HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 8.1 Const and Demo Debris Ord
STAFF REPORT CITY CLERK
File #810-60
CITY COUNCIL
DATE:April 1, 2014
TO:
Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers
FROM:
Christopher L. Foss, Acting City Manager
SUBJECT:
Construction and Demolition Debris Ordinance Amendments
Prepared by Martha Aja, Environmental Coordinator
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The City’s Construction and Demolition (C&D) Debris Ordinance requires that projects with a
valuation of $100,000 or more recycle 100% of all concrete & asphalt and 50% of all other
materials. The City Council is being asked to consider possible amendments to the Ordinance.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Sufficient funding is available in the City’s Measure D Fund to offset legal fees associated with
the development of an ordinance amendment.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council: 1) Consider the possible amendments to the City’s
Construction and Demolition Debris Ordinance and 2) Direct Staff, by motion, to prepare the
Ordinance amendment.
Submitted By Reviewed By
Assistant to the City Manager Acting Assistant City Manager
DESCRIPTION:
Background
The City’s Construction and Demolition (C&D) Debris Ordinance was adopted by the City
Council in 2000. The C&D Ordinance applies to all projects that have a valuation of $100,000 or
more. Projects that have a valuation of $1,000,000 or more are required to post a bond that they
receive back upon submittal of their final paperwork. The current Ordinance requires that all
covered projects recycle 100% of all concrete and asphalt from a construction or demolition
project site, and 50% of all other materials.
ITEM NO. 8.1
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C&D debris represents a substantial portion of the total waste stream within the City of Dublin –
approximately 21%. Construction of a typical residential home produces approximately 17,000
pounds of C&D waste. Reducing C&D waste is especially critical to the City of Dublin in meeting
its diversion and Climate Action Plan goals since the City is still growing. Recycling C&D waste
not only keeps it from ending up in the landfill, but also reduces the amount of energy and water
consumption that would occur to manufacture new construction materials.
The City has not made any changes to the recycling thresholds in the C&D Ordinance since its
adoption. Staff is proposing to explore several amendments to the City’s C&D Debris Ordinance
to achieve greater waste reduction and to address some current challenges in administering the
program.
Amendment Proposals
To require that a greater percentage of construction materials be collected:
Increase the diversion requirement of materials (excluding concrete and asphalt) from
50% to 75%. In 2008, the City Council adopted a goal to divert 75% of waste from the
landfill. The proposed increase is consistent with the City’s diversion goal. According to
the City’s Chief Building Official, new construction projects in the City are currently
recycling upwards of 80% to 90% of materials. Smaller projects, such as a small
residential remodel, may have a little more difficulty in obtaining the 75% requirement.
However, the good faith effort provision within the current ordinance allows for such
efforts to be counted as compliant with the ordinance threshold when the City’s Building
Official finds that there are extenuating circumstances, such as a small project with a high
proportion of hard to recycle items. Generally, the proposed change will have minimal
impact as almost all projects are well above the threshold, and Staff is proposing the
change in order to catch up with the industry’s progress.
The California Building Standards Commission (CBSC) is proposing to amend the
California Green Building Standards Code (CALgreen) to increase the C&D Debris
recycling standard from 50% to 65%. This proposed change in the CALgreen Code would
move the current tier 1 voluntary measure of 65% to a mandatory measure. This
particular code measure has gone without being amended for the past three years in the
CALgreen Code. Increasing the diversion requirement within the City’s C&D Debris
Ordinance to 75% would allow the City to stay out in front of the C&D recycling
requirements in the State code.
To provide Staff with greater flexibility in administering the ordinance:
Include exceptions in the ordinance to give discretion to the Building Division’s Waste
Management Plan Compliance Official to waive the requirement for the bond and/or the
report. These exceptions would apply to projects that are non-waste generating projects.
For example, an office building in Dublin recently installed a new HVAC system which
had a valuation over $1,000,000; therefore, per the City’s C&D Ordinance, the business
was required to fill out the waste management report and post a bond. The only waste
that was generated from this project was the plastic wrap that the equipment was
wrapped in. The exercise of rational judgment would allow the City to provide better
customer service.
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To ensure greater compliance with the ordinance’s recycling requirements:
Staff currently is finding that, while the ordinance requires the submittal of a plan to
recycle waste at project outset, permits are being finaled without verification of
compliance with the plan. Simply, closeout documentation is not required for projects
valued more than $100,000 and less than $1,000,000. Thus, Staff would recommend
requiring that final recycling plan verification paperwork be submitted prior to the building
permit being finaled. This would address the problem of the City not receiving the final
paperwork for the projects that are not required to post a bond (projects valued over
$1,000,000 must post a bond).
Require that all developers of new buildings post a bond to ensure compliance with the
Ordinance.
To address the problem of residents hiring companies other than Amador Valley Industries (AVI)
to collect C&D materials:
Staff is recommending that language be added to the Ordinance to establish a protocol
for dealing with illegal dumpsters (i.e. when a resident or business uses a company other
than AVI for their C&D debris hauling). Currently, it is somewhat difficult to enforce the
Ordinance as the penalty for its violation is not severe, and having a mechanism to deal
with this problem is important since AVI has an exclusive right to the C&D waste
generated in the City. Staff proposes to explore language that can be added to the
Ordinance to authorize the tagging of the illegal dumpsters. The resident or business
would have a set amount of time to get rid of the dumpster before a possible fine or
impounding would perhaps occur.
To address concerns AVI has expressed with exemptions within the Ordinance, impacting the
exclusivity provisions of the agreement:
Staff and AVI have met on several occasions to discuss issues with the administration of
the exclusivity provisions of the C&D Ordinance. In particular, Staff and AVI have
discussed possible modifications to the C&D Ordinance that both Staff and AVI believe
serve as a loophole for illegal haulers. Most notably, Staff proposes to explore removing
the exclusivity exemption within the Ordinance that allows anyone to collect construction
and demolition waste as long as they claim that they are diverting 95% of their waste.
Currently, the ordinance does not require any reporting or documentation to support the
claim, so as long as they say they are diverting 95% of their waste, there is really no
proof. Staff proposes to look at removing or augmenting such language.
NOTICING REQUIREMENTS/PUBLIC OUTREACH:
Environmental Services and the Building and Safety Division would work together to provide
recommendations on the proposed amendments to the C&D Ordinance. Staff will also consult
with the City’s Franchise Hauler, AVI, on the proposed ordinance amendments.
Should the City Council decide to proceed with the proposed amendments, Staff would hold an
outreach meeting with the development community to discuss the recommended changes to the
C&D Ordinance. The purpose of the meeting would be to allow the development community an
opportunity to weigh in on the proposed amendments and express any concerns. Staff will
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return to the City Council following this outreach with a draft ordinance amendment for the City
Council to consider.
ATTACHMENTS:
None.
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