To: Board of Supervisors
From: John Kopchik, Director, Conservation and Development
Report Title: Household Hazardous Waste Grant Program
☒Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
AUTHORIZE the Conservation and Development Director, or designee, to sign a letter authorizing the Delta Diablo Sanitation District (DDSD) to submit a regional household hazardous waste grant application up to $100,000 to the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalReycle) and act as the lead agency to implement the grant on behalf of the County as one of the participating jurisdictions, in addition to the Cities of Antioch, Brentwood, Oakley, and Pittsburg, to help pay for proper disposal of marine flares.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no impact to the County’s General Fund. If funding is awarded to DDSD for this regional grant, it would fully fund the necessary expenses to hold marine flare collection events and conduct the associated outreach and education.
BACKGROUND:
There is a grant opportunity being offered by CalRecycle that is able to fund the collection and disposal of expired marine flares. This grant is designed for smaller projects that complement existing and/or regional household hazardous waste (HHW) programs in California. DDSD operates the East County HHW facility, partnering with the Cities of Antioch, Brentwood, Oakley, and Pittsburg, as well as the County. This partnership helped establish and build the HHW facility that serves East County residents.
CalRecycle offers the HHW grant program pursuant to Section 47200(a) of the Public Resources Code. The purpose of the HHW grant program is to assist local governments in safely implementing HHW programs, which may include public education, source reduction, reuse, recycling, load checking, and collection components. Approximately $1.0 million in funding is available for Fiscal Year 2023/24 Small Project Grants. Regional groups (two or more cities/counties) may request up to $100,000 for small projects that complement existing and/or regional HHW programs. DDSD is submitting a regional grant application as the lead agency that will act on behalf of itself and participating agencies with jurisdiction in East County. In order to complete the application process for regional grants, the lead agency is required to submit authorization letters signed by each participating agency. If DDSD is awarded this regional grant, the term will be approximately December 2023 through February 2027. The letter would authorize DDSD to submit the regional grant application and act as the lead agency on behalf of the County, as a participating agency, as well as authorize DDSD to execute all documents necessary to implement the grant.
DDSD's HHW service area covers all of East County and borders the Delta and its associated waterways, home to significant recreational boaters. In the unincorporated East County area, from Bay Point to Byron, there are approximately 40 private marinas (does not include marinas within city limits). All the marinas have on-water boat berths/slips, and many have dry land storage as well. Many recreational boaters are required to possess marine flares in the event a vessel may need to signal for emergency response. Because the most common flares have a mandated 42-month expiration date from the date of manufacture, these flares need to be replaced after approximately three boating seasons. East County has the highest concentration of marinas and therefore has the highest need for boaters to properly dispose of expired marine flares. If DDSD receives this regional grant, it will determine and implement the safest and most cost-effective methods for collecting marine flares. In collaboration with the District's HHW agency partners (Antioch, Brentwood, Oakley, Pittsburg, and the County), DDSD intends to hold several marine flare collection events for local recreational boaters and conduct associated education and outreach.
Expired marine flares pose significant disposal challenges for local boat owners. Through this recent CalRecycle HHW Grant Program, proper marine flare disposal has expanded across the state’s recreational boating communities. Prior to DDSD receiving a grant through the last HHW Grant cycle (FY2020-21), there were only a few collection sites in California that accepted and disposed expired marine flares, none of which were located in Contra Costa County. In the prior grant cycle, the West County HHW facility applied for and was awarded grant funding to help dispose marine flares for the communities it serves.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
If the Board does not authorize the Director of Conservation and development, or designee, to sign the letter authorizing DDSD to submit this regional grant application on the County’s behalf, then unincorporated area boaters/marinas would not be eligible to participate in special events to properly dispose of their expired marine flares.