(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 jurisdiction enforcement official or representative. Enforcement actions under this Chapter are issuance of an administrative citation and assessment of a fine. The jurisdiction'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. Jurisdiction may pursue civil actions in the California courts to seek recovery of unpaid administrative citations. Jurisdiction 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 jurisdiction staff and resources.
(c) Responsible entity for enforcement.
(1) Enforcement pursuant to this Chapter may be undertaken by the jurisdiction enforcement official, which may be the city manager or their designated entity, legal counsel, or combination thereof.
(2) Enforcement may also be undertaken by a regional or county agency enforcement official, designated by the jurisdiction, in consultation with jurisdiction enforcement official.
(A) Jurisdiction enforcement official(s) (and regional or county agency enforcement official, if using) will interpret ordinance; determine the applicability of waivers, if violation(s) have occurred; implement enforcement actions; and determine if compliance standards are met.
(B) Jurisdiction enforcement official(s) (and regional or county agency enforcement official, if using) may issue Notices of Violation(s).
(d) Process for enforcement.
(1) Jurisdiction enforcement officials or regional or county enforcement officials and/or their designee will monitor compliance with the ordinance randomly and through compliance reviews, route reviews, investigation of complaints, and an inspection program (that may include remote monitoring). Section 6.02.160 establishes jurisdiction's right to conduct inspections and investigations.
(2) Jurisdiction may issue an official notification to notify regulated entities of its obligations under the ordinance.
(3) For jurisdictions assessing contamination processing fees/penalties. For incidences of prohibited container contaminants found in containers, jurisdiction 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 or other communication immediately upon identification of the prohibited container contaminants or within days after determining that a violation has occurred. If the jurisdiction observes prohibited container contaminants in a generator's containers on more than three consecutive occasion(s), the jurisdiction may assess contamination processing fees or contamination penalties on the generator.
(4) With the exception of violations of generator contamination of container contents addressed under division (d)(3) of this section, jurisdiction shall issue a Notice of Violation requiring compliance within 60 days of issuance of the notice.
(5) (A) Absent compliance by the respondent within the deadline set forth in the Notice of Violation, jurisdiction shall commence an action to impose penalties, via an administrative citation and fine, pursuant to the general provisions of the Canyon Lake Municipal Code.
(B) Notices shall be sent to "owner" at the official address of the owner maintained by the tax collector for the jurisdiction 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. The penalty levels are as follows:
(1) For a first violation, the amount of the base penalty shall be $50 to $100 per violation.
(2) For a second violation, the amount of the base penalty shall be $ 100 to $200 per violation.
(3) For a third or subsequent violation, the amount of the base penalty shall be $250 to $500 per violation.
(f) Factors considered in determining penalty amount. The following factors shall be used to determine the amount of the penalty for each violation within the appropriate penalty amount range:
(1) The nature, circumstances, and severity of the violation(s).
(2) The violator's ability to pay.
(3) The willfulness of the violator's misconduct.
(4) Whether the violator took measures to avoid or mitigate violations of this Chapter.
(5) Evidence of any economic benefit resulting from the violation(s).
(6) The deterrent effect of the penalty on the violator.
(7) Whether the violation(s) were due to conditions outside the control of the violator.
(g) Compliance deadline extension considerations. The jurisdiction may extend the compliance deadlines set forth in a Notice of Violation issued in accordance with this Section 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 jurisdiction is under a corrective action plan with CalRecycle pursuant to 14 CCR Section 18996.2 due to those deficiencies.
(h) 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 jurisdiction's procedures in the jurisdiction's codes for appeals of administrative citations. Evidence may be presented at the hearing. The jurisdiction will appoint a hearing officer who shall conduct the hearing and issue a final written order.
(i) Education period for non-compliance. Beginning January 1, 2022 and through December 31, 2023, jurisdiction 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 jurisdiction 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, 2024. Guidance: Jurisdictions may initiate the education period prior to January 1, 2022, but no later than that date pursuant to SB 1383 Regulations (14 CCR Section 18995.1(a)(4)).
(j) Civil penalties for non-compliance. Beginning January 1, 2024, if the jurisdiction 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 this Section, as needed.
(k) Reserved.
(Ord. 210, passed 10-6-2021)