CalRecycle maintains archived information on its website as a record of its activities for use by the public and CalRecycle staff.
Overview
On February 14, 2025, the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) approved the Illegal Disposal emergency regulations. The regulations became effective on February 14, 2025 and will expire on August 14, 2025.
The Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) proposed emergency regulations that define Land Application Activities and place these activities within CalRecycle’s Compostable Material Handling Facilities and Operations Regulatory Tiers and subject these activities to the appropriate operator filing requirements, state minimum standards, record keeping, and Enforcement Agency (EA) inspection requirements. The regulations ensure that these activities which are land applying compostable material or digestate are appropriately regulated by the EA to ensure protection of public health and safety and the environment.
Additionally, these regulations amend the sampling and record keeping requirement for solid waste facilities, operations, and activities to ensure that any facility and operation sending material to a location to be land applied are sampling to ensure the material is suitable for land application, consistent with section 17852(a)(24.5), and the sampling test results, weights, and end destination for each load sent offsite are included in the operator records. These regulations allow EAs to review this new recordkeeping data to track the flow of material, investigate, and enforce land application activities to prevent unlawful disposal of material.
Affected Regulatory Code Sections
CalRecycle proposed emergency regulations to amend Title 14, California Code of Regulations (CCR), Division 7, Chapters 3, 3.1, 3.2, and 5, Sections 17402, 17414, 17414.2, 17852, 17854.1, 17869, 17896.45, 18302, 18303, 18304, and 18304.1.
CalRecycle proposed emergency regulations to adopt Title 14, CCR, Division 7, Chapters 3, 3.1, and 3.2, Sections 17410.5, 17862.3, 17868.6, and 17896.62.
Current Status
The emergency regulations were approved by OAL effective February 14, 2025. They will expire on August 14, 2025.
The Illegal Disposal emergency regulations were submitted to the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) on February 4, 2025, beginning the 10-calendar day emergency rulemaking process. The 5-calendar day public comment period began on February 4, 2025 and ended on February 10, 2025.
Current Documents
- Notice of Approval of Emergency Rulemaking Action. The notice of approval of the emergency regulations from the Office of Administrative Law.
- Addendum to Finding of Emergency. Document showing changes to the regulations, to the finding of necessity of specified sections, and to the finding of emergency.
- Emergency Rulemaking Action. The notice of proposed adoption, amendment, or repeal of regulations, and Finding of Emergency.
- Proposed Regulation Text. The express language that shows any proposed adoption, amendment, or deletion to the regulations.
- Economic and Fiscal Impact Statement (STD 399) and STD 399 Supplemental Information. Copy of the Economic and Fiscal Impact Statement form and supporting documentation.
- Documents Relied Upon. All technical, theoretical, and empirical studies, reports, or similar documents relied upon in developing the proposed regulations.
- Attachment 1: Economic and Fiscal Impact Statement (STD 399)
- Attachment 2: STD 399 Supplemental Information
- Attachment 3: Transcript from CalRecycle’s October 2024 Monthly Public Meeting
- Attachment 4: Site Photographs from Tour of Antelope Valley
- Attachment 5: California – May 2023 State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates, https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_ca.htm#19-0000, accessed January 8, 2025
- Attachment 6: Visit Log, November 17 – 18, 2024 (Antelope Valley)
- Appendix D Form. Document recording CalRecycle tribal consultation activity. This document is available for public inspection during normal business hours at CalRecycle, 1001 “I” Street, 24th Floor, Sacramento, CA 95814. To schedule a time to inspect these documents, please contact Csilla Richmond at regulations@calrecycle.ca.gov.
- CEQA Notice of Exemption and Attachment. Notice of Exemption from the California Environmental Quality Act. This document is available for public inspection during normal business hours at CalRecycle, 1001 “I” Street, 24th Floor, Sacramento, CA 95814. To schedule a time to inspect these documents, please contact Csilla Richmond at regulations@calrecycle.ca.gov.
- Department Adoption of Regulations. CalRecycle’s Request for Approval document approving the adoption of the Illegal Disposal emergency regulations.
All rulemaking documents listed here are either available by clicking the link, submitting a PRA request at https://www2.calrecycle.ca.gov/Forms/ContactUs/PublicRecordsRequest/, or by emailing regulations@calrecycle.ca.gov. These documents are also available for public inspection during normal business hours at CalRecycle, 1001 “I” Street, 24th Floor, Sacramento, CA 95814. To schedule a time to inspect these documents, please contact Csilla Richmond at regulations@calrecycle.ca.gov.
Input from Interested Parties
Interested parties had the opportunity to provide input during the public comment period, which commenced on February 4, 2025, when the emergency regulations were posted on OAL’s website. The public comment period closed on February 10, 2025.
History
OAL approved the emergency regulations on February 14, 2025.
On February 4, 2025, CalRecycle initiated a 5-calendar day written comment period for the proposed emergency regulations. The public comment period commenced on February 4, 2025, when the emergency regulations were posted on Office of Administrative Law’s (OAL) website. The public comment period closed on February 10, 2025.
During the public comment period, interested parties could submit comments in the following way:
Written comments were sent to OAL and CalRecycle and received before the close of the public comment period on February 10, 2025.
Comments on the proposed emergency regulations were submitted to OAL via email to staff@oal.ca.gov, by fax to (916) 323-6826, or by mail to:
OAL Reference Attorney
300 Capitol Mall, Suite 1250
Sacramento, California 95814
When a comment was submitted to OAL, a copy of the comment was also submitted to CalRecycle in one of the following ways:
- CalRecycle’s public comment portal
- or by mail to:
Csilla Richmond
Illegal Disposal Emergency Rulemaking
Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, Regulations Unit
1001 “I” Street, MS-24B
Sacramento, CA 95814
The comment must have stated that it was about the emergency regulation currently under OAL review and included the topic of the emergency.
Contact
For more information on the Illegal Disposal Emergency Regulations, please contact Csilla Richmond at regulations@calrecycle.ca.gov.
- Subscribe to the Proposed Regulations Listserv to receive emails regarding rulemaking developments.
For more information regarding the solid waste handling regulatory requirements, please visit CalRecycle’s Permit Toolbox homepage.