1. Who owns the John Smith Landfill?  Who operates the landfill?

   The landfill was first established in 1968. The County of San Benito owns the landfill.  The landfill is operated by Waste Solutions Group of San Benito County LLC, a subsidiary of Waste Connections Inc., the third largest solid waste company in the United States. Waste Connections has operated the landfill since 2005 under several agreements with San Benito County. 

   A Landfill Operating Agreement was unanimously approved by the Board of Supervisors with Resolution 2010-171 in December 2010. A First Amendment to the Operating Agreement was effective in April of 2013, a Second Amendment in October of 2019, and a Third Amendment in June 2021. Copies of the Agreements are available on the County website. The Board of Supervisors formed an ad hoc committee on February 8, 2022 to review the Operating Agreement and potentially engage in negotiation of a Fourth Amendment.

   Under the Agreement, WSG has assumed responsibility of the eventual closure and 30 years of post-closure maintenance of the landfill with certain exceptions as stated in the Agreement,

   WSG has a public information website at www.johnsmithroadlandfill.com that launched in 2015.                            

2. Who is the John Smith Road Landfill Expansion Project Applicant?

   WSG submitted the General Plan amendment and Conditional Use Permit application to the County.

3. What is the process for approval of the Landfill Expansion? 

   San Benito County must approve a General Plan amendment to change the land use designation of the expansion area from Agriculture (A) and Rangeland (R) to Public-Quasi-Public, plus grant a conditional use permit.  Public hearings will be conducted by the County Planning Commission and the County Board of Supervisors. Before granting any approvals the County will certify and Environmental Impact Report (EIR) in accordance with of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). 

4. What is the CEQA process for the Landfill Expansion

   The County circulated a Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for the project for public review and comment from July 15, 2022 to September 6, 2022. The DEIR is available on the County website at JSRL Landfill Expansion | San Benito County, CA (sanbenitocountyca.gov).  

   The DEIR describes the project in detail, evaluates all potentially significant environmental effects of the project, discusses potential feasible mitigation measures to reduce or avoid environmental effects, and considers alternatives to the project that could achieve most or all of the project objectives.  The County is preparing written responses to comments as part of a Final EIR, which must be certified by the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors before each could take action on the project.   

5. What is the size of the proposed landfill expansion? 

   The present landfill property is 95 acres and includes a waste footprint of 58 acres. The project proposal would add 388-acres of property purchased by WSG (195 acres would make up the waste footprint) to increase the total landfill size to 483 acres (approximately 5 times its current size). The contiguous 388 acre parcel was purchased by WSG and may be deeded to the County. The proposed acres that will not occupy the waste footprint will be used to provide additional services, improve site function, and provide buffer. 

   The proposed acres that will not occupy the waste footprint will be used to provide additional services, improve site function, and provide buffer. 

   The project proposes to increase the maximum daily tonnage limit from the current 1,000 tons per day of material disposed to 2,300 tons per day.  The DEIR also considers reduced tonnage alternatives, including maximums of 1,700, 1,000, and 300 tons per day.

6. What other changes does the project propose to the current landfill site?

   The proposed project includes a General Plan amendment to change the land use designations on the expansion area from Rangeland (RG) and Agriculture (A) to Public/Quasi-Public (PQP) to be consistent with the existing land use designations and to accommodate the proposed waste disposal activities. A Conditional Use Permit (CUP) application was also submitted to align the expanded landfill with current County Zoning requirements.

   The project proposal would expand the landfill entrance area to accommodate additional daily vehicle arrivals in an effort to better manage traffic and reduce wait times for customers, establish an area for the future installation of a landfill gas-to-energy facility, and remove the closed Class I Hazardous Waste section owned by the City of Hollister and converting it to a non-hazardous disposal area for Class III waste. In addition, as required by State and Federal standards, the existing groundwater, surface-water, landfill-gas monitoring, and leachate collection and recovery systems would be expanded as necessary into the expanded landfill area. Overall, the anticipated site life of the project is expected to be approximately 65 years with the proposed 2,300 tpd project, with the last 15-years reserved for only in-county waste. However, under the various tonnage alternatives, the site life could range between 50 and greater than 100 years.

7. What is the purpose of the landfill expansion?

   The existing 95-acre landfill has less than 15 years of local, in-county disposal capacity remaining currently and is estimated to have capacity for in-county waste until approximately 2036 to 2037. When the 15-year threshold for the existing 95-acre landfill was reached in April 2022, the importation of out of county waste ceased and this additional revenue to the County also ceased. 

