A. The city may take enforcement actions, including the issuance of an administrative citation and assessment of a fine, against persons and entities for violating this chapter. The procedures in Chapter 19.10 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. The city may take immediate enforcement actions against commercial businesses that are in violation of the commercial organic waste and recycling requirements of AB 341 and AB 1826, which were in place prior to the issuance of the SB 1383 Regulations.
C. Education of SB 1383 Requirements.
1. Through December 31, 2023, the city or its designee may conduct inspections, remote monitoring, route reviews or waste evaluations, and compliance reviews, depending upon the type of regulated entity, to determine compliance with the SB 1383 Regulations and this chapter, and if city or its designee 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 and/or, for the purposes of edible food recovery, training to the entity describing its obligations under this chapter and a notice that compliance is required, and that violations may be subject to administrative civil penalties starting on January 1, 2024.
2. The City Administrator or his or her designee shall work with the collector and other entities to conduct outreach and educate generators regarding compliance with the SB 1383 regulations and this chapter.
3. The City Administrator or his or her designee shall work with the collector to annually identify residences and commercial businesses subject to the SB 1383 Regulations.
D. Beginning January 1, 2024, if the city or its designee 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 the SB 1383 Regulations under this chapter, it shall document the noncompliance or violation, issue a notice of violation, and take enforcement action pursuant to this section, as needed.
E. Prior to taking any enforcement action against a person, business, or entity for violating the SB 1383 Regulations, the city shall first notify the person, business, or entity and provide an opportunity to correct the violation through the issuance of a notice of violation by a City Enforcement Officer. Notices shall be sent to the "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 residential dwelling or commercial property or to the party responsible for paying for the collection services, depending upon available information. The notice shall state the person, business, or entity has 60 days to correct the violation. The person, business, or entity shall be responsible for ensuring and demonstrating compliance with the requirements of the SB 1383 Regulations, within the 60-day time frame provided in the notification of violation. Failure to demonstrate compliance shall be cause for enforcement action and penalties.
F. The city or its designee 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 city is under a corrective action plan with CalRecycle pursuant to 14 CCR § 18996.2 due to those deficiencies.
G. For incidences of prohibited container contaminants found in containers, City Enforcement Officer 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. Notwithstanding the foregoing subsections, the city may issue administrative citations immediately for container contamination and failure to subscribe to collection service as required.
H. 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 $100 per violation.
2. For a second violation, the amount of the base penalty shall be $200 per violation.
3. For a third or subsequent violation, the amount of the base penalty shall be $500 per violation.
4. The penalties shall be consistent with Government Code section 36900.
I. Appeals Process. Persons receiving an administrative citation containing a penalty for an uncorrected violation may request a hearing to appeal the citation pursuant to Chapter 1.09.
J. Other remedies allowed by law may be used, including civil action or prosecution as misdemeanor or infraction. City may pursue civil actions in the California courts to seek recovery of unpaid administrative citations.
(Ord. 837-2022, § 1, 2022)