STATE OF CALIFORNIA Budget Change Proposal - Cover Sheet DF-46 (REV 10/20) Fiscal Year Business Unit Department Priority No. 2021-22 3970 Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery Budget Request Name Program Subprogram 3970-048-BCP-2021-MR 3700 – Waste Reduction Management Budget Request Description Emergency Debris Removal Office Additional Staffing Budget Request Summary The Department of Resources, Recycling and Recovery requests $891,000 General Fund and 6.0 permanent, full-time positions in fiscal year 2021-22 and $880,000 General Fund ongoing to provide resources to adequately manage the workload for debris removal operations. The additional positions are necessary for CalRecycle to manage contracts, hold contractors responsible, fully reconcile funds, and coordinate federal reimbursements. Requires Legislation Code Section(s) to be Added/Amended/Repealed ☐ Yes ☒ No Does this BCP contain information technology Department CIO Date (IT) components? ☐ Yes ☒ No If yes, departmental Chief Information Officer must sign. For IT requests, specify the project number, the most recent project approval document (FSR, SPR, S1BA, S2AA, S3SD, S4PRA), and the approval date. Project No.Click or tap here to enter text. Project Approval Document: Click or tap here to enter text. Approval Date: Click or tap to enter a date. If proposal affects another department, does other department concur with proposal? ☐ Yes ☐ No Attach comments of affected department, signed and dated by the department director or designee. Prepared By Date Reviewed By Date Tina Walker 5/10/2021 Olga Garti 5/10/2021 Department Director Date Agency Secretary Date Rachel Machi Wagoner 5/10/2021 Jared Blumenfeld 5/10/2021 Department of Finance Use Only Additional Review: ☐ Capital Outlay ☐ ITCU ☐ FSCU ☐ OSAE ☐ CALSTARS ☐ Dept. of Technology PPBA Date submitted to the Legislature Krystal Acierto 5/14/2021 Analysis of Problem A. Budget Request Summary The Department of Resources, Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) requests $891,000 General Fund and 6.0 permanent, full-time positions in fiscal year 2021-22 and $880,000 General Fund ongoing to adequately manage the workload for debris removal operations. The additional positions are necessary for CalRecycle to manage contracts, hold contractors responsible, fully reconcile funds, and coordinate federal reimbursements. B. Background/History Following a Governor’s declared State of Emergency and an assistance request from local governments for technical assistance, the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) has frequently mission tasked CalRecycle to assist with structural debris removal and hazard tree removal services, with increasing frequency over the past 13 years. Almost all the structural debris and hazard tree removal operations that are assigned to CalRecycle are reimbursable, either by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) (in which CalRecycle is a subrecipient of CalOES). FEMA requires adherence to strict guidelines for reimbursements. Staff need to ensure that contractors are held accountable, the state is closely monitoring the contractors, funds are fully reconciled, and FEMA reimbursements are maximized. The FEMA funded projects require a detailed level of coordination and diligent review to assure that every invoice and expenditure is supported, reviewed, and verified to accurately reflect the work. In addition, expenditures are often split out according to eligible and ineligible activities based on FEMA guidelines. Since 2018, CalRecycle has provided: technical expertise; engineering support; contract management; legal; administrative; fiscal and budgetary services to conduct debris removal on 17,721 parcels across California. CalRecycle is currently managing four structural debris and hazard tree removal operations following the devastating 2020 statewide fire siege. Concurrently CalRecycle is managing the State Hazard Tree Removal Program following the 2018 Camp Fire, the largest urban tree removal project in the United States. CalRecycle’s Emergency Debris Removal Office (EDRO) staff, mainly comprised of Waste Management Engineers, is responsible for engineering, staffing operations, interagency coordination, disaster recovery planning, and contract management. Due to the wide array of duties, staff are not adequately resourced to provide sufficient safeguards of state resources while also implementing debris removal projects at the necessary standards. Debris removal operations require a high degree of care, oversight, timeliness, and attention to detail. In addition to engineering, operations staffing, interagency coordination, and disaster recovery planning and community resiliency, EDRO is responsible managing debris removal contracts and coordinating federal reimbursements. Cal OES’ mission tasks often expect CalRecycle to use its contract authority to develop, solicit, award, and administer contracts for structural debris removal and hazard tree removal services. EDRO works closely with CalRecycle’s Administrative Services Branch to develop solicitation documents and contract components as well as manage awarded contracts. EDRO staff serve as contract managers and monitors on behalf of CalRecycle and the State of California. EDRO staff apply a unique combination of professional engineering and geology expertise, financial training, and fraud prevention experience to ensure safe efficient emergency debris removal operations occur in compliance with all federal, state, and local laws while implementing all State contracting laws and procedures. EDRO contract managers play a key role in coordinating and collaborating with CalRecycle’s Accounting Office to ensure that payment for services is rendered in accordance with the contract, State Administrative Manual, and the Prompt Payment Act. The contract managers are required to thoroughly audit and review the invoice and various supportive documentation. This also supports California’s ability to maximize federal reimbursement eligibility from FEMA. California and Cal OES seek reimbursement from FEMA for CalRecycle’s debris removal expenditures. Due to strict regulations and guidelines, the contracting, invoice approval, and expenditure tracking requires additional coordination and collaboration. 1 Once the debris removal operation is off the ground, EDRO contract managers provide continued support to local governments by serving as a liaison to Cal OES’ Recovery Closeout Team for the distribution of per parcel costs, which is provided for insurance collection necessary to off-set state operating costs. Once properties are returned to the owner, EDRO facilitates final reconciliations and confirmation of FEMA eligible and ineligible costs for final project close out as well as individual and contractor claim resolutions, upon request from the Department of General Services. EDRO’s contract managers become responsible for the consequences and risks relating to these complexities, misunderstandings, outside interference, and suspension of established contracting integrity controls. The Contract Manager is the authorized representative of the State of California responsible for administering a contract and monitoring the contractor’s performance (State Contracting Manual 9.0]. Considering the quantity and magnitude of emergency debris removal contracts and the risk to the State of California, it is critical to have an established infrastructure and dedicated staffing through which CalRecycle can respond quickly and effectively. Contract Management is critical, and resources are necessary to shore up shortfalls identified in previous audits. CalRecycle actively works with CalOES to come up with best practices and assure that there is continuous improvement over previous audit findings with the Office of the Inspector General (Audit OIG-17-44-D), in which CalRecycle was identified as needing to strengthen its efforts to hold contractors responsible for complying with contract terms, specifically in the area of supporting documentation such as receipts and timesheets with invoices or identify eligible work sites to support all of the costs of debris removed. Resource History (Dollars in thousands) PY – 4 PY – 3 PY – 2 PY-1 PY CY Program Budget 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 Authorized $151,845 -$1,911 $66,449 $2,016,507 $507,852 $2,342,543 Expenditures1 Actual Expenditures 174,603 42,218 71,533 $408,404 $1,119,049 $99,110 Authorized Positions N/A N/A N/A 6.0 21.5 21.5 Filled Positions N/A N/A N/A 4.0 16.0 21.5 Vacancies N/A N/A N/A 2.0 5.5 0 1 Authorized expenditures are based off the Budget galley and continue to be reappropriated each year. Workload History Incident Year Cost ($ millions) Angora Fire 2007 $7 San Bruno Line Explosion 2010 $2 Boles Fire 2014 $6.43 Round Fire 2015 $5.03 Rocky/Jerusalem Fire 2015 $4.69 Valley Fire 2015 $92.27 River Complex Fire (Trinity Co.) 2015 $2.15 Butte Fire 2015 $115.61 Erskine Fire 2016 $20.2 Clayton Fire 2016 $10.85 Detwiler Fire 2017 $9.77 Helena Fire 2017 $8.18 Wind Complex (Cascade) Fire 2017 $20.24 Sulphur Fire 2017 $1.4 Thomas Fire 2017 $68.61 Santa Barbara Mud Slides 2018 $1.3 Carr Fire 2018 $106.95 Camp Fire – Debris Removal 2018 $2,001.1 Woolsey/Hill Fire 2018 $148.5 Klamathon Fire 2018 $5.27 Pawnee Fire 2018 $1.78 Mendocino Complex Fire 2018 $14.1 Camp Fire Hazard Tree Removal 2020 $500 (est.) 2020 Fires – North 2020 $658 (est.) 2020 Fires – Inland 2020 $413 (est.) 2020 Fires – Bay 2020 $321 (est.) 2020 Fires – South 2020 $287 (est.) C. State Level Consideration California