SR-03-19-2013-3ICity Council Meeting: March 19, 2013
Agenda Item: 1
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Dean Kubani, Director Office of Sustainability and the Environment
Subject: CalRecycle grants Resolution
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Adopt the attached resolution authorizing the application for grant funds in the
amount of $50,000 from the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery
(CalRecycle) Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Grant Program for local
assistance with implementing HHW outreach and education.
2. Authorize the City Manager to execute all necessary documents to apply for the
grant, accept the grant, if awarded, and accept all grant renewals, if awarded.
3. Authorize budget changes as outlined in the Financial Impacts and Budget
Actions section of this report, in the event that the grant is awarded.
Executive Summary
The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) offers
the Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Grant Program to assist local governments in
implementing safe HHW programs, which may include public education, source
reduction, reuse, recycling, and load checking and collection components. Grant
funding in the amount of $50,000 would enhance existing community education and
outreach associated with the household hazardous waste collection program.
Background
The City currently operates a permanent HHW facility located at the City yards and a
door -to -door Home Collection program available through -out the community. The
permanent HHW facility is open to all residents the first Saturday of every month from 9
a.m. to 2 p.m. while the Home Collection program is available on an unlimited
appointment basis Monday through Friday. Both of these programs are available on a
fee - for - service basis to City divisions who generate in -house waste and for businesses
1
who generate small quantities of waste. On November 23, 2010 Council authorized the
City Manager to negotiate and execute a contract with Curbside Inc. for door -to -door
hazardous waste transportation, management, and recycling /disposal services through
June 30, 2015. Since August 2011 Curbside Inc. has scheduled approximately 1800
HHW home collection appointments through -out the City.
Discussion
CalRecycle recently issued a Notice of Funds Available (NOFA) for the HHW Grant
Program which provides competitive grants made available by CalRecycle to help local
governments establish or expand HHW collection programs. California cities, counties,
and local agencies with direct responsibility for HHW management are eligible to apply.
A focus area of the grant is HHW public outreach and education. Grants of this nature
have not been available by CalRecycle for several years. The attached resolution
allows the City to apply for all CalRecycle HHW grants for a period of five years while
designating signature authority for the administration of the grant to the City Manager. If
awarded, the CalRecycle grant would allow staff to enhance the current HHW outreach
and education campaign.
The application would focus on outreach efforts such as direct delivery newspaper
mailers and Seascape inserts to provide information on safe handling practices for
hazardous materials, toxics use reduction, and materials reuse. The City has distributed
similar mailers in the past which have proved highly effective in engaging the
community. In both instances, after distributing the direct mailers and Seascape inserts,
the number of participants in the HHW Home Collection Program doubled compared to
previous months. Grant funds would be used to increase the number of mailers to four
per year.
A second component of the grant application would focus on providing an interactive
community workshop using local artists and resources. Staff is currently collaborating
2
with a local artist to develop an annual reuse workshop at the Ocean Park community
arts festival. The artist currently utilizes latex paint collected at the household
hazardous waste center to create works of art. Participants in the workshop would have
the opportunity to create their own works of art from the same recycled latex paint
generated by local residents. These workshops would provide another opportunity to
raise awareness about closing the loop by taking used paint and recycling it into a new
product while minimizing the potential for that paint to pollute the environment. The City
would also benefit by eliminating the transportation and disposal costs associated with
recycling the latex paint.
The due date for the current grant application is March 21, 2013. CalRecycle will
announce grant awards in April.
3
Financial Impacts & Budget Actions
The total amount of grant funds requested from the Department of Resources Recycling
and Recovery (CalRecycle) Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Grant Program for
local assistance with implementing HHW outreach and education is $50,000. There is
no local match required.
If awarded, revenue and expenditure budgets will be established in division 01226 for
FY 2013 -2014 for the awarded grant amount.
Prepared by: James Velez- Conway, Senior Environmental Analyst
Approved:
Dean Kubani
Director, Office of Sustainability and the
Environment
Attachments:
• Resolution
3
Forwarded to Council:
Rod Gould
City Manager
Reference Resolution No.
10739 (CCS)