Incineration Included in Waste Proposal

Gov. George Deukmejian and legislative leaders tentatively agreed Tuesday to include incineration as part of a long-term strategy to reduce solid waste in California by 50% before the year 2000.

The plan that emerged from a closed-door meeting in Deukmejian’s Capitol office would place the major emphasis for solid waste reduction on recycling and other methods of reusing refuse, such as turning leaves into compost. Local governments would have the option to use incineration to get rid of up to 10% of all solid waste.

The tentative agreement came as the governor and lawmakers continued their negotiations on solid waste management and a host of other major issues they hope to resolve before the Legislature adjourns Sept. 15.

Legislative leaders cautioned that they still must take the solid waste compromise back to their respective party caucuses, but they appeared optimistic that they could sell the plan to other lawmakers.

Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles) said, “It’s pretty much to bed now.”

Also present at the meeting were Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco), Senate Republican Leader Ken Maddy of Fresno and Assembly GOP Leader Ross Johnson of La Habra.

Afterward, Sandra Jerabek of Californians Against Waste, an environmental group that favors recycling waste and an end to continued reliance on landfills, said she will strongly oppose making incineration an element in the solid waste disposal plan. Jerabek said that incineration causes air pollution and creates tons of ash, which itself is a hazardous material requiring special disposal.

While saying her group would withhold support for the legislation until there has been time to study all of its details, Jerabek called the goal of a 50% reduction in solid waste “major progress” because it will require substantially more recycling.

More Agreements

Along with the incineration issue, legislators said they also reached tentative agreement on two other items that had threatened a compromise: the makeup of the proposed new solid waste management board that will regulate garbage disposal under the plan and whether to assess a fee to finance the program.

The lawmakers said they agreed with Deukmejian’s compromise plan to establish a full-time, six-member solid waste management board to replace the current part-time state board. Members of the new board would earn annual salaries of $83,000.

The current state Waste Management Board has been criticized for being dominated by the trash-hauling industry and for placing too much emphasis on landfills and not enough on recycling as a strategy for dealing with garbage disposal.

The legislative leaders also said they hoped to raise about $40 million a year by increasing trash-dumping fees. Under their plan, the state general fund would contribute another $5 million needed to fund the new program.

However, legislators said they were still discussing an alternative method of funding the program: assessing a fee on manufacturers of plastic, glass and metal containers; cardboard boxes, and other items that find their way into the so-called “trash stream.”