The California Legislature has unanimously approved Sen. Jerry McNerney’s SB 279, which is designed to benefit farmers and winegrape growers by allowing them to compost large amounts of green waste onsite. “California farmers and winegrape growers are facing a new challenge now that burning agricultural waste is no longer allowed and must ship their green waste to large composting facilities, often hundreds of miles away at great expense,” said Sen. McNerney, D-Pleasanton, who is a member of the Senate Agricultural Committee. “SB 279 will provide California farms and vineyards with a more affordable alternative that is also good for the environment — the ability to compost a modest amount of green waste onsite once every ten years.” SB 279 now goes to the governor’s desk for approval. SB 279 is sponsored by Californians Against Waste, California Association of Winegrape Growers, California Cotton Ginners and Growers Association, California Alliance for Community Composting, The Climate Center, and People Food & Land Foundation. “SB 279 is a significant tool that could help agriculture begin to answer the major dilemma it faces with the closure of so many biomass plants. It opens the door for many of our growers to get introduced to composting, which is especially critical in those times when you have to replace an entire orchard. For our smaller growers this may be the only solution, and we would welcome its passage at a time we so desperately need answers,” said Roger Isom, President and CEO of California Cotton Ginners and Growers Association. Currently, California has a shortage of composting facilities, making it even more challenging for farmers and winegrape growers to dispose of their green waste. According to a recent report from CalRecycle, the state needs 50 to 100 additional organic waste recycling facilities to meet current demand. SB 279 would enable:

• Farmers and winegrape growers to compost onsite when they have large amounts of agricultural waste, such as when they remove an old orchard or vineyard, and combine their compost with agriculture waste from offsite;
• Community composting, urban farms, and school farms to compost up to 200 cubic yards of green waste, and up to 500 cubic yards for publicly owned compost activities (they’re both currently capped at 100 cubic yards);
• Composting operations to sell or give away up to 5,000 cubic yards of compost a year (farms and vineyards are currently capped at 1,000 cubic yards).