SECTIONS 40000-40003 - California Statutes

PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE

SECTION 40000-40003

40000. The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) In 1988, Californians disposed of over 38 million tons of
solid waste, an amount that is expected to grow if existing solid
waste policies are continued. This amounts to more than 1,500 pounds
of waste per person living in the state, more than any other state in
the country and over twice the per-capita rate of most other
industrialized countries.
(b) Over 90 percent of California's solid waste currently is
disposed of in landfills, some of which pose a threat to groundwater,
air quality, and public health.
(c) While California will exhaust most of its remaining landfill
space by the mid-1990s, there presently is no coherent state policy
to ensure that the state's solid waste is managed in an effective and
environmentally sound manner for the remainder of the 20th century
and beyond.
(d) The amount of solid waste generated in the state coupled with
diminishing landfill space and potential adverse environmental
impacts from landfilling constitutes an urgent need for state and
local agencies to enact and implement an aggressive new integrated
waste management program.
(e) The reduction, recycling, or reuse of solid waste generated in
the state will, in addition to preserving landfill capacity in
California, serve to conserve water, energy, and other natural
resources within this state, and to protect the state's environment.

40001. (a) The Legislature declares that the responsibility for
solid waste management is a shared responsibility between the state
and local governments. The state shall exercise its legal authority
in a manner that ensures an effective and coordinated approach to the
safe management of all solid waste generated within the state and
shall oversee the design and implementation of local integrated waste
management plans.
(b) The Legislature further declares that it is the policy of the
state to assist local governments in minimizing duplication of
effort, and in minimizing the costs incurred, in implementing this
division through the development of regional cooperative efforts and
other mechanisms which comply with this division.
(c) The Legislature further declares that market development is
the key to successful and cost-effective implementation of the
25-percent and 50-percent diversion requirements required pursuant to
Section 41780, and that the state must take a leadership role,
pursuant to Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 42000) of Part 3, in
encouraging the expansion of markets for recycled products by working
cooperatively with the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.

40002. As an essential part of the state's comprehensive program
for solid waste management, and for the preservation of health and
safety, and the well-being of the public, the Legislature declares
that it is in the public interest for the state, as sovereign, to
authorize and require local agencies, as subdivisions of the state,
to make adequate provision for solid waste handling, both within
their respective jurisdictions and in response to regional needs
consistent with the policies, standards, and requirements of this
division and all regulations adopted pursuant to this division. The
provisions of this division which authorize and require local
agencies to provide adequate solid waste handling and services, and
the actions of local agencies taken pursuant thereto, are intended to
implement this state policy.

40003. Nothing in this division abrogates, limits, or otherwise
affects the duties of the Department of Conservation under the
California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act,
Division 12.1 (commencing with Section 14500).