Merced County supervisors adopt ordinance updating refuse service fees to comply with AB 1383

The Merced County Board of Supervisors voted to adopt an ordinance amending refuse service fees and charges for county solid waste franchise areas to comply with state law AB 1383, after county staff reported that valid protests did not meet the threshold to block the action.

County staff told the board that, prior to the hearing, the county had received 42 protests (of which 33 were valid, 4 were duplications and 5 were invalid). During the public hearing the county received 92 protests (33 valid, 30 duplications and 29 invalid), bringing the total protests received to 234 and the total valid protests to 166. Staff said that number is less than the 10,910 required to constitute a majority protest, allowing the board to proceed.

Supervisor D. Perriam, who moved the ordinance, described AB 1383 as an unfunded state mandate and urged compliance. “It’s one of those unfunded mandates…we really don’t have an option,” Perriam said on the record. Perriam moved that the board find the proposed ordinance exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act because it “involves the approval of solid waste collection rates for the purposes of meeting operational expenses,” and then moved to adopt the ordinance. Supervisor J. Pacheco seconded the motion. The chair called for the ayes and the motion carried.

The ordinance was introduced on Jan. 14 and amends Chapter 5.9 of the Merced County Code to change refuse service fees and charges in the county’s solid waste franchise areas. County staff informed the board that failure to adopt a compliant ordinance could expose the county to state penalties; the board was told a noncompliance fine could be $10,000 per day (the figure cited at the meeting was $3,600,000, as stated by the speaker).

The board did not provide a roll-call vote tally in the meeting record; the clerk recorded the motion, a second and that the motion carried. No amendments to the ordinance were recorded during the meeting. The board proceeded to later business and reports after adopting the ordinance.

Background: AB 1383 (state law enacted in 2017) establishes requirements for organic waste reduction and related solid waste collection standards. County staff framed the ordinance as the local implementing action for those state requirements and said the proposed fee changes are intended to meet operational expenses tied to compliance.