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BACKGROUND In December of 2013 the City of Pleasanton elected to opt out of Phase 2 of the Mandatory Recycling Ordinance which was adopted by the Alameda County Waste Management Authority in January 2012. Phase 2 requires provision of recycling services for all commercial accounts (not just those subscribing to four or more cubic yards of weekly garbage service as is required under Phase 1), and provision of organics recycling service for the collection of food scraps and food-soiled paper to all commercial accounts that generate a significant quantity of food scraps (e.g. restaurants, produce markets, businesses with cafeterias, etc.). Phase 2 also requires organics recycling for every multi-family building with five or more housing units. In November of 2015, the StopWaste Board voted to withhold Measure D funds (approximately $200,000) from the City of Pleasanton as they concluded that the City "had not satisfied the criteria for an adequate Commercial Recycling Program for FY14/15 (i.e., relating to commercial organics diversion efforts)" until such time as the City had a plan for implementation of such a program. These funds are distributed by StopWaste to assist cities in planning and implementing recycling programs. Staff has been in dialogue with Pleasanton Garbage Service for the past two years regarding implementation of such a program in conjunction with discussions about extensions of the current franchise agreement. In December of 2015, the City Council elected to delay further discussion of a franchise extension until progress had been made towards establishing a commercial organics collection program. DISCUSSION City staff, the City Council Sub-committee on Refuse and Recycling, and the City Council have all discussed the growing interest and need for implementation of commercial organics recycling program. Following the StopWaste Board's action to withhold Measure D funds, City staff met with Pleasanton Garbage Services and staff from StopWaste to discuss our options. It was agreed that PGS would immediately pursue implementation of a pilot program for commercial organics collection and begin to evaluate the scope and cost of a permanent program. The policies for the distribution of Measure D funds allow for a Compliance Schedule Waiver, which would allow the City to recoup its withheld Measure D funds subject to approval of such a waiver. The waiver application requires stipulation of an implementation date for programs meeting the Phase 2 requirements. Staff and PGS believe that with the immediate implementation of a pilot program, enough information will be generated to evaluate the scope and cost of a comprehensive program in compliance with Phase 2. This permanent program is proposed to commence on January 1, 2017. Should the Council approve the attached recommended Resolution, staff will forward a request for a Compliance Schedule Waiver to the StopWaste Executive Director. If the request is approved, it is anticipated that the StopWaste Board could release the Measure D funds by March of 2016. Page 2 of 3