NaturalResourcesAaencv CalRecycIe

DEPARTMENT

OF RESOURCES

RECYCLING

AND

RE1001ISTREET,SACRAMENTO,CALIFORNIA95814•WWW.CALRECYCLE.CA.GOV•(916)322-4027P.O.Box4025,SACRAMENTO,CALIFORNIA95812 July

14, 2012 Andrew

Steckel U.S.

EPA Region

9 75 Hawthorne

St. San Francisco,

CA 94105-3901 RE: Agency/Docket

Numbers EPA-R09-OAR-2012-0252

and FRL-9687-4

Concerning ‘Revisions

to the California

State Implementation

Plan,

South

Coast

Air Quality Management

District;

San Joaquin

Valley

Unified

Air Pollution

Control

District’ Dear

Mr. Steckel: Thank

you

for

the opportunity

to comment

on

the

U.S. EPA’s proposed

revision

of the California

State Implementation

Plan

(SIP)

to include

two

air district prohibitory

rules that provide

the first-ever restrictions

on emissions

from

piles

of decomposing

green and

food material

at commercial

composting

facilities.

The Department

of Resources Recycling

and Recovery (CalRecycle)

has

a vital interest

in this proposed

revision. CaIRecycle

is charged

with achieving

the state’s

new, far-reaching

75% reuse, recycling,

and composting

goal.

Since compostable

organics

still comprise

at least

1/3 of the disposed

waste

stream

(with

food waste

being

the largest

portion

of organics),

the ability

to maintain

and expand

our organics management

infrastructure

is critical

if we are

to achieve

this

75%

goal. As described

below, CalRecycle

has worked

closely

with

the

San Joaquin

Valley

Unified Air Pollution

Control

District

and

the South

Coast

Air Quality Management

District

on Rules

4566

and 1133, respectively.

On

the basis

of these interactions

and

new research

findings described

below, CalRecycle

supports

the proposed

action

in general.

However, CalRecycle

also requests

that

the

U.S.

EPA,

as part

of this

SIP approval

process,

allow

and direct

air quality regulators

to provide

more flexibility

when considering

new regulations

on low-reactivity

sources

(for ozone formation)

of VOCs,

such

as composting,

especially

when

those sources

have other environmental

benefits.

I view

this

as

a critical

need

as

we move forward

in expanding

our organics management

infrastructure

in California;

