PRACTICE AREAS

Code Enforcement
Conflicts & Ethics
Contracts & Public Works
Elections
Environment & Toxics
Franchises & Utilities
Labor & Employment
Land Use & Zoning
Law Enforcement
Litigation
Mining
Municipal Organization
Native Americans
Property Acquisition & Takings
Public Finance
Redevelopment & Housing
Rent Control
Risk Management & Torts
Solid Waste
Water

Solid Waste

We have provided our clients specialized legal services in solid waste as Southern California has been increasingly urbanized. Formerly outlying areas which once served as landfill locations have become surrounded by development, and some have even been developed themselves. Recent opposition to landfills has forced the region to look further afield for appropriate disposal sites (and consider rail hauling) and to consider strategies of resource recycling and recovery, and innovative waste-to-energy, co-generation, and bioremediation technologies. In keeping with these trends, our expertise has expanded to include this full array of subjects, encompassing the expertise from our other practice areas. Thus, our expertise in property acquisition, land use, environmental review, hazardous waste, and public finance has assisted our clients in meeting their waste disposal needs.

Expertise

  • Ordinances regulating solid waste collection and disposal
  • Refuse franchise negotiations and agreements
  • Public bidding and franchise selection procedures
  • Franchise fees and Proposition 218 issues
  • AB 939 compliance issues
  • Municipal landfills
  • Hazardous waste treatment disposal and remediation
  • Operation agreements
  • Development of municipal resource recovery and transfer stations (MRF/TS)
  • Recycling issues
  • Waste-to-energy systems
  • Co-generation
  • CEQA and NEPA matters

Expertise in Action

We have negotiated, and assisted municipalities in implementing, appropriate agreements with solid waste hauling operators to achieve the requirements of AB 939, the California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989 (Public Resources Code ยง 40000 et seq.). AB 939 mandates municipalities reduce the amount of waste disposed at landfills, measured from waste levels disposed in 1990, by 25 percent by January 1, 1995, and 50 percent by January 1, 2000. To achieve this result, we have represented municipalities in negotiating appropriate franchise waste hauler agreements to include measures aimed at reducing the amount of waste introduced into landfills and requiring appropriate accounting of such reductions by the waste hauler, with protections to the municipalities for any shortfalls in meeting these standards.

We have secured commitments by solid waste haulers to implement state of the art methods to recycle and reuse solid waste through efficient and cost effective ways, which preserve low disposal rates to the municipal customers, protect the environment, meet the requirements of AB 939, and provide franchise fees to our clients. These measures have included the negotiation and implementation of resource recovery and waste transfer station facilities, neighborhood recycling activities, and educational programs to increase awareness of recycling opportunities and green waste disposal programs and processes. We have also participated in programs to evaluate and develop waste-to-energy facilities.