IWMA slashes solid waste management fee again after SLO County rejoins 

San Luis Obispo County is set to enjoy the perks of rejoining the Integrated Waste Management Authority (IWMA) months after undoing its decision to leave the agency.

The IWMA board unanimously voted on June 12 to reduce its countywide solid waste management fee from 5.4 percent to 3 percent. This is the second fee decrease from the board, which approved a temporary reduction from 5.4 percent to 4.4 percent in July 2023 because of budget surplus stemming from program and staffing adjustments.

Made possible by keeping operating costs below projected earnings, the newer reduction will take effect this July after the 4.4 percent rate expires. The IWMA also credited exceeding compliance mandates set by the state that resulted in a greater participation than expected in organic waste recycling programs around SLO County.

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• File Photo By Bulbul Rajagopal
• WASTE WIN Following diligent compliance with SB 1383 and SLO County's reunion with the agency, the Integrated Waste Management Authority reduced its solid waste management fee from 5.4 percent to 3 percent.

"The IWMA is one of the few agencies in the state that's meeting or on track to meet all of its [Senate Bill] 1383 requirements. Not many agencies are," IWMA board member and former President Charles Bourbeau said. "Some of that is some creative programming like the compost rebate program, ... that's enabled us to meet the composting requirement."

In 2021, the then 13-member IWMA found itself a follower short when SLO County pulled out to manage solid and hazardous waste programs for unincorporated communities on its own. Three members of the Board of Supervisors disputed the agency's ban on polystyrene, which became one of the reasons for the county's separation from the IWMA. Following the county's departure, the IWMA agreed to focus on complying with state laws instead of passing new ordinances.

One of those state laws is SB 1383, which became effective in 2022. The bill overhauled organic waste disposal and rolled out programs to recycle and reuse it for emission reduction. By Jan. 1, 2025, SB 1383 targets reducing organic waste in landfills by 75 percent based on 2014 levels. It also wants to recover a minimum of 20 percent of edible food for consumption that would have otherwise been disposed of.

Last November, the new iteration of the Board of Supervisors consisting of 4th District Supervisor Jimmy Paulding, voted to rejoin the IWMA and reduce the cost burden on ratepayers. Paulding won his supervisor seat from predecessor Lynn Compton who had taken issue with former IWMA Director Bill Worrell and board secretary Carolyn Grace Goodrich. The county exited the IWMA in 2021 after the District Attorney's Office charged Goodrich with embezzlement and destruction of public records in August 2021.

According to previous New Times reporting, the county had to pay an additional $700,000 a year out of the general fund to provide independent waste management services. The supervisors bypassed a possible hike in the solid waste management fee by rejoining the IWMA.

"While developing a new program as an independent agency may have cost

county ratepayers upwards of 8 percent, the same ratepayers will now see only 3 percent of their garbage bills going to solid waste management programs through the benefits of a regional approach and economies of scale," the IWMA press release said.

First District Supervisor John Peschong refrained from voting on rejoining the IWMA in 2023, and 5th District Supervisor Debbie Arnold dissented because the county would have fewer representatives on the IWMA board.

Returning to the IWMA shrunk the county's stock from five seats to one seat on the now nine-person board, with the seven cities and some special districts filling the other positions.

Bourbeau clarified that while the county is a big player in realms like the SLO Council of Governments and the Air Pollution Control District, it doesn't possess the lion's share of the power when it comes to trash.

"The large community services districts like Nipomo or Cambria or Templeton all have their own garbage authority and have their own hauler contracts," he said. "What's left in the county is small ... and has less people than the city of San Luis Obispo and has less garbage revenue."

Now, the IWMA is gearing up to snap into compliance with yet another state law: SB 54. Called the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act, the bill ensures that people cut down on and recycle single-use plastic products by 2032. It aims to make all single-use packaging and plastic foodware recyclable or compostable.

IWMA Executive Director Peter Cron told New Times that the board will discuss compliance standards at the end of year and also perform a rate study of solid waste management fees. SB 54 will take effect in 2025, according to Cron.

"By doing this, we're not trying to do more than our mission," Cron said. "We don't even know what compliance looks like right now." Δ