(a) Notwithstanding Section 41780, the board may reduce the diversion requirements specified in Section 41780 for any city or county which, on or before January 1, 1990, disposed of 75 percent or more of its solid waste, collected by the jurisdiction or its authorized agents or contractors, by transformation if either of the following conditions exist:
(1) The attainment of the 25 percent or 50 percent diversion requirement specified in Section 41780 will result in substantial impairment of the obligations of one or more contracts in existence on January 1, 1990, for the city or county to furnish solid waste for fuel. A substantial impairment of obligations includes, but is not limited to, instances where a city has entered into a contract or franchise for 20 or more years with a joint powers authority for the operation of a transformation facility, and meeting the diversion requirements of Section 41780 may increase the city’s costs by 15 percent or more.
(2) The attainment of the 25 percent or 50 percent diversion requirement specified in Section 41780 will substantially interfere with the repayment of debt incurred to finance or refinance the transformation project, if the refinancing is done for the purpose of reducing debt service and not for the expansion of the transformation project.
(b) If the board reduces the diversion requirements for a city or county pursuant to subdivision (a), the board shall establish new diversion requirements which require the maximum feasible amount of source reduction, recycling, and composting but which will not result in the conditions described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (a).
(Amended by Stats. 1992, Ch. 736, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 1993.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018