Who is LARA?
The Los Angeles Regional Agency (LARA) is a consortium of several cities in Southern California. We are currently 18 cities strong (and counting). LARA was formed by conscientious recycling advocates from the member cities.
In 2004, CalRecycle (California’s Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery) approved the formation of LARA. All members of LARA work together to ensure their city meets and exceeds the mandates set by State Assembly Bill 939.
What is LARA’s Mission?
To enhance the quality of living in member communities through conscious means of promoting environmental sustainability and responsibility
LARA Joint Powers Agreement & Bylaws
Joint Powers Agreement (amended and restated May 14, 2024)
Bylaws (effective September 2023)
Why Join LARA?
Here are some of the advantages of being in LARA:
- LARA submits a consolidated report on behalf of its members for all of the 57 Source Reduction & Recycling Element (SRRE) programs as well as the SB 1383-, AB 1826-, and AB 341-related portions of the report.
- Cities can focus on program implementation rather than numerical compliance.
- Provide member cities with a unified voice on issues and concerns faced by each member.
- LARA is allowed to average waste diversion and disposal over all cities in the agency, smoothing out fluctuations due to confusion about jurisdictional boundaries or changes in the Disposal Reporting System. The City of Los Angeles, because of its size, can easily absorb these fluctuations.
- Network coordination and peer sharing.
- LARA allows cities to share costs and conduct new “regional level” base year studies, if required.
- Low annual fee—based on the latest disposal report from Cal Recycle and the RDRS (Recycling & Disposal Reporting System). This fee can be negotiated with the waste hauler so that the waste hauler pays a city’s annual membership fee.
Here is what the City of Torrance said about LARA:
”Without LARA, each jurisdiction will have to hire their own contractor/consultant to prepare the annual report and for some cities the cost of hiring a consultant is more than the annual fee each one pays to LARA. The C.O.W. is simple and easy to use. Torrance raves about it. Without the umbrella of LARA, it is easy for jurisdictions to fall behind in implementing their programs as detailed in their SRRE. There is enormous support and assistance from LARA.”