CalRecycle Announces New Needs Assessment Online Comments Portal

CalRecycle announced today a new online comments portal for SB 54 Needs Assessment. Access the portal HERE.

CalRecycle May 1 Workshop Recap

CalRecycle held a public workshop today (see public notice) to consult with the public, the regulated community, third-party contractors and other interested parties to solicit feedback on some of the requirements outlined in SB 54 (Allen, Chapter 75, Statutes of 2022). The workshop covered the following non-regulatory topics:

Topic I: Needs Assessment

• An update on Needs Assessment development, including an overview of the component studies
• An overview of the process for contracted studies
• An update on proposed engagement and collaboration through Needs Assessment development

Topic II: Covered Material Categories (CMC)

• An update on the timeline for covered material category development, including publishing the covered material categories by July 1, 2024, as required by PRC 42061(a)(1)
• Proposed updates to CMCs from the December 2023 published list

Read a recap the CRA team put together for the questions and answers period HERE. The Q&A portion of CalRecycle's workshops provide important information that is not recorded by CalRecycle.

View CalRecycle discussion documents HERE and HERE, which have workshop concepts that include overall outline of what was discussed, and the specific feedback CalRecycle solicited from workshop participants. Note- the Needs Assessment document was recently updated with the following changes: NA Item 1 and NA Item 2 to reflect the recently released solicitation for the Source Reduction Baseline Study; and 

NA Item 7 to provide a more comprehensive description of the process for contracted studies. View the workshop agenda HERE.

The CRA team will share out the workshop presentation slides once they are posted by CalRecycle.

Reminders

Updates on Upcoming SB 54 Needs Assessment Contract Solicitations:

Entities interested in receiving updates on upcoming contract solicitations for the needs assessment are encouraged to participate and should email packaging@calrecycle.ca.gov to be added to the Potential Bidder List. Please include [Potential Bidder List] in the email subject line and include your organization’s name and contact information.

Future SB 54 Workshops:

At present, CalRecycle does not have any future scheduled workshops on SB 54. Any forthcoming workshop information shall be communicated via the listserv to ensure the public is aware and can participate, which the CRA team will share out to members.

CalRecycle SB 54 Advisory Board

Due to the formal rulemaking comment period extension, the SB 54 Advisory Board has scheduled another meeting for this Friday, May 3, to review and discuss the draft SB 54 regulations and pull together a comment letter from the board to CalRecycle to be entered into the record.

A link to the advisory board public notice and agenda are posted on the Advisory Board online repository - SB 54 Advisory Board - Google Drive. Information on how to participate in this meeting can be found below.

Date: May 3rd, 2024

Time: 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Attend in person, via Zoom, or via Webcast

To join In-Person: 

Sierra Hearing Room at CalEPA Headquarters 

1001 I St, 2nd floor 

Sacramento, CA 95814

No registration is necessary to participate in-person.

To join through Zoom register HERE.

To join through Webcast click HERE.

Webcast participants will not be able to provide public comment. If you are participating remotely and would like to make public comments, please join through Zoom. No registration is necessary to view the webcast.

The next SB 54 Advisory Board meeting will be on May 17 from 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Location: Sierra Hearing Room (1001 I Street, 2nd Floor, Sacramento, CA 95814)

Attend in person, via Zoom, or via Webcast.

SB 54 Needs Assessment: First RFP Released

Source Reduction Baseline Request for Proposal (RFP) Posted

CalRecycle has posted DRR24011 - the SB 54 Source Reduction Baseline RFP. The data collected in this Contract will estimate the Source Reduction Baseline and be used to further inform the statewide Needs Assessment pursuant to Public Resources Code (PRC) § 42067. This is an RFP Secondary and the submittal due date is May 28, 2024, at 2:00 pm PST. Please see the contract solicitation on CalRecycle’s website for more information.

CalRecycle must receive any questions or comments specific to an advertised contract solicitation through contracts@calrecycle.ca.gov. Questions on advertised contract solicitations that are not received through the Contracts inbox cannot be addressed. Additionally, CalRecycle is unable to address any questions pertaining to a contract solicitation after the question-and-answer deadline for that solicitation. For more information on contract solicitations, including the question-and-answer deadline for open solicitations, please visit the CalRecycle Contracts site.

SB 54 PRO Registration and Next Producer Work Group Meeting

Circular Action Alliance (CAA), California's approved Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO) for the implementation of SB 54 has set a deadline for Producer registration with CAA by July 1, 2024. REGISTER HERE.

To continue to have access to CAA’s producer working group meetings, CAA has limited access to producers who have registered with the PRO. Starting in June, producers have to register in order to continue participating in the PWGs. It is a simple registration process with no legal or financial obligation - CAA is simply seeking company name, contact name and contact info. and a selection of where companies expect to be a producer (Colorado, Oregon, California). Registration can be changed/amended at a later date if needed.

Additionally, of note: Earlier official deadline for producer registration from CalRecycle is likely April 1, 2025 - CAA has requested CalRecycle set a date requirement as the one they currently have- in 2027- is too late for CAA to set accurate fee schedules and other compliance needs for producers. As such, CAA has set an internal deadline that is more ambitious as a backstop to collect as much info as possible from the largest producer universe as possible.

Registration with CAA (CA's PRO) will reduce free riders in the system i.e.) non-compliant obligated producers, and provide CAA with more precise data for rate setting and other SB 54 compliance requirements for producers.

The next CAA Producer Working Group (PWG #7) will be held on Monday, May 13 at 9:00AM PST, which CRA will attend and, as always, provide a recap to our members.