Alameda County Municipal Code Art. I General

This chapter may be referred to and cited as the Alameda County Solid Waste Collection and Organics Waste Reduction Ordinance.

(Ord. No. 2021-48, § 1, 11-23-2021)

The Board of Supervisors hereby finds and declares the following:

A. That Senate Bill 1383 of 2016, the Short-lived Climate Pollutant Reduction Act of 2016 (which added Sections 39730.5, 39730.6, and 39730.8 to the Health and Safety Code, and added Chapter 13.1, commencing with Section 42652, to Part 3 of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code) set Statewide Organic Waste disposal reduction targets and required CalRecycle to develop regulations to reduce organics in landfills as a source of methane.

B. In November 2020, Cal Recycle issued their Short-lived Climate Pollutants: Organic Waste Reduction the Final Regulations, (the SLCP regulations) which require jurisdictions that provide solid waste collection services to adopt ordinances or similarly enforceable mechanisms to implement requirements of the SLCP regulations.

C. The Castro Valley Sanitary District and Oro Loma Sanitary District are each special districts that provide solid waste collection services and which each include portions of unincorporated Alameda County within their district boundaries. These special districts are required to meet the requirements of the SLCP regulations with their own ordinance or similarly enforceable mechanism to implement requirements of the SLCP regulations, and therefore, unless otherwise noted this chapter applies only to those areas of unincorporated Alameda County not within one of these special districts.

D. This chapter will also help reduce food insecurity by requiring commercial edible food generators to arrange to have the maximum amount of their Edible Food, that would otherwise be disposed, be recovered for human consumption.

(Ord. No. 2021-48, § 2, 11-23-2021)

Unless specified otherwise, this chapter shall apply only to the unincorporated area of Alameda County that are not included in the Castro Valley Sanitary District and Oro Loma Sanitary District.

(Ord. No. 2021-48, § 2, 11-23-2021)

The following definitions govern the use of terms in this chapter:

"CalRecycle" means California's Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, which is the state agency designated with responsibility for developing, implementing, and enforcing the SLCP regulations.

"California Code of Regulations" or "CCR" means the State of California Code of Regulations. CCR references in this chapter are preceded with a number that refers to the relevant Title of the CCR (e.g., "14 CCR" refers to Title 14 of CCR).

"Collection service" means the pickup and removal of solid waste, organic waste, recyclable materials or compostable materials and transportation of such materials to a disposal site, transfer station, composting site, processing or other appropriate facility for disposal, recycling or composting.

"Commercial business or commercial" means a firm, partnership, proprietorship, joint-stock company, corporation, institution or association (whether incorporated or unincorporated or for-profit or nonprofit), strip mall, industrial facility, or a multi-family residential dwelling, or as otherwise defined in 14 CCR Section 18982(a)(6).

"Community composting" means any activity that composts green material, agricultural material, food material, and vegetative food material, alone or in combination, and the total amount of feedstock and compost on-site at any one time does not exceed 100 cubic yards and 750 square feet, as specified in 14 CCR Section 17855(a)(4); or, as otherwise defined by 14 CCR Section 18982(a)(8).

"Compost" has the same meaning as in 14 CCR Section 17896.2(a)(4), which stated, as of the effective date of this chapter, that "compost" means the product resulting from the controlled biological decomposition of organic solid waste that is source separated from the municipal solid waste stream, or which is separated at a centralized facility.

"County" means the County of Alameda.

"County collection service zone" means a service zone within the unincorporated area of the county established by the Board of Supervisors pursuant to Section 6.40.280.

"County solid waste collection and organics waste reduction regulations" (or "county waste regulations") means the County of Alameda regulations adopted concurrently with the adoption of this chapter as they may be revised from time to time following the procedures in this chapter and the county waste regulations.

"Edible food" means food intended for human consumption, or as otherwise defined in 14 CCR Section 18982(a)(18). For the purposes of this chapter or as otherwise defined in 14 CCR Section 18982(a)(18), "edible food" is not solid waste if it is recovered and not discarded. Nothing in this chapter or in 14 CCR, Division 7, Chapter 12 requires or authorizes the recovery of edible food that does not meet the food safety requirements of the California Retail Food Code, as codified in the Health and Safety Code Section 113700, et seq.