in addition,

these issues

apply anywhere

in the United

States

where

there

is poor

air quality

as well

as mandates

or goals

to reduce greenhouse

gas emissions,

improve

the sustainability

of agriculture,

and decrease

the amount

of materials

landfilled. CalRecycle recommends additional

changes described

further

below.ORIGINALPRINTEDON100%POST.CONSLJMRRCONTENtPROC00SCHLORINEFREEPAPERAndrewSteckelJuly14,2012Page2RationaleforCalRecycle’sPrimaryRecommendationOverthepastdecade,CalRecyclestaff,airdistrictstaff,andstakeholdershaveengagedinadiscussionaboutcompostingemissionsfactors,effectivemitigationmeasures,andtheimpactoftheseandrelatedCleanAirActprovisionsonsolidwastediversioneffortsinCalifornia.TheserulesreflectthebesteffortsofallinvolvedtoreachsolutionswhichwillreduceVolatileOrganicCompound(VOC)emissionswhileallowingtheexistinggreenmaterialcompostinginfrastructuretocontinuetoprovideenvironmentbenefitstoCalifornia.However,thecombinedeffectofthesedistrictrulesandadditionalCleanAirActrequirements,especiallyNewSourceReviewprovisionsrequiringBestAvailableControlTechnologyandoffsetsfornewcompostfacilities,remainsasignificantdeterrenttoexpandingthecompostinginfrastructureinCalifornia.Asnotedabove,CaiRecycleischargedwithachieving75%recyclingandcompostinginCaliforniaby2020.In2010,some37milliontonswerestillbeingdisposedinCalifornialandfills,leavingmorethan12milliontonsofcompostableorganicsinthatwastestreamwhichwillneedtobeprocessed.California’scompostandmulchfacilitiescurrentlyprocessabout9milliontonsannually,butfewofthemoperateatmaximumcapacity,sothismeansthecompostinginfrastructureinCalifornianeedstoroughlydoubleitscapacityinordertoachieve75%recyclingandcomposting.Underthecurrenteconomicparadigmwherecompostfacilitiesmustcompeteforfeedstockswithlow-costdisposal,andwherelocalgovernmentsfaceincreasinglytightbudgetrestraints,federalhelpandguidanceisneededtogrowthenation’sorganicsmanagementinfrastructure.From2009-2011,CalRecycleandinterestedstakeholders,includingtheAlamedaCountyWasteManagementAuthority,theCaliforniaAssociationofSanitaryAgencies(CASA)andnumerousorganicshandlers,contractedwiththeUCDavisSchoolofCivilandEnvironmentalEngineeringtoconductaseriesofexperimentstodeterminetheozoneformationpotentialofcompostingprocessemissions.Theexperimentsusedamobileozoneformationchamber,aswellasgaschromatographyandmodelingtocrosschecktheresults.Compostingemissionswerefoundtoberoughly1/3aspotentforozonecreationasthetypicalVOCmixfoundinurbanareas.Compostingemissionswereproventobelessreactivethanvehicleemissionsandsilagepiles,andalsolessreactivethanthenaturallyoccurringVOCsemittedbyoak,pineandorchardtreesalloverCaliforniaeveryday(thesebiogenicplantVOCsmakeupabouthalfofallVOCsintheSanJoaquinValley).Theresultsofthesestudieswerepublishedinthepeerreviewedjournal“AtmosphericEnvironmentandontheCASAandCalRecyclewebsites.All3documentsarelinkedtothispage:http://www.calrecycle.ca.qov/Orqanics/Air/default.htm.AndrewSteckelJuly14,2012Page3Basedonthesestudies,CalRecycleconcludesthatinallbutthemostextremecases,restrictionsoncompostfacilitiesareunlikelytohaveameasurableimpactonlocalorregionalozonelevels.Unfortunately,airdistrictsareapparentlyunabletoconsiderreactivitywhenpromulgatingrules,becauseofthecurrentinterpretationoftheCleanAirAct.Therefore,werequestU.S.EPA’sassistancetoenablechangesintheCleanAirActoritsinterpretationtoacknowledgethatallVOCsarenotequallyresponsibleforozoneformation,andthatU.S.EPAdirectairqualityregulatorstoallowmoreflexibilitywhenconsideringregulationsonlow-reactivitysourcessuchascomposting.AdditionalRecommendationsCalRecyclealsowishestoprovidethefollowingadditionalrecommendations,someofwhicharedirectlyrelatedtotheSIPrulemakingandothersmoreindirectlytoU.S.EPA’sroleinpromotingrecyclingandcomposting:1)Clarifytheavailabilityofoffsetsforimplementationofmitigationmeasuresbyexistingfacilities:Itappearsthatoneavenueforgrowthofthecompostinginfrastructuresubsequenttorules1133.3and4566istomakeexistingfacilitiesmoreproductivethroughtheuseofaeratedstaticpilesandanaerobicdigesters.TheseadditionswillimproveCalifornia’sabilitytomovefoodwasteawayfromlandfilling.WearepleasedthatU.S.EPAsharesCalRecycle’sgoalofremovingfoodwastefromthedisposedwastestream,andlookforwardtofuturecollaborationinthisregard.However,thereissomequestionintheregulatorycommunityaboutwhetherexistingcompostfacilitiesshouldbeabletoreceiveoffsetcreditsforimplementationofmitigationmeasureswhichreduceVOCsbeyondwhatisrequiredbyexistingrules.Thesesamemitigationscanpotentiallyreducegreenhousegasemissionsaswell.Availabilityofoffsetsforsurplusreductionsimprovestheprospectsformodernizingexistingfacilities,andwestronglyurgeU.S.EPAtoclarifythisissueintheaffirmative.2)Revisepollutantinventories:Reactivityalsohasanimportantroletoplayinimprovingtheaccuracyofemissionsinventories,especiallywhentheseemissionsareattributedtocomposting.WerequestthatU.S.EPAhelpensurethatpollutantinventoriesarerevisedwhenevertheknowledgebasechanges,andtospecificallyreconsidertheamountofozoneformationattributedtocompostinginCalifornia.3)Supportresearchonemissionsfromgreenmaterialsappliedtofarmland:CalRecycleagreeswithU.S.EPA’scallfortestingoffoodwastecompostingemissions.However,thereisanevenmoreurgentneed:totestemissionsfromgreenmaterialsdirectlyappliedtofarmland.Directlandapplicationisalikelyoutletfororganicmaterialsifcompostingisrestrictedormademoreexpensivebyairqualityrules.Inadditiontounknownemissionsimpacts,directapplicationhasprovenmoredifficulttoregulateandprovidesapotentialpathwayforspreadingpestsandpathogens.ThisresearchwasrequestedbyU.S.EPAinameetinginJuly,2010,andateamconsistingofCaiRecycleandtheUCDavisSchoolofCivilandEnvironmentalEngineeringsubmittedaresearchproposalforthisconcepttoU.S.EPAin2011,butithasnotyetbeenfunded.AndrewSteckelJuly4,2012Page44)Supportresearchonwatersavingsassociatedwithcompostuse:Numerousbenefitsfromusingcompostarewellknown,butsofarhavenotbeenquantified.Untilthatoccurs,theycannotbeassignedavalueineconomictransactions.Forinstance,inallknownscenariosofclimatechangeimpactonCalifornia,Sierrasnowpackisreducedandwaterbecomesmoreprecious.Farmershaveknownforyearsthatusingcomposthelpsreducewateruseontheirfields,andwhenfarmersuseagriculturalwatermoreefficiently,theyreduceairemissionsfromirrigationpumping—aswellreducingcostsandenergyinputs.Anadditionalbenefitisreducedrunofffromfieldsandlesspotentialimpactongroundwaterfromfertilization.However,thesebenefitshavenotbeenadequatelyquantified.U.S.EPAassistanceinfundingwatersavingsresearchassociatedwithcompostingusecouldhelpprovideincentivestocompostingfacilitiesthatcouldpartiallyoffsethighercostsassociatedwithCleanAirActcompliance.Inclosing,IwouldliketoreiteratethecriticalnatureofCalRecycle’sprimaryrequestthatU.S.EPAprovideflexibilitytoairdistrictswhentheyconsiderregulationsonlowreactivityVOCsourceswithotherenvironmentalbenefits,suchascomposting.WeneedU.S.EPAtotakealeadershiproleinresolvingthisissuesothatairqualitycontinuestoimproveandthecompostingindustrycancontinuetogrow.IlookforwardtoU.S.EPA’sconsiderationofthesecomments.Ifyouhavespecificquestionsaboutourcomments,pleasecontactMr.BobHorowitz,Supervisor,at(916)341-6452oratRobert.horowitz@CalRecycle.ca.gov.Sincerely,-,..,/././_/,•‘._CarollMortensenDirectorCc:JaredBlumenthal,U.S.EPARegion9JeffScott,U.S.EPARegion9JUL17RECD