Item 16 - Agreement for the Waste Infrastructure System Enterprise

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WASTE INFRASTRUCTURE SYSTEM ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT THIS WASTE INFRASTRUCTURE SYSTEM ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT (“WISE Agreement” or “Agreement” are used interchangeably) is made and dated as of the date indicated on the cover page hereof between the County of Orange, a political subdivision of the State of California (the “County”), and the City of Santa Ana, a charter city and municipal corporation existing under the Constitution and laws of the State of California (the “City”). County and City may hereinafter be referred to singularly as “Party” or collectively as “Parties.”. RECITALS The County owns, manages and operates a Waste Infrastructure System to manage municipal and solid waste generated within the County of Orange or imported from outside the County pursuant to contractual agreements. The Waste Infrastructure System collectively includes active Class III sanitary landfills (“County Landfills”), resource recovery, recycling and organics programs, infrastructure and operations, closed landfills, and regional household hazardous waste collection centers and other waste management related systems as may be deemed necessary by the County. The County is also responsible for the long-term management of twenty (20) closed landfills as required under Applicable Law. County Landfills are used for the management of municipal solid waste pursuant to legislation including but not limited to the California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989 (Division 30 of the California Public Resources Code) (the “Act”) and the Short-lived Climate Pollutants Reduction Act (“SB 1383”). County Landfills are also subject to other State and federal regulations designed to ensure that landfill operations minimize the impacts to public health and safety and the environment. Pursuant to Resolution, the County established the Waste Management Enterprise Fund pursuant to Government Code §25261 to ensure that all costs associated with the operation and management of the Waste Infrastructure System are financed by charges imposed for services provided by the Department and are not funded by tax revenue or the County General Fund. The City, in the exercise of its police power, its powers under the Act, and other Applicable Law, has entered into a franchise or other agreement with or issued permits or licenses to one or more private haulers for the collection, recycling, diversion and disposal of municipal solid waste generated within the City. A significant portion of municipal solid waste generated within the City historically has been and currently is delivered by such hauler or haulers to the County for disposal in the Disposal System. Since 1997, the City and the County have provided for the management of municipal solid waste through Waste Disposal Agreements (“WDAs”), wherein the County agreed to provide disposal capacity for waste generated in the City, and the City agreed to deliver or cause the delivery of waste generated in the City to the Disposal System, as more specifically set forth in, and subject to the terms and conditions of the WDAs. Starting in approximately 2014, the Legislature of the State of California passed several pieces of legislation (“Organics Legislation”) that require significant reductions in the disposal of Organic Waste. The purpose of the Organics Legislation is to mandate organics recycling and curtail the impacts of climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions such as methane. In this regard, the decomposition of organic material in the State’s landfills was identified as a significant source of methane that could be reduced. On April 23, 2019, the Orange County Board of Supervisors passed Resolution 19-031 to respond to the State’s increasing landfill diversion requirements and identified the need for additional organic processing infrastructure in the County and directed the Department to develop additional organics recycling infrastructure to support the region in meeting State organic recycling mandates. The County has developed an Organics Infrastructure that is comprised of organic processing facilities to receive and process Organic Waste to support the State’s Organic Legislation goals, promote local recycling, assist local jurisdictions in meeting their organic diversion requirements and correspondingly conserve capacity in the