AN ACT to enact the food recovery and recycling act.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

 

FOOD SCRAP RECYCLING PROGRAM

SECTION 1.(a)  Article 9 of Chapter 130A of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new Part to read:

Part 9. Food Donation and Food Scrap Recycling.

§ 130A‑310.80.  Definitions.

Unless a different meaning is required by the context, the definitions of G.S. 130A‑290 and the following definitions apply throughout this Part:

(1)        Designated food scraps generator. – A person who generates at a single location an annual average of 2 tons per week or more of food scraps based on a methodology established by the Department by rule, including supermarkets, large food service businesses, higher educational institutions, hotels, food processors, correctional facilities, and sports or entertainment venues. For a location with multiple independent food service businesses, such as a mall or college campus, the entity responsible for contracting for solid waste hauling services is responsible for managing food scraps from the independent businesses.

(2)        Food scraps. – Inedible food, trimmings from the preparation of food, and edible food that is not donated. Food scraps shall not include used cooking oil, grease, or any food subject to a recall or seizure by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services or any other State agency due to the presence of pathogens, including, but not limited to: Listeria Monocytogenes, confirmed Clostridium Botulinum, E. coli 0157:H7, and all salmonella in ready‑to‑eat foods.

(3)        Organics recycler. – A facility, permitted by the Department, that recycles food scraps through use as animal feed or a feed ingredient, rendering, land application, composting, aerobic digestion, anaerobic digestion, fermentation, or ethanol production under the law applicable to each type of organics recycler. The proportion of the product created from food scraps by a composting or digestion facility, including a wastewater treatment plant that operates a digestion facility, or other combined‑stream treatment system, must be used in a beneficial manner as a soil amendment and shall not be disposed of or incinerated.

(4)        Single location. – Contiguous property under common ownership, which may include one or more buildings.

(5)        Transfer facility. – A solid waste management facility permitted under this Article, whether owned or operated by a private or public entity, other than a recyclables handling and recovery facility, used oil facility, or a construction and demolition debris processing or disposal facility, where solid waste is received for the purpose of subsequent transfer to another solid waste management facility for processing, treating, disposal, recovery, or further transfer.

§ 130A‑310.82.  Purpose.

The purposes of this Part are (i) to reduce the amount of food that is wasted and sent to decompose in landfills by requiring designated food scraps generators to donate their excess edible food for human consumption and to deliver additional food scraps to an organics recycler for processing and (ii) to encourage education of the citizens of the State on the benefits that can be derived from food waste diversion and compost procurement and use.

§ 130A‑310.84.  Findings.

The General Assembly finds the following:

(1)        The State has a growing food recovery infrastructure consisting of commercial composting facilities with enough total permitted capacity to process the majority of the excess food to meet the goal set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Food & Drug Administration, and U.S. Department of Agriculture to reduce food waste through organic waste diversion by fifty percent (50%) by 2030.

(2)        Local compost manufacturing plays a crucial role in our State's solid waste infrastructure and economy and assists in meeting the State's solid waste management policy and goals, as stated in G.S. 130A‑309.04, of promoting solid waste management strategies that are alternatives to landfill disposal.

(3)        Composting benefits North Carolina agencies, counties, cities, businesses, and residents by diverting food and yard waste from landfills, reducing solid waste costs, and lowering carbon emissions, and creates a value‑added product from those waste materials that can be used to improve soil health.

(4)        A growing number of local governments are recognizing the benefits of composting programs and exploring ways to provide organics recycling, but a statewide program is necessary in order to assure the benefits of organics composting and diversion of food waste to all of the State's citizens.

§ 130A‑310.86.  Designated food scraps generator responsibilities.

(a)        Donation. – All designated food scraps generators shall separate their excess edible food for donation for human consumption to the maximum extent practicable and in accordance with applicable laws and rules related to food donation.

(b)        Diversion. – Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, each designated food scraps generator that is within 50 miles of an organics recycler, to the extent that the recycler has capacity to accept all of such generator's food scraps based on the department's yearly estimate of an organics recycler's capacity pursuant to G.S. 130A‑310.94(a), shall do all of the following:

(1)        Separate all food scraps remaining after meeting the requirements of subsection (a) of this section from other solid waste.

(2)        Ensure proper storage for food scraps on‑site which shall preclude such materials from becoming odorous or attracting vectors, such as a container that has a lid and a latch that keeps the lid closed and is resistant to tampering by rodents or other wildlife and has sufficient capacity.

(3)        Have information available and provide training for employees concerning the proper methods to separate and store food scraps.

(4)        Obtain a transporter that will deliver food scraps to an organics recycler, self‑haul its food scraps to an organics recycler, or provide for organics recycling on‑site via in vessel composting, aerobic or anaerobic digestion, or any other method of processing organic waste as the Department may specify by rule, for some or all of the food waste it generates on its premises, provided that the remainder is delivered to an organics recycler.

(c)        Exception. – The provisions of subsection (b) of this section shall not apply to any designated food scraps generator that has all of its food scraps processed in a composting facility permitted by the Department to accept the kinds of food scraps generated by the designated food scraps generator.

(d)       Report. – All designated food scraps generators shall submit an annual report in an electronic format to the Department on or before October 1, 2023, and annually thereafter. The annual report shall summarize for the previous fiscal year the amount of edible food donated, the amount of food scraps recycled, the organics recycler or recyclers and associated transporters used, and any other information as required by the department.

