Changes enforcement rules for waste and recycling services

The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, generally regulates the disposal, management, and recycling of solid waste. The act authorizes each county, city, district, or other local governmental agency to determine whether aspects of solid waste handling services are to be provided by franchise, contract, license, permit, or other authorization.

This bill would require a court to award to a prevailing party reasonable attorney’s fees, expert witness fees, and other costs incurred in a civil action brought to enforce a franchise, contract, license, permit, or other authorization for solid waste handling services in an amount the court deems appropriate, but would prohibit the court from awarding those fees and costs under specified circumstances. The bill would require a plaintiff, in order for a court to award to a prevailing party those costs and fees, to first notify and request approval to proceed from the relevant local agency. The bill would require the local agency to post all notices and approval requests it receives on the local agency’s Internet Web site, as specified. By imposing additional duties on local agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require a person seeking costs and fees in accordance with that provision to notify the department, and would require the department to report to the Legislature the total number and dispositions of actions filed in accordance with that provision for the previous calendar year. The bill would repeal these provisions as of January 1, 2022.

The act prohibits a person, other than an authorized recycling agent, from removing specified materials that have been segregated from solid waste materials and placed at a designated recycling collection location for residential curbside collection programs authorized by a city, county, or local agency for the purposes of collection and recycling or at a designated recycling collection location by any commercial or industrial entity. Existing law authorizes a court, in a civil action by a recycling agent against a person alleged to have violated these laws, to either allow treble damages or award a civil penalty, as specified, against the unauthorized person removing the recyclable material, and to allow treble damages or award a higher civil penalty, as specified, against a person for a second violation and subsequent violations.

This bill would expand this civil enforcement to apply to knowing and willful participation in the unauthorized removal of the segregated recyclable material, would explicitly authorize a local governmental agency to bring an enforcement action, and would require a court to award to the prevailing party reasonable attorney’s fees, expert witness fees, and costs incurred in the course of the litigation, except as specified.

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.