   This expansion will provide long-term (beyond the approximate local 15-year threshold) capacity for local and regional refuse and should preserve the additional revenue stream.

8. What fee does the County currently receive for tons delivered to the landfill? The County currently receives $4.18 per ton delivered to the landfill; this is currently known as the landfill depletion fee. This fee will increase over next year and then decrease by $0.90 in December 2023 (assuming no approval, withdrawal, or denial of expansion).
9. What will the County receive from the increased out of county tons from the proposed expansion? 

   The County would receive additional revenue for increased tons disposed at the Landfill as detailed in the Second Amendment of the Operating Agreement. Upon Final Expansion Approval, the County will receive a Landfill Depletion Fee and this fee shall be calculated as follows: 

   • If the Average Daily Tonnage is 1,000 tons or less, the fee shall be 16% of the Gross Revenue for that Quarter, initially $4.84/ton.
   • If the Average Daily Tonnage is greater than 1,000 tons but less or equal to 1,250 tons, the fee shall be 18% of the Gross Revenue for that Quarter, initially $5.14/ton.
   • If the Average Daily Tonnage is greater than 1,250 tons but less or equal to 1,500 tons, the fee shall be 22% of the Gross Revenue for that Quarter, initially $6.14/ton.
   • If the Average Daily Tonnage is greater than 1,500 tons, the fee shall be 27% of the Gross Revenue for that Quarter, initially $7.44/ton.

    

10. What other revenue does the County receive? 

    The County previously received $1.00 per ton for road repairs, or approximately $ 845,509 between October 2019 to April 2022. The County no longer receives this amount.  However, the DEIR found that the project will impact County roads and requires WSG, as mitigation, to contribute its fair share toward maintenance and reconstruction of the County roads along the haul route to account for the damage to County roads from haul trucks. 

    Per the Second Amendment, the County also receives $200,000 per year during the expansion process or a total of $2,000,000 upon final landfill expansion approval, whichever occurs first. In addition, the Agreement provides for WSG to pay the County $2,000,000 upon expansion approval to fund the John Smith Road realignment project (realign and repave the intersection at John Smith Road and Fairview) or other improvements to haul routes at the County’s discretion.  The Agreement provides that these payments would be considered a dollar-for-dollar credit against CEQA mitigation that is payable to the County.  

    Finally, the Agreement provides that, after completion of all post-closure actions, WSG shall offer to transfer ownership of the additional 388 acres acquired by WSG for approximately $7,000,000 to the County.  The County may accept or refuse to accept the offer to convey the property to the County.

11. Who will financially benefit from this expansion?

    The County is currently preparing a financial impact analysis of the expansion project, which will be presented to the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors prior to a decision by each body on the project.  

    In addition to the Landfill Depletion Fee above, WSG will have responsibility for closure costs for the expansion project.  WSG will also be required to reserve 15-years of  capacity for in-County waste, provide free disposal for waste from County operations, expend $25,000 annually for community activities and functions, and pay 12% royalty to the County from the Renewable Natural Gas facility, once constructed.

    Under the Agreement, if the expansion is approved, the County is required to contribute up to 70 acres of County-owned land for wildlife mitigation, continue to make a $40,000 annual contribution to WSG for litter removal, cover the costs of County staff, including Integrated Waste Management staff time related to the landfill, and continue to compensate WSG for cost-of-living adjustments (ranges from 2% to 6% each year).

    Overall, the County General Fund and WSG will both financially benefit. The County General Fund pays for County services to County residents that would otherwise have to be paid by taxpayers, or not be provided at all. Revenue to WSG is unknown.

12. How much garbage goes to the landfill now?

    Prior to April 2022, approximately 1,000 tons per day was disposed at the landfill. About 20% of this waste is from San Benito County users and 80% comes from out of county, primarily from Santa Clara County. Currently, only in-county waste is received. 

13. Why is tonnage coming from out of county to the John Smith Landfill?

    The Landfill Agreement permits WSG, the Landfill Operator, to accept out of county waste for disposal in the landfill, so long as the landfill has the capacity for at least 15 years of in-county generated waste. The out of county waste provides additional revenue to the County.

14. How do rates for San Benito County in county tons compare to the out of county tons rate? 

    Between January 2022 and end of March 2022, the average out of county rate charged was $27.71 per ton for refuse and the in-county ton average was $58.67 per ton (data from Q1 2022).   

