(A) Violation of any provision of this subchapter 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 subchapter are issuance of an administrative citation and assessment of a fine. 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 subchapter and any rule or regulation adopted pursuant to this subchapter, except as otherwise indicated in this subchapter.
(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.
(1) Enforcement pursuant to this subchapter may be undertaken by the city's 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 city, in consultation with the city enforcement official.
(a) City enforcement official(s) will interpret ordinance; determine the applicability of waivers, if violation(s) have occurred; implement enforcement actions; and, determine if compliance standards are met.
(b) City enforcement official(s) may issue Notices of Violation(s).
(D) Process for enforcement.
(1) City 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).
(2) The city may issue an official notification to notify regulated entities of their obligations under the ordinance.
(3) For jurisdictions assessing contamination processing fines/penalties. For incidences of prohibited container contaminants found in containers, the city and/or designee 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 two days after determining that a violation has occurred. If the city and/or their designee observes prohibited container contaminants in a generator's containers on more than three consecutive occasion(s), the city and/or their designee may assess contamination processing fines or contamination penalties on the generator on the third such occasion.
(4) With the exception of violations of generator contamination of container contents addressed under § 50.038(B)(2), the city and/or their designee 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, the code enforcement official(s) and/or their designee shall commence an action to impose penalties, via an administrative citation and fine, pursuant to city code.
(b) 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.
(6) In addition to the foregoing, for incidences of prohibited container contaminants found by a hauler in containers, hauler will issue a notice of contamination 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 two days after determining that a violation has occurred. If a hauler observes prohibited container contaminants in a generator's containers on more than two occasion(s) every calendar year starting January 1, the hauler shall have the right to assess a contamination service charge on the generator to cover the additional costs of processing contaminated containers per the current franchise hauler rate schedule. The foregoing contamination service charge shall not be considered an administrative fine or penalty. Any disputes arising from the assessment of a contamination service charge shall be adjudicated pursuant to the customer complaint resolution process provided under the terms of any contract, agreement, or similar contractual authorization between the hauler and the city to collect organic waste.
(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 not exceed $100 per violation.
(2) For a second violation, the amount of the base penalty shall not exceed $200 per violation.
(3) For a third or subsequent violation, the amount of the base penalty shall not exceed $500 per violation.
(F) Factors considered in determining penalty amount.
(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 city may extend the compliance deadlines set forth in a Notice of Violation issued in accordance with this chapter, 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.
(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 the city's procedures in the city's codes for appeals of administrative citations. 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.
(I) 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 subchapter 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.
(J) Civil penalties for non-compliance. Beginning January 1, 2024, 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 subchapter, it shall document the noncompliance or violation, issue a Notice of Violation, and take enforcement action pursuant to this section, as needed.
(Ord. 680, passed 11-2-21)