"Food recovery" means actions to collect and distribute food for human consumption that otherwise would be disposed, or as otherwise defined in 14 CCR Section 18982(a)(24).

"Food recovery organization" means an entity that engages in the collection or receipt of edible food from commercial edible food generators and distributes that edible food to the public for food recovery either directly or through other entities or as otherwise defined in 14 CCR Section 18982(a)(25), including, but not limited to:

1. A food bank as defined in Section 113783 of the Health and Safety Code;

2. A nonprofit charitable organization as defined in Section 113841 of the Health and Safety Code; and

3. A nonprofit charitable temporary food facility as defined in Section 113842 of the Health and Safety Code.

A food recovery organization is not a commercial edible food generator for the purposes of this chapter and implementation of 14 CCR, Division 7, Chapter 12 pursuant to 14 CCR Section 18982(a)(7). If the definition in 14 CCR Section 18982(a)(25) for food recovery organization differs from this definition, the definition in 14 CCR Section 18982(a)(25) shall apply to this chapter.

"Food recovery service" means a person or entity that collects and transports edible food from a commercial edible food generator to a food recovery organization or other entities for food recovery, or as otherwise defined in 14 CCR Section 18982(a)(26). A food recovery service is not a commercial edible food generator for the purposes of this chapter and implementation of 14 CCR, Division 7, Chapter 12 pursuant to 14 CCR Section 18982(a)(7).

"Multi-family residential dwelling" or "multi-family" means of, from, or pertaining to residential premises with five or more dwelling units. Multi-family premises are considered a distinct type of commercial business for the purposes of implementing this chapter. Consistent with the SLCP regulations, residential premises that consist of fewer than five units are not "multi-family" and instead are "single-family" for the purposes of implementing this chapter. Multi-family premises do not include hotels, motels, or other transient occupancy facilities, which are considered other types of commercial businesses.

"Organic waste" means solid waste containing material originated from living organisms and their metabolic waste products, including but not limited to food, green material, landscape and pruning waste, organic textiles and carpets, lumber, wood, paper products, printing and writing paper, manure, biosolids, digestate, and sludges or as otherwise defined in 14 CCR Section 18982(a)(46). Biosolids and digestate are as defined by 14 CCR Section 18982(a).

"Organic waste generator" means a person or entity that is responsible for the initial creation of organic waste, or as otherwise defined in 14 CCR Section 18982(a)(48).

"Person" means any individual, firm, association, organization, partnership, corporation, business, trust, joint venture, the United States, the State of California, the County of Alameda, and special purpose districts.

"Recyclable materials" mean nonhazardous residential, commercial, or industrial materials or by-products which are set aside, handled, packaged, or offered for collection in a manner different than solid waste, and which are capable of and suitable for recycling. Recyclable materials may include, but are not limited to, newspaper, mixed paper, glass containers, metal and aluminum cans, plastic bottles, corrugated cardboard, and used motor oil.

"SB 1383" means Senate Bill 1383 of 2016, the Short-lived Climate Pollutant Reduction Act of 2016.

"Self-hauler" means a person, who hauls solid waste, organic waste or recyclable material they have generated to another person in accordance with the county waste regulations and all applicable laws.

"SLCP regulations" (sometime referred to as the "SB 1383 Regulations" or "state regulations") means the short-lived climate pollutants: organic waste reductions regulations that were promulgated by CalRecycle pursuant to SB1383, adopted in 2020 that created 14 California Code of Regulations (CCR), Division 7, Chapter 12 and amended portions of regulations of 14 CCR and 27 CCR, as they may further be amended.

"Single-family" means, for purposes of this chapter, of, from, or pertaining to any residential premises with fewer than five units.

"Solid waste" has the same meaning as defined in Public Resources Code Section 40191, which defines solid waste as all putrescible and nonputrescible solid, semisolid, and liquid wastes, including garbage, trash, refuse, paper, rubbish, ashes, industrial wastes, demolition and construction wastes, abandoned vehicles and parts thereof, discarded home and industrial appliances, dewatered, treated, or chemically fixed sewage sludge which is not hazardous waste, manure, vegetable or animal solid and semi-solid wastes, and other discarded solid and semisolid wastes, with the exception that solid waste does not include any of the following wastes:"

1. Hazardous waste, as defined in the