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Attachment B THE CITY OF ® �n IN { IN MO pLEASANTONC MEMORANDUM Date: December 7, 2011 To: Mayor Hosterman Councilmember Sullivan From: Nelson Fialho, City Manager Subject: Proposed Alameda County Waste Management Authority Mandatory Commercial Recycling Ordinance The Alameda County Waste Management Authority (WMA) is considering adoption of a mandatory recycling ordinance for all businesses and multi-family buildings of over five units in Alameda County. It appears that the ordinance would meet the requirements of recently passed state law(AB341) requiring recycling services at businesses and multi-family buildings, and goes beyond it. If adopted, the ordinance may have significant impacts on Pleasanton businesses and would expand the WMA's role in overseeing refuse and recycling services in Pleasanton. In response to an administrative draft of the ordinance, City staff forwarded the attached October 21, 2011 letter to the WMA detailing a number of questions and concerns. In response, the WMA provided comments which are the underlined portion of the letter. As indicated in the WMA's response, the WMA has made changes to the ordinance since the City's October 21 letter and a copy of the most recent ordinance reflecting these changes is attached. The City has at least three choices: participate in the ordinance, opt-out of the ordinance but adopt its own mandatory recycling ordinance, or opt-out and follow another policy. There are advantages and disadvantages to each of these choices. In view of staff's letter and the WMA's comments, staff has scheduled a meeting with Gary Wolff, the WMA's Executive Director, and the project lead at the WMA, Debra Kaufman, to discuss the proposed ordinance, including any clarification related to staff interpretations. A brief summary of the proposed ordinance is as follows: • Requires large businesses and multi-family housing in excess of five units to either provide separate recycling collection services or to direct their garbage to a centralized processing facility that removes recyclables as of July 1, 2012. The WMA ordinance also defines the Covered Materials (generally defined as recyclable material including cardboard, white paper, HDPE, discarded food, aluminum, etc) to be made available for recycling, provides some performance standards, and includes small businesses at a later time and provides for earlier implementation. • All owners must notify tenants annually of requirements, when applicable.