SCR 70 is a concurrent resolution that designates the week of May 4–10, 2025 as Compost Awareness Week in California and records the Legislature’s findings about the environmental, soil-health, water-conservation, and waste-diversion benefits of composting. The resolution cites International Compost Awareness Week, lists types of organic residuals that are commonly composted, and highlights the 2025 theme: “Sustainable Communities Begin with Compost!”
This measure is ceremonial: it does not create regulatory obligations, appropriate funds, or change existing diversion or permitting laws. Practically, SCR 70 is a policy signal the state and local agencies, compost businesses, universities, and nonprofits can use to coordinate outreach, events, and public education around organics recycling and soil-health practices.
At a Glance
What It Does
The resolution declares the first full week of May 2025 as Compost Awareness Week and records legislative findings about compost benefits and common feedstocks. It directs the Secretary of the Senate to transmit copies of the resolution for distribution but imposes no regulatory mandates or funding.
Who It Affects
Directly affected parties are largely non-regulatory: compost operators, municipal waste-diversion programs, county extension offices, environmental nonprofits, and public works departments that run or promote composting programs. The resolution does not change permitting, funding, or compliance obligations for regulated entities.
Why It Matters
Although ceremonial, the resolution provides an official touchpoint for coordinating awareness campaigns and may be cited in grant applications, local outreach, and industry marketing. It also reinforces ongoing state goals around organics diversion and soil health by placing the Legislature’s imprimatur on composting as a climate- and water-smart practice.
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What This Bill Actually Does
SCR 70 is a short, declaratory document: its primary legal effect is to record the Legislature’s support for composting and to designate the week of May 4–10, 2025 as Compost Awareness Week. The body of the resolution summarizes why composting matters — from soil remediation and reduced fertilizer dependence to water conservation and landfill diversion — and lists common compost feedstocks such as yard trimmings, food scraps, biosolids, and agricultural residues.
The text anchors the state designation in the existing International Compost Awareness Week movement and reproduces the 2025 theme, signaling alignment with an established public-education campaign. Because the measure is a concurrent resolution rather than a statute, it does not amend the California Code, allocate funds, create new regulatory duties, or change permitting or solid-waste targets; it is an expression of legislative intent and support.For practitioners, the most practical consequence is programmatic: state agencies, local governments, universities, and industry groups can cite SCR 70 when scheduling events, issuing press releases, or applying for grants.
The resolution’s findings may strengthen the narrative around composting in policy discussions, but they do not carry legal force to compel action or financing.Finally, SCR 70 contains a simple procedural instruction — transmission of copies to the author — and the Legislative Counsel’s Digest notes no fiscal committee, indicating the Legislature did not identify a budgetary impact. That confirms this is a non‑appropriative, symbolic measure meant to support outreach rather than to create new programs.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The resolution is a concurrent resolution (SCR 70, Chapter 126) — a nonbinding legislative statement rather than a law that changes statutory duties or funding.
The bill was filed with the Secretary of State on July 3, 2025 and carries the 2025 International Compost Awareness Week theme: “Sustainable Communities Begin with Compost!”, The text explicitly lists common organic residuals — yard trimmings, food scraps, biosolids, manures, rice hulls, almond hulls, and hay shavings — as materials being converted into compost.
The Legislative Counsel’s Digest indicates “Fiscal Committee: NO,” and the resolution contains no appropriation or directive to change regulations.
SCR 70 directs the Secretary of the Senate to transmit copies of the resolution to the author for distribution, a standard procedural closing that enables outreach and distribution but imposes no operational duties on agencies.
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Legislative findings on compost benefits
The preamble runs through a series of policy findings about composting — soil health, carbon cycling, erosion control, drought and flood resilience, fertilizer reduction, and waste diversion. Practically, these findings compile the arguments advocates use in grant proposals and public-education materials; they set the legislative framing but do not alter statutory definitions or regulatory standards.
Enumerates common feedstocks and named stakeholders
This block names the types of organic residuals being composted (e.g., yard trimmings, biosolids, food scraps, agricultural residues) and highlights actors — local governments, highway departments, extension offices, farmers, and public works agencies — as potential users or promoters of compost. Naming these materials and actors narrows the rhetorical focus to organics recycling and signals who the Legislature expects to participate in awareness activities, but it stops short of mandating any specific programs or procurement requirements.
Designates the week and orders transmittal
The operative clause formally designates May 4–10, 2025 as Compost Awareness Week and instructs the Secretary of the Senate to transmit copies of the resolution to the author. This is the only operative relief in the document: a ceremonial recognition and a logistical step to distribute the text. There are no compliance deadlines, no reporting requirements, and no funding attached.
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Who Benefits
- Compost producers and service providers — they gain an official statewide recognition they can cite in marketing, partner outreach, and when pursuing municipal or grant contracts tied to education and organics diversion.
- Local governments and public works departments — the resolution offers a low-cost platform for community outreach, volunteer recruitment, and to justify hosting composting demonstrations or pilot programs during the designated week.
- Environmental nonprofits and extension services — SCR 70 creates a coordinating hook for public-education events, volunteer drives, and media outreach aligned with the international campaign, increasing visibility for local programs.
- Farmers and landscape managers — the legislative findings spotlight compost as a soil-amendment strategy, which can help justify adoption, pilot projects, or applications for farmland resilience programs.
- Educational institutions and research centers — universities and extension offices can leverage the week to disseminate research, run workshops, and attract attention to compost-related pilot studies.
Who Bears the Cost
- State and local agencies that choose to run events — any outreach or programming will need staff time and possibly materials; the resolution provides no additional funding, so costs fall on existing budgets.
- Local governments with limited resources — smaller jurisdictions asked to participate may face opportunity costs if they divert staff from core services to awareness activities.
- Nonprofits and community groups — groups that amplify the week will likely shoulder coordination and promotional costs without new state support.
- Legislative staff — minimal administrative cost to prepare and distribute copies of the resolution and to field related constituent inquiries.
- Compost processors experiencing increased demand — a short-term spike in interest could require operational adjustments (logistics, staffing) that carry modest costs even though no regulatory obligations change.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The core tension is symbolic recognition versus actionable support: SCR 70 raises the profile of composting and signals legislative priority, but without funding, regulatory changes, or reporting requirements it risks being a well-intentioned publicity tool that leaves communities and operators to bridge the gap between awareness and the concrete investments needed to scale organics diversion.
SCR 70 is purely declaratory. Its primary value is as a communications and coordination tool, not as a lever for regulatory change or funding.
That creates an implementation gap: the resolution underscores benefits and names actors, but it provides no mechanisms to translate awareness into measurable increases in organics diversion, infrastructure investment, or permit reform. Organizations relying on the resolution to justify new programs will still need to identify funding streams and navigate existing permitting and siting rules for compost facilities.
Another tension arises around expectations. The Legislature’s endorsement can raise public and stakeholder expectations for follow-up action (grants, procurement preferences, regulatory relief), but because the resolution lacks force, those expectations may create frustration.
Finally, measuring impact will be difficult: the resolution does not create reporting requirements or targets, so any claims about diversion gains or job creation tied to the awareness week will be anecdotal unless paired with separate monitoring programs or funded initiatives.
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