California legislators aren鈥檛 throwing away a bill on composting. In fact, a bill meant to make it easier for farms, vineyards and smaller-scale community farms and gardens to do their own composting saw bipartisan approval in the Senate Environmental Quality Committee, chaired by Sen. Catherine Blakespear, a Democrat who represents southern Orange County communities.
From Sen. Jerry McNerney, a Democrat whose district includes San Joaquin County and part of Alameda County, SB 279 would let large vineyards and farms compost on-site rather than ship green waste to a composting facility, as they have to do now, which could be hundreds of miles away, according to the bill. McNerney鈥檚 office pointed to a recent CalRecycle report that found California needs up to 100 additional organic waste recycling facilities to meet demand.
The bill would also allow urban and school farms and community composters to compost up to 500 cubic yards of green waste and food scraps, up from the current limitation of 100 cubic yards, onsite as well. And it increases the amount of compost an organization can give away from 1,000 to 5,000 cubic yards per year, McNerney said during a committee hearing.