By now, some of your locations may have heard from the city or county regarding implementation of California Senate Bill 1383 Edible Food Recovery. The law went into effect in 2022 for Tier 1 businesses and goes into effect for Tier 2 businesses on January 1, 2024.
It is safe to assume, unless you are told differently by the jurisdiction responsible for waste recovery, that the theater qualifies under Tier 2 – Large Venues that are more than 5,000 square feet and seat more than 250 people.
There was hope that CalRecycle would exempt movie theaters from the Tier 2 category, but they have left it up to each jurisdiction to make that determination (BTW - there are 614 local jurisdictions in California). There was also hope that the Little Hoover Commission recommendation to put a pause on Tier 2 implementation, due to the complexity of establishing recovery programs in each jurisdiction, but that plan was denied due to protest by waste haulers and composting companies.
The good news is much of the burden of implementing the Edible Food Recovery program is the responsibility of the jurisdiction. Each should contact your theater to establish a plan and determine which food is recoverable or should be sent to compost. Also, each jurisdiction should allow for an exemption application that can potentially exempt theater from participation.
Jurisdictions will be required to adequately resource the following:
- Provide mandatory organic collection services to all businesses.
- Establish edible food recovery program for all Tier 2 commercial edible food generators. This means ensuring that there are edible food recovery organizations that have enough capacity.
- Jurisdictions are tasked with implementing successful edible food recovery programs in their communities. They must ensure that generators have access to food recovery organizations and services and that food recovery organizations and services are set up for success.
- Another resource a jurisdiction will be responsible for is compiling a list of food recovery organizations and services operating in the jurisdiction, which will be published on the jurisdiction’s website, and updated annually.
- They will be required to monitor compliance and conduct enforcement.
- Jurisdictions must conduct education and outreach to: All businesses and residents regarding collection service requirements, contamination standards, self-haul requirements, and overall compliance with 1383 – and commercial edible food generators regarding edible food donation requirements, and available edible food recovery organizations.
Please note the following:
- Starting January 2024, jurisdictions must take enforcement against entities that are not in compliance.
- Section 18995.4(a)(1) allows for notification to the generator and provides 60 days for the generator to comply before penalties are required to be issued by the jurisdiction.
- The jurisdiction has the flexibility to develop its own enforcement process within these parameters.
- Section 18997.2 of the regulations set the following penalty ranges:
Between $50-$100 base penalty for the first violation,
Between $100-$200 base penalty for the second violation of the same nature within a year of the first penalty, and
Between $250--$500 base penalty for the third or subsequent violation of the same nature occurring within a year of penalty for the most recent violation.
For a deep dive into SB 1383 please refer to https://calrecycle.ca.gov/organics/slcp/foodrecovery/donors/
Scroll down to ‘Additional Resources’ section, there are PDFs and Power Point educational materials. This probably will not be necessary because the burden for implementation in on the jurisdiction that oversees waste hauling.
It is advised that you contact your waste hauler and/or your local jurisdiction to understand how they plan to implement SB 1383.
California SB 1383 Food Recovery Definition for Tier 2 Large Venues
Some of our members have been made aware of specific language (i.e., a small loophole) regarding compliance with SB 1383, which goes into effect January 1, 2024.
Large events refer to an event, including, but not limited to, a sporting event, a flea market or festival, that charges an admission price, or is operated by a local agency, and serves an average of more than 2,000 individuals per day of operation of the event, at a location that includes, but is not limited to, a public, nonprofit, or privately owned park, parking lot, golf course, street system, or other open space when being used for an event.
This means your theater is considered a Tier-2 facility in 2024 if it averaged a daily attendance of 2,000 in 2022. Some of your locations may not have achieved this daily attendance in 2022, however, documentation will be required. Also, if the average daily attendance in 2023 was 2,000 individuals per day, the theater will need to comply with Tier-2 regulation in 2025.
Explanation of Definition
This definition has the same meaning as Section 42648 (c) of the Public Resources Code.
Large venues include, but are not limited to:
- A public, nonprofit, or privately owned or operated stadium
- Amphitheater
- Arena
- Hall
- Amusement park
- Conference or civic center
- Zoo
- Aquarium
- Airport
- Racetrack
- Horse track
- Performing arts center
- Fairground
- Museum
- Theater
- Other public attraction facility
