San Francisco, California

San Francisco Government

San Francisco's Commission on the Environment was created in 1992 to advise the city's Board of Supervisors on legislation and policy related to the city's environment. The seven-member committee, appointed by the mayor, develops the city's environmental policies and programs on energy efficiency, environmental justice, toxics reductions, and recycling and waste.

In addition to the Commission on the Environment, SForward is current San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's environmental agenda. It functions as the hub of environmental planning for the city. Included in SForward are such plans for a carbon-neutral city government, energy goals, and transportation alternatives.

San Francisco's Climate Action Plan is the commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. This ambitious goal is a direct response to the increasing threat of global climate change. The city has created numerous programs to make the Climate Action Plan a reality, including using renewable resources and the goal of becoming a zero-waste city by 2020. San Francisco was the first city in the nation to have its emissions certified by an external third party (the California Climate Registry), which gives it measurable and independent data with which to gauge its progress.

Recycling and Waste

In June 2009, San Francisco's Board of Supervisors amended the San Francisco Environment Code to include a “Mandatory Recycling and Composting Ordinance.” This ordinance, effective October 21, 2009, requires all persons living within San Francisco to separate, recycle, and compost refuse. The most comprehensive ordinance of its kind in the country, the ordinance stands apart because it includes mandatory composting. Although cities such as Pittsburgh and San Diego have mandatory recycling laws, the laws do not include mandatory composting. Seattle passed a law in 2003 requiring residents to have a compost bin but did not require that all food waste go in it, unlike the San Francisco law. Once a grace period has passed, giving residents and businesses time to adjust to the new ordinance, those that fail to comply with the new ordinance of proper sorting can face fines from $100 to $500. The rationale behind the strict ordinance is directed toward the amount of space that food scraps and plant clippings take up in landfills, producing large amounts of methane gases. Monthly, 5,200 tons of compost from San Francisco and Oakland are delivered to Jepson Prairie Organics. The nutrient-rich compost is then sold back to San Francisco Bay Area farmers and vintners, helping the area keep its reputation for high-quality food and wine production. As of 2009, the city currently diverts 72 percent of its waste. By comparison, if the recyclables and compostables currently going into landfills were diverted, San Francisco's recycling rate would jump to 90 percent. The ordinance is touted as a major step in getting San Francisco to its plan of sending nothing to landfills or incinerators by 2020.

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