Cal EPA Secretary Questioned on 75% Diversion Issue

The Senate Rules committee today expressed unanimous support for the confirmation of Linda Adams as the Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency.

During her confirmation hearing, Adams was asked by Senator Alex Padilla (D-Los Angeles) regarding her views on increasing the state diversion requirement from the current 50% to 75%.

Adams expressed general support for existing and increased recycling efforts, but was not ready to commit to the 75% proposal.

Senator Padilla is authoring SB 1020, which would increase the waste diversion mandate on local agencies to 75% effective 2012. CAW is supportive of the concept of a 75% waste reduction and recycling target, but has communicated to Senator Padilla and others that further progress on recycling can best be achieved without increasing the mandate on local agencies.

CAW is supporting the confirmation of Linda Adams as Cal EPA Secretary. Adams, whose previous roles included serving as legislative director for Governor Gray Davis, was instrumental in the adoption of several key waste reduction and recycling bills including the Bottle Bill expansion and the SB 20 E-waste recycling law.