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David J. Irey, Esq. July 18, 2006 Page 2 LEA's concern that Forward Landfill was going to be using greenwaste containing food materials as Alternative Daily Cover. This was in fact the case, as Forward had proposed that greenwaste containing small amounts of food materials would be sent to the Landfill as part of the City of Stockton's new curbside greenwaste collection program. This greenwaste was to be used as ADC at the Landfill. In a nutshell, the LEA took the position that the CIWMB's composting regulations prohibited the use of greenwaste containing food waste as ADC,because the greenwaste contained more than 1% food waste. The basis for the LEA's position, as we understood it,was that the CIWMB's composting regulations define"green material" as plant material that contains no greater than 1%physical contaminants by weight and does not contain"food material."(See 14 CCR section 17852(a) (21)—Tab 1.) However, it is important to note that the introductory language to the definitions found in 14 CCR section 17852 states that those definitions are for "the purposes of this Chapter"—meaning Chapter 3.1 of Division 7 of Title 14,which chapter relates to"Compostable Materials Handling Operations and Facilities," and does not refer to greenwaste being used as ADC. Forward believed the LEA was relying on the incorrect regulation concerning this greenwaste/food waste issue, and so advised the LEA. Forward contended that contamination allowed in greenwaste when used as ADC was regulated by the CIWMB's ADC regulations (27 CCR 20690 and 20695 —Tab 2) and the Landfill's SWFP (Tab 3). 27 CCR 20690 does not place a percentage limit on the weight of physical contaminants in green material used as ADC. Nor does 27 CCR 20690 (b) (3) (A), which defines"green material"usable as ADC, list food waste as an excluded material from greenwaste ADC, even though it does exclude other materials such as treated wood waste and demolition debris. Furthermore, the SWFP for the Forward Landfill allows up to 5%contamination(including mixed solid waste such as food waste)by weight in ADC materials. (SWFP, Conditions 17,p and s.) Therefore, Forward believed the greenwaste from the City of Stockton could be used as ADC under Forward's permit so long as it contained less than 5% food waste and met the ADC performance standards specified in 27 CCR 20695. To Forward's knowledge,the LEA never contended that the greenwaste containing food waste from the City of Stockton did not meet the CIWMB's ADC performance standards. Nevertheless, in an effort to address the LEA's concerns,when the Stockton greenwaste program started in May/June of 2004, Forward began sorting through incoming greenwaste materials to eliminate as much as practicable food waste and other contaminants. Forward submitted a draft protocol to the LEA describing Forward's sorting procedures. The LEA felt that Forward's first draft of these procedures lacked sufficient detail and requested that Forward submit a more detailed set of procedures—a request with which Forward complied. The LEA continued to inspect Forward's greenwaste sorting program on a monthly basis, and concluded after several months that Forward's efforts at removing food waste from the incoming Stockton greenwaste were not producing results the LEA felt were adequate. In April 2005,Forward submitted a new sorting protocol to the LEA in an effort to specify a process that might be