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 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 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. City may pursue civil actions in the California courts to seek recovery of unpaid administrative citations. 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 chapter may be undertaken by the City Enforcement Official, which may be the city manager or their designated entity, legal counsel, or combination thereof.
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 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 09.08.11 establishes City's right to conduct inspections and investigations.
2. City may issue an official notification to notify regulated entities of its obligations under the ordinance.
3. Contamination Prevention:
a. Notwithstanding any agreement with a hauler collecting prohibited container contaminants, which shall continue to apply, for incidences of prohibited container contaminants found by City in containers, 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 or other communication immediately upon identification of the prohibited container contaminants or within two (2) days after determining that a violation has occurred. If the City observes prohibited container contaminants in a generator's containers on more than two (2) occasion(s), every calendar year starting January 1, the City may assess an administrative fine or penalty on the generator in accordance with Section 09.08.12(E).
b. In addition to 09.08.12(D)(3)(a), for incidences of prohibited container contaminants found by a hauler in containers, 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.
4. With the exception of violations of generator contamination of container contents addressed under Section 09.08.12(D)(3), City shall issue a Notice of Violation requiring compliance within sixty (60) days of issuance of the notice.
5. Absent compliance by the respondent within the deadline set forth in the Notice of Violation, City shall commence an action to impose penalties, via an administrative citation and fine, pursuant to the City's ordinance contained in Section 09.08.12(K), List of Violations.
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: The penalty levels for City-issued Notices of Violation are as follows:
1. For a first violation, the amount of the base penalty shall be one hundred dollars ($100.00) per violation.
2. For a second violation, the amount of the base penalty shall be two hundred dollars ($200.00) per violation.
3. For a third or subsequent violation, the amount of the base penalty shall be five hundred dollars ($500.00) 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 Section 09.08.12 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 Section 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. 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, City will conduct inspections, remote monitoring, route reviews or waste evaluations, and compliance reviews, depending upon the type of regulated entity, to determine compliance with this chapter, and if 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, 2024.
I. 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 chapter, it shall document the noncompliance or violation, issue a Notice of Violation, and take enforcement action pursuant to Section 09.08.12, as needed. The foregoing shall not apply to violations arising from incidences where a hauler discovers prohibited container contaminants found in containers.
J. Enforcement Table; List Of Violations.
K. Requirement; Description Of Violation:
Requirement | Description Of Violation |
Requirement | Description Of Violation |
Commercial business and commercial business owner responsibility requirement Section 09.08.05
| Commercial business fails to provide or arrange for organic waste collection services consistent with City requirements and as outlined in this chapter, for employees, contractors, tenants, and customers, including supplying and allowing access to adequate numbers, size, and location of containers and sufficient signage and container color. |
Organic waste generator requirement | Organic waste generator fails to comply with requirements adopted pursuant to this chapter for the collection and recovery of organic waste. |
Hauler requirement Section 09.08.09
| A hauler providing residential, commercial, or industrial organic waste collection service fails to obtain applicable approval issued by the city to haul organic waste as prescribed by this chapter. |
Hauler requirement Section 09.08.09
| A hauler fails to keep a record of the applicable documentation of its approval to haul organic waste by the city, as prescribed by this chapter. |
Commercial edible food generator requirement Section 09.08.07
| Tier one commercial edible food generator fails to arrange to recover the maximum amount of its edible food that would otherwise be disposed by establishing a contract or written agreement with a food recovery organization or food recovery service and comply with this section commencing January 1, 2022. |
Commercial edible food generator requirement Section 09.08.07
| Tier two commercial edible food generator fails to arrange to recover the maximum amount of its edible food that would otherwise be disposed by establishing a contract or written agreement with a food recovery organization or food recovery service and comply with this section commencing January 1, 2024. |
Commercial edible food generator requirement Section 09.08.07
| Tier one or tier two commercial edible food generator intentionally spoils edible food that is capable of being recovered by a food recovery organization or food recovery service. |
Organic waste generator, commercial business owner, commercial edible food generator, food recovery organization or food recovery service | Failure to provide or arrange for access to an entity’s premises for any inspection or investigation. |
Recordkeeping requirements for commercial edible food generator Section 09.08.07
| Tier one and tier two commercial edible food generator fails to keep records, as prescribed by Section 09.08.07
. |
Recordkeeping requirements for food recovery services and food recovery organizations Section 09.08.08
| A food recovery organization or food recovery service that has established a contract or written agreement to collect or receive edible food directly from a commercial edible food generator pursuant to 14 CCR Section 18991.3(b) fails to keep records, as prescribed by Section 09.08.08
. |
(Ord. O-21-1383, 11-10-2021)