15. Who controls the rates for in county waste?

    The rate is determined by a calculation in the landfill operating agreement. Under the Agreement, the rates must remain at or below 100% of average Tipping Fees at Marina Landfill (gate rate $70.00/ton in 2022); and Salinas Valley Landfill (gate rate $64.75/ton in 2022). The County may set lower rates for only in-county packer (Recology) curbside collection, but the County must pay the difference to WSG.  

16. Who controls the rates for out of county waste?

    WSG controls the rates for out of county waste disposed in the landfill. 

17. What is the current cost impact from out of county tons on San Benito County roads? 

    In prior years, the Board of Supervisors approved a study to quantify the County’s costs of road repair/impacts resulting from out of county waste on the County’s roads known as the ‘haul route’. The haul route is the route used by out of county trucks hauling waste to the landfill. The study was completed by an expert team of pavement engineering, traffic engineering and economic analysis consultants (team: Pavement Engineering Inc., TJKM (for traffic analysis) and EPS (economic analysis)). Study results were to be used for landfill amendment negotiations. Study results showed the haul route was in ‘poor or failing’ condition and the out-of-county waste transport on roads necessitates significant costs for road repair in the amount of $14.1 million and required additional costs for annual road maintenance. The County and WSG reached an agreement providing an additional $2,300,000 that is to be used for road repairs on roadways to the landfill. For road impacts from the expansion, the DEIR found that the project will impact County roads and requires WSG, as mitigation, to contribute its fair share toward maintenance and reconstruction of the County roads along the haul route to account for the damage to County roads from haul trucks.  An analysis to quantify this fair share contribution is being completed and will be presented to the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors prior to each body reaching a decision on the expansion.

18. How will the proposed additional tonnage and heavy trucks impact county roads and traffic? 

    The DEIR analyzed the traffic and safety issues on the proposed and alternative haul routes. The fair share study being completed will quantify the costs attributable to the project for maintenance and reconstruction of the proposed and alternative haul routes for the life of the project, including considering the cost to maintain and reconstruct the haul route roads based on the maximum number of tons approved. 

19. Can the haul route be modified?

    The DEIR examines the proposed and alternative haul routes, and the project approval will include selection of the haul route for the expansion.   

20. How is litter on the haul route managed? 

The County pays $40,000 per year for a contractor to keep John Smith Road clean through twice a week litter cleanups. WSG does intermittent pick up of materials on John Smith Road and sections of Fairview Road.  All waste haulers including out-of-county haul trucks are required to be tarped to minimize litter. The County is pursuing new methods to enforce tarped vehicles. The DEIR also includes proposed mitigation for litter from the expansion.  

  21.  What were the goals of the 2010 Landfill Agreement?

 The Agreement goals were to meet the following: 

1) Any action taken will not compromise landfill capacity for the community

2) Any action taken must address all environmental concerns

3) Any action taken must address all transportation impacts including road maintenance/ litter

4) Any action taken must produce a net revenue increase to the General Fund (net of increase to the mandated Closure/Post-Closure Fund)

  22.   Are there alternatives to the landfill expansion?

The EIR will include an evaluation of a number of alternatives to the location and size of the proposed project, including no expansion (the “no project” alternative) in conformance with CEQA and an alternative that would add composting to the project . Building a transfer station and recycling area, also formally known as the Resource Recovery Park, near the landfill has been considered in the past. 

  23.   What are the steps for consideration of the proposed landfill expansion project? 

1. The following are the key steps in the process:

   • Draft EIR – minimum 45-day public and regulatory agency review and comment period was completed in September 2022.
   • Preparation of the Final EIR, including responses to all public and regulatory agency comments
   • Planning Commission Hearing (open to public) of the Final EIR and proposed project, and recommendation to the Board of Supervisors
   • Board of Supervisors Hearing (open to public) of the Final EIR and proposed project, and decision to approve, approve with modifications or deny the proposed project.

     The schedule for the above process has not been finalized.

  24.   What is the current status of the proposed landfill expansion and how can the public provide input? 

A 30-day period for initial public input regarding the potential environmental impacts of the proposed project closed on March 23, 2021. Two virtual public scoping meetings were conducted as part of this process. Information collected helped determine the scope of the Draft EIR. The Draft EIR was circulated for public review and comment in 2022 and the County held a Town Hall Workshop on August 22, 2022, as well as a Planning Commission public workshop on November 2, 2022.  The Draft EIR was also presented to the County's Landfill Standing Committee on August 24, 2022. San Benito County residents and businesses can be added to the County’s landfill information distribution list by emailing sbciwm@sanbenitocountyca.gov.