The joint powers authority that oversees Del Norte County’s trash and recycling programs is searching for a member of the public to serve on its board.

The Del Norte Solid Waste Management Authority Board on Tuesday is expected to set a special meeting to select a replacement for former member Eli Naffah, Director Tedd Ward said. The JPA will receive applications for the open position through Sept. 5. Ward said he expects the remaining board members, representing the Crescent City Council and Del Norte County Board of Supervisors, to hold a special meeting to choose Naffah’s replacement on Sept. 10.

“They’re a commissioner just like anybody else,” Ward said of the public position on the DNSWMA board. “In all honesty, they have slightly less power than the city or county — there isn’t a circumstance where (the authority) has to have a vote from the public commissioner. On the other side of it, they can play a really important role in guiding the discussion.”

For example, Ward said, Naffah, who sat on the Del Norte Economic Development Commission, had a strong background in economic developments and was also a strong voice concerning issues about recycling.

In addition to discussing Naffah’s replacement, SWMA board members are expected to touch on efforts to establish a transfer station in the northern part of Del Norte County, Ward said. They will also consider updating a memorandum of understanding with authority staff and will discuss State Senate Bill 1383, which reduced methane emissions targets.

Proposed by CalRecycle and signed into law by California Governor Jerry Brown in 2016, SB 1383 requires urban areas to start collecting food waste. According to Ward, food waste and yard debris left in a landfill emits the greenhouse gas methane.

“While I respect that as a goal, rural areas take up a relatively small portion of the overall statewide waste stream,” Ward said.

Ward argued that setting up a food waste collection system in Del Norte County would put out more greenhouse gas pollution than an urban collection system. He said he wants to guide local policy makers to “try to develop programs to address the problem as effectively as it can.”

Ward proposes to discuss the issue with State Sen. Mike McGuire and Assemblyman Jim Wood to discuss the possibility of creating legislation next year that would allow rural communities to come up with another way to comply with SB 1383.

According to Ward’s staff report, complying with the senate bill’s regulations would also require significant investment from rural communities.

“Tehama County estimates that they would need to double their staff in the next few years to (comply with SB 1383),” Ward wrote.

While rural areas don’t have the same issues with food waste as urban areas do, Ward said they can be good markets for finished compost.

“If you apply finished compost to dairy lands you will find that land ends up sequestering carbon for up to 30 years after a single application of compost,” he said. “That’s a great thign we can do to help the overall package, but one of the challenges we have of producing compost is you can get a truckload full of composted dairy manure relatively cheap at several different dairies. They can provide composted manure for a much cheaper price than we can produce from yard debris.”

Also on Tuesday’s agenda is a proposal to present the Del Norte Solid Waste Management Authority’s efforts to establish a transfer station in the Smith River area to the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation. Ward and SWMA Facilities Coordinator Kyra Seymour met with the tribe’s executive director, Troy Ralstin, and planner, Tim Hoone, to discuss the project.

Ward proposes to work with District 3 Supervisor Chris Howard, whose district includes Smith River, to give a presentation before the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation’s tribal council.

The Del Norte Solid Waste Management Authority meets at 4 p.m. in the Board of Supervisors Chambers, 981 H Street in Crescent City. For more information, visit http://www.recycledelnorte.ca.gov/.

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