(e)        Waiver. – A designated food scraps generator may petition the Department for a temporary waiver from some or all of the requirements of this Part. The petition shall include evidence of undue hardship based on any of the following:

(1)        The designated food scraps generator does not meet the 2 tons per week threshold.

(2)        The cost of processing organic waste is not reasonably competitive with the cost of disposing of waste by landfill.

(3)        The organics recycler does not have sufficient capacity, despite the Department's calculation.

(4)        Other unique circumstances of the designated food scraps generator.

A waiver shall be no longer than one year in duration; provided, however, the Department may renew such waiver.

§ 130A‑310.88.  Waste transporter responsibilities.

(a)        Any waste transporter that collects food scraps for recycling from a designated food scraps generator shall dispose of the food scraps by either of the following:

(1)        Delivery to a transfer facility that will deliver such food scraps to an organics recycler unless the generator has received a temporary waiver under G.S. 130A‑310.86(e).

(2)        Delivery directly to an organics recycler.

(b)        Any waste transporter that collects food scraps from a designated food scraps generator shall take all reasonable precautions to not deliver those food scraps to an incinerator or a landfill nor commingle the material with any other solid waste unless such commingled waste can be processed by an organics recycler or unless such generator has received a temporary waiver under G.S. 130A‑310.86(e).

§ 130A‑310.90.  Transfer facility.

Any transfer facility that receives food scraps from a designated food scraps generator must ensure that the food scraps are taken to an organics recycler unless such generator has received a temporary waiver under G.S. 130A‑310.86(e). A transfer facility shall take all reasonable precautions to not commingle the material with any other solid waste unless such commingled waste can be processed by an organics recycler.

§ 130A‑310.92.  Food scraps disposal prohibition.

Incinerators and landfills permitted under this Article shall take all reasonable precautions to not accept food scraps from designated food scraps generators required to send their food scraps to an organics recycler as outlined under G.S. 130A‑310.86 unless the designated food scraps generator has received a temporary waiver under G.S. 130A‑310.86(e).

§ 130A‑310.94.  Responsibilities of Department.

(a)        No later than January 1, 2023, and annually thereafter, the Department shall assess the capacity of each organic recycler and notify designated food scraps generators if they are required to comply with the provisions of G.S. 130A‑310.86(b) during the next fiscal year.

(b)        The Department shall maintain on its website a list of all designated food scraps generators, organics recyclers, and all waste transporters that manage source‑separated organics.

(c)        The Department shall develop and make available educational materials and a technical assistance program for designated food scraps generators and organics recyclers to comply with this Part. The Department shall also develop education materials on the benefits that can be derived from food waste diversion and compost procurement and use such as, but not limited to, increased water retention in soils, improved water quality, soil health, and forage quantity and quality.

(d)       The Department shall regulate organics recyclers to ensure that their activities do not impair water quality or otherwise harm human health and the environment.

§ 130A‑310.96.  Rules.

The Department shall adopt rules or amend existing rules necessary to implement the provisions of this Part, including, at a minimum, the following:

(1)        The methodology the department will use to determine who is a designated food scraps generator.

(2)        The waiver process.

(3)        Procedures to minimize odors and vectors.

(4)        How designated food scraps generators shall comply with the provisions of G.S. 130A‑310.86(a) and G.S. 130A‑310.86(b)(1).

§ 130A‑310.98.  Exclusions.

(a)        This Part shall not apply to any of the following:

(1)        Hospitals, nursing homes, or adult care facilities.

(2)        Local school administrative units, charter schools, regional schools, and other elementary or secondary schools operated by the State Board of Education.

(b)        Nothing in this section is intended to prevent the entities listed in subsection (a) of this section from participating in the programs established by this Part on a voluntary basis.

§ 130A‑310.100.  Report.

No later than October 1, 2024, and annually thereafter, the Department shall submit an annual report to the Environmental Review Commission describing the operation of the food donation and food scraps recycling program including the amount of edible food donated, the amount of food scraps recycled, sample educational materials, and number of waivers provided.

SECTION 1.(b)  G.S. 130A‑309.10(f) is amended by adding a new subdivision to read:

(16)    Food scraps, except as provided in Part 9 of this Article.

SECTION 1.(c)  G.S. 130A‑309.10(f1) is amended by adding a new subdivision to read:

(9)      Food scraps, except as provided in Part 9 of this Article.

SECTION 1.(d)  Subsection (a) of this section becomes effective January 1, 2023. Subsections (b) and (c) of this section become effective July 1, 2023.

 

APPROPRIATIONS

SECTION 2.(a)  Two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) in recurring funds and fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) in nonrecurring funds for the 2021‑2022 fiscal year is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Environmental Quality and allocated to the Division of Waste Management and the Division of Environmental Assistance and Customer Service to implement the provisions of Section 1 of this act. The Department may establish up to four FTE positions with the funds appropriated by this section.

SECTION 2.(b)  This section becomes effective July 1, 2021.

SECTION 3.  The provisions of this act shall be severable, and if any portion thereof or the applicability thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of this act and the application shall not be affected by that holding.

SECTION 4.  Except as otherwise provided, this act is effective when it becomes law.