Notice of Funds Available: Organics Grant Program (FYs 2021-22 and 2022-23)

Awards

Note: “ORG” followed by a number is the cycle code for the Organics Grant Program.

Cycle 7: ORG7 Awards |Approval of Awards, December 14, 2023

Criteria

Approval of Criteria, January 4, 2023

Eligibility

Applicants

• Local governments:
  • Cities, counties, and cities and counties as defined in Public Resources Code section 30109.
  • Regional or local sanitation agencies, waste agencies, or Joint Powers Authorities.
• Private, for-profit entities.  For purposes of this program, a “private, for-profit entity” is defined as a business intended to operate at a profit and return a profit to its owners.  Private entities must be authorized to conduct business in the State of California, by either being registered with the California Secretary of State as a business located in California, being registered as a foreign (out–of–state or out–of–country) business or processing a business license issued by a California city, county, or city and county. The business must be qualified to do business in California and be in good standing with all applicable California state agencies, including, but not limited to, the Secretary of State and the Franchise Tax Board.  Any and all subsidiaries, divisions or affiliated businesses are considered part of the primary business entity for the purpose of applying for and receiving a grant award under the program.  A business is considered an “affiliated business” if it has at least one owner with a forty (40) percent or greater interest in another applicant business.
• State agencies (including offices, departments, bureaus, and boards).
• The University of California campuses, the California State University campuses, or California Community Colleges campuses.
• Nonprofit organizations (except private schools) registered with the federal government under 501(c)3, (c)4, (c)6 or (c)10 of the Internal Revenue Code. Must be qualified to do business in California and be in good standing with all applicable California state agencies, including being registered and current in the Registry of Charitable Trusts.
• Qualifying Native American Tribes.
  • A Qualifying Native American Tribes is defined as a Native American tribe, band, nation or other organized group or community, residing within the borders of California, which:
    1. is recognized for special programs and services provided by the United States to Native Americans because of the status of its members as Native Americans; or
    2. can establish that it is a government entity, and which meets the criteria of the grant program.

Project Requirements

1. Projects must be located in California and facilitate or result in:
   • Reductions in GHG emissions compared to existing practice of landfilling green or food materials within California; and
   • Increases in quantity (tons) of green materials or food materials, newly diverted from landfill disposal or Alternative Daily Cover (ADC) use, and composted or digested in California.
     • For purposes of this program, “newly diverted” means the tons of materials that are currently being landfilled or used as ADC that will instead be diverted as a result of this project.
2. For Co-Digestion Projects – Project must either have an existing food waste receiving station with excess capacity on-site or propose to construct new or expanded food waste receiving station infrastructure that allows for direct receipt of food waste into the anaerobic digester(s).  (A project that proposes to receive food waste at the headworks or through the sewage system for co-digestion is ineligible.)
3. For Anaerobic Digestion Projects and Co-Digestion Projects – Project must utilize the biogas that is generated to produce transportation fuel, renewable electricity, heat, or biomethane for pipeline injection.

Eligible Projects/Products

• Construction, renovation, or expansion of facilities to increase in-state infrastructure for the composting or digestion of organics into compost, soil amendments, fertilizers, biofuels, or bioenergy.
• Construction, renovation, or expansion of facilities to increase in-state infrastructure for the pre-processing of organics.
  • Projects must result in an increase in tons of green or food materials diverted from landfills beyond that which the pre-processor was already diverting.

Note: Projects intending to operate under an Enforcement Agency (EA) Notification Tier as a Research Composting Operation under 14 CCR § 17862 are not eligible.

Funding

• $154,960,671 available for Cycle 7, subject to funding availability.
  • The funding is divided by project type as follows.
    

    Project Allocation	Project Type
    $56,549,473	Anaerobic Digestion/Co-Digestion Projects
    $78,411,198	Composting Projects
    $15,000,000	Stand-Alone Pre-Processing Projects
    $5,000,000	In-Vessel Composting Projects
    $154,960,671	Total

• The grant awards per project type are:
  • Anaerobic Digestion/Co-Digestion Projects and Composting Projects
    • Anaerobic digestion or composting of food waste and/or green waste to produce renewable energy or nutrient-rich soil products.
    • Up to $10,000,000
  • Stand-Alone Pre-Processing Projects
    • Projects that remove contaminants from food waste/or green waste feedstock prior to composting or digestion, that are not co-located at a composting or anaerobic digestion facility.
    • Award amount $500,000 – $3,000,000
  • Anaerobic Digestion/Co-Digestion Projects or Composting Projects with Stand-Alone Pre-Processing Projects
    • Projects in a Cooperative Application (two or more eligible entities applying together) that include Anaerobic digestion/Co-Digestion or Composting project and a stand-alone pre-processing project. Grant funded Equipment/Infrastructure must be identified at all locations.
    • Up to $13,000,000
  • In-Vessel Composting Projects
    • Composting of food waste and/or green waste with in-vessel composting technology.
    • Award amount $250,000 – $500,000

Timeline and Cycle Details

Grant Administration Documents

Terms and Conditions
Notice: Submission of an application constitutes an acknowledgment that you have read these Terms and Conditions and understood and agreed that they will be part of the Grant Agreement upon an award of any grant funds.

The text of these Terms and Conditions may not be altered, changed or revised in any way, except in writing by mutual agreement of the parties pursuant to the Amendment provision herein. In the event of any dispute regarding the content of these Terms and Conditions, the original document contained in the grant cycle file located at the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, 1001 I Street, Sacramento, CA 95814 will control. These Terms and Conditions are applicable only to the specified cycle and/or Fiscal Year of the particular grant program specified.

Procedures and Requirements Revised
Notice: These Procedures and Requirements are in draft form. Upon issuance of Grant Agreement, these Procedures and Requirements shall become final.

The Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery reserves the right to make any necessary changes to the Procedures and Requirements prior to issuance of the Grant Agreement. Any such changes will be non-negotiable. In the event that any changes are made to the Procedures and Requirements, all Grantees will be notified as to what specific changes have been made.

Once the Grant Agreement has been issued and the Procedures and Requirements have become final, the text of the incorporated Procedures and Requirements may not be altered, changed or revised in any way, except in writing by mutual agreement of the parties pursuant to the Amendment provision contained in the Terms and Conditions. In the event of any dispute regarding the content of the incorporated Procedures and Requirements, the original document contained in the grant cycle file located at the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, 1001 I Street, Sacramento, CA 95814 will control. These Procedures and Requirements are applicable only to the specific cycle and/or Fiscal Year of the particular grant program specified.

If you require assistance in obtaining access to this document, please use the contact information at the bottom of this page.

Organics Grant Program Homepage

For more information, contact GHGreductions@calrecycle.ca.gov