction to include additional information in its annual report, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.