Single-use products waste reduction: Dishwasher Grant Program for Waste Reduction in K–12 Schools.

Existing law requires the State Department of Education to take specified actions relating to the construction of school facilities, including to establish standards for use by school districts to ensure that the design and construction of school facilities are educationally appropriate and promote school safety and provide school districts with flexibility in designing instructional facilities. Existing law requires the department to provide information relating to the impact or potential impact upon a schoolsite of, among other things, hazardous substances and solid waste. This bill would establish the Dishwasher Grant Program for Waste Reduction in K–12 Schools, to be administered by the State Department of Education, to provide grants to school districts and charter schools for the purchase and installation of commercial dishwashers in school kitchens, as specified. The bill would require the department to award grants of up to $40,000 per kitchen of a school of an applicant school district or charter school, as specified. The bill would require the department to develop administrative guidelines for implementation of the program, as specified. The bill would require the department to develop materials and conduct outreach to those local educational agencies about the program, as provided. The bill would authorize, for purposes of the program, the department to enter into interagency agreements with other state agencies. The bill would make the implementation of these provisions contingent on an appropriation being made for its purposes by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act or another statute.