(A) Violation of any provision of this chapter shall constitute grounds for issuance of a notice of violation and assessment of a fine by a city enforcement official or representative. Enforcement actions under this chapter are issuance of an administrative citation, Alhambra Municipal Code § 1.13, and assessment of a fine pursuant to § 6.18.110(E) of this chapter. The city's procedures on imposition of administrative fines are hereby incorporated in their entirety, as modified from time to time, and shall govern the imposition, enforcement, collection, and review of administrative citations issued to enforce this chapter and any rule or regulation adopted pursuant to this chapter, except as otherwise indicated in this chapter.
(B) Other remedies allowed by law may be used, including civil action or prosecution as misdemeanor or infraction. The city may pursue civil actions in the California courts to seek recovery of unpaid administrative citations. The city may choose to delay court action until such time as a sufficiently large number of violations, or cumulative size of violations exist such that court action is a reasonable use of city staff and resources.
(C) Responsible entity for enforcement. Enforcement pursuant to this chapter may be undertaken by the city enforcement official, which may be the City Manager or his or her designated entity, legal counsel, or combination thereof.
(D) Process for enforcement.
(1) The city enforcement official and/or their designee will monitor compliance with the chapter randomly and through compliance reviews, route reviews, investigation of complaints, and an inspection program that may include remote monitoring. Section 6.18.100 establishes the city's right to conduct inspections and investigations.
(2) The city may issue an official notification to notify regulated entities of its obligations under this chapter.
(3) For incidences of prohibited container contaminants found in containers, the city will issue a notice of violation to any generator found to have prohibited container contaminants in a container. Such notice will be provided via a cart tag, a tag at the premises' door or gate, or other written or electronic communication immediately upon identification of the prohibited container contaminants after determining that a violation has occurred. If the city observes prohibited container contaminants in a generator's containers on more than one occasion within a year, the city may assess contamination processing fees or contamination penalties on the generator pursuant to § 6.18.110(E) of this chapter. In addition to city assessed penalties, the city's franchise solid waste hauler may also assess a contamination processing fee for each instance of prohibited container contaminants pursuant to the city's solid waste hauler franchise agreement.
(4) With the exception of violations of generator contamination of container contents addressed under § 6.18.110(D)(3), the city shall issue a notice of violation requiring compliance within 60 days of issuance of the notice. If the respondent is still not in compliance after 60 days of the issuance of the notice, a final notice of violation will be issued which will specify a compliance timeline with a minimum of 48 hours, if the initial process service was performed in person, up to a maximum of five days if the initial process service was performed via electronic communication or postal mail delivery to the respondent.
(5) Absent compliance by the respondent within the deadline set forth in the notice of violation, the city shall commence an action to impose penalties, via an administrative citation and fine, pursuant to § 6.18.110(E). Notices shall be sent to "owner" at the official address of the owner maintained by the tax collector for the city or if no such address is available, to the owner at the address of the dwelling or commercial property or to the party responsible for paying for the collection services, depending upon available information.
(E) Penalty amounts for types of violations. After a final notice of violation has been issued and the respondent is noncompliant, the penalty levels for a violation are as follows:
(1) For a first violation within a year, the amount of the base penalty shall be $50 per violation.
(2) For a second violation within a year, the amount of the base penalty shall be $100 per violation.
(3) For a third or subsequent violation within a year, the amount of the base penalty shall be $250 per violation.
(F) Compliance deadline extension considerations. The city may extend the compliance deadlines set forth in a notice of violation issued in accordance with § 6.18.110 if it finds that there are extenuating circumstances beyond the control of the respondent that make compliance within the deadlines impracticable, including the following:
(1) Acts of God such as earthquakes, wildfires, flooding, and other emergencies or natural disasters;
(2) Delays in obtaining discretionary permits or other government agency approvals; or
(3) Deficiencies in organic waste recycling infrastructure or edible food recovery capacity and the city is under a corrective action plan with CalRecycle pursuant to 14 CCR § 18996.2 due to those deficiencies.
(G) Appeals process. Persons receiving an administrative citation containing a penalty for an uncorrected violation may request a hearing to appeal the citation. A hearing will be held only if it is requested within the time prescribed and consistent with city's procedures in the city's codes for appeals of administrative citations, Alhambra Municipal Code § 1.13.090. Evidence may be presented at the hearing. The city will appoint a hearing officer who shall conduct the hearing and issue a final written order.
(H) Education period for non-compliance. Beginning January 1, 2022 and through December 31, 2023, the city will conduct inspections, remote monitoring, route reviews or waste evaluations, and compliance reviews, depending upon the type of regulated entity, to determine compliance, and if the city determines that organic waste generator, self-hauler, hauler, tier one commercial edible food generator, food recovery organization, food recovery service, or other entity is not in compliance, it shall provide educational materials to the entity describing its obligations under this chapter and a notice that compliance is required by January 1, 2022, and that violations may be subject to administrative civil penalties starting on January 1, 2022.
(I) Civil penalties for non-compliance. Beginning January 1, 2022, if the city determines that an organic waste generator, self-hauler, hauler, tier one or tier two commercial edible food generator, food recovery organization, food recovery service, or other entity is not in compliance with this chapter, it shall document the noncompliance or violation, issue a notice of violation, and take enforcement action pursuant to § 6.18.110, as needed.