CA Legislature Approves McNerney’s Bill to Help Farmers and Winegrape Growers

The California Legislature has unanimously approved Sen. Jerry McNerney’s SB 279, which is designed to benefit farmers and winegrape growers by allowing them to compost large amounts of green waste onsite.

“California farmers and winegrape growers are facing a new challenge now that burning agricultural waste is no longer allowed and must ship their green waste to large composting facilities, often hundreds of miles away at great expense,” said Sen. McNerney, D-Pleasanton, who is a member of the Senate Agricultural Committee. “SB 279 will provide California farms and vineyards with a more affordable alternative that is also good for the environment — the ability to compost a modest amount of green waste onsite once every ten years.”

SB 279 would also benefit community composting programs, urban farms, and school farms by allowing them to compost larger amounts of green waste onsite. 

The Senate today unanimously approved SB 279, after it passed the Assembly unanimously as well. SB 279 now goes to the governor’s desk for approval.

SB 279 is sponsored by Californians Against Waste, California Association of Winegrape Growers, Western Tree Nut Association, California Alliance for Community Composting, The Climate Center, and People Food & Land Foundation.

“California winegrape growers have long been committed to sustainability. That is why we support this important legislation. SB 279 will make it easier for growers to compost grape vines that have been removed due to the historic challenges facing the wine industry. That compost added back to ag land has incredible benefits for carbon sequestration, healthy soils, and fighting climate change,” said Michael Miiller, director of Government Relations for the California Association of Winegrape Growers.

“SB 279 is a significant tool that could help agriculture begin to answer the major dilemma it faces with the closure of so many biomass plants. It opens the door for many of our growers to get introduced to composting, which is especially critical in those times when you have to replace an entire orchard. For our smaller growers this may be the only solution, and we would welcome its passage at a time we so desperately need answers,” said Roger Isom, president and CEO of Western Tree Nut Association.

“California can’t afford to let food scraps and yard waste keep fueling climate pollution,” said Erica Parker, policy associate at Californians Against Waste. “Our state has set ambitious targets for keeping organics out of landfills. SB 279 will expand composting capacity to protect our climate and advance sustainable, community-centered solutions.”

“By investing in composting, we’re investing in our farmers and our future,” said Baani Behniwal, Carbon Drawdown director for The Climate Center. “SB 279 will help California lead the way in building a more sustainable, resilient, and climate-smart food system. We thank Senator McNerney for his leadership and we look forward to Governor Newsom signing this common-sense solution into law.”

“We welcome legislation that proposes to increase the volume limit for community composting activities that are excluded from state facility permitting processes,” said Kourtnii Brown, CEO and co-founder of California Alliance for Community Composting. “This will enhance opportunities for cities, towns, rural counties, and now also public agencies to maximize their local composting capacity and create healthy compost closer to where the organic resources are generated and used, like at public parks and local farms.”

Currently, California has a shortage of composting facilities, making it even more challenging for farmers and winegrape growers to dispose of their green waste. According to a recent report from CalRecyle, the state needs 50 to 100 additional organic waste recycling facilities to meet current demand. 

SB 279 would enable:

• Farmers and winegrape growers to compost onsite when they have large amounts of agricultural waste, such as when they remove an old orchard or vineyard, and combine their compost with agriculture waste from offsite;
• Community composting, urban farms, and school farms to compost up to  200 cubic yards of green waste, and up to 500 cubic yards for publicly owned compost activities (they’re both currently capped at 100 cubic yards);
• Composting operations to sell or give away up to 5,000 cubic yards of compost a year (farms and vineyards are currently capped at 1,000 cubic yards).

Sen. Jerry McNerney is chair of the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee and his 5th Senate District includes all of San Joaquin County and Alameda County’s Tri-Valley.