Current composting regulations were designed for large-scale waste diversion, not to restore soils, reduce emission, or support local economies.

There are three key barriers:

1. Conflicting Permits
   Projects must navigate CEQA, CalRecycle, Water Board, and Air District requirements, often with overlapping or contradictory rules.
2. Feedstock-Based Regulation
   Regulations are based on material type (e.g., food scraps vs. green waste), not on the intended soil benefit, making it harder to blend materials or scale decentralized sites.
3. Lack of Systems Thinking
   Most permitting processes focus on risk mitigation rather than maximizing ecological benefit. There is little alignment between composting policy and broader goals based on compost’s systemic value in water conservation, carbon storage, and food security.

We support practical, place-based planning that centers compost as a resource. Our work draws from planning theory, policy analysis, land use models, and on-the-ground experience. PFL analyzed current planning language and processes for compost across city and county-level climate action and general plans, and recommends the following:

• Understand community goals, needs, and opportunities
• Center soil health building when planning for new composting projects
• Support diversified and distributed composting sites, prioritizing projects that directly benefit community members
• Create economic incentives that catalyze local compost markets, such as small loan programs, equipment grants, or administrative support
• Update zoning codes to allow for right-scale composting in more areas
• Leverage SB 1383 procurement requirements to support small composters and soil-building compost application projects

In 2021, PFL partnered with the California Alliance for Community Composting (CACC) to secure the state’s first Community Composting for Green Spaces (CCGS) grant from CalRecycle. [See the Project Spotlight for more information]

 

PFL continues to champion the conditions that allow community composting to thrive. Our ongoing work includes:

• Policy Advocacy: Advancing smarter permitting pathways for small and mid-scale composting sites, including tiered frameworks that recognize the unique value of community and on-farm systems.
• SB 1383 Implementation Support: Helping jurisdictions meet organic waste diversion goals through distributed, local infrastructure – centered on soil health, not just tonnage.
• Equity-First Infrastructure: Working to ensure that funding, compliance assistance, and technical resources reach the communities that need them most – not just large-scale operators.
• Fiscal Sponsorship & Incubation: Supporting innovative compost ventures, through legal, financial, and administrative scaffolding.

We believe that communities producing bioresources should have the right to compost them for their own economic benefit. PFL also believes these opportunities should not come at the expense of the health of people or their land.  

Our goal is to support the development of a new resource right to soil, granted to the communities and individuals who generate and manage soil-building organic materials.

1. Rejecting Resource Extraction: By harnessing the power of place-based economic development, right to resources provides communities with opportunities to develop and use bioresources. This counters existing precedents set by other natural resource development, including oil, gas, and lumber industries. 
2. Right to Soil: Prioritizing bioresources that build soil health provides opportunities for communities to build economic growth while building healthier and more resilient soil systems. Healthy soils have lasting effects on climate resilience and human health. 

Tools & Resources

 

• [PFL Planning for Compost Guide]
• [Planning for Compost Checklist]
• [Compost Planning Document Review] and [Corresponding Datasheet]
• [California Compost Regulatory Review]
• [Healthy Soils Policy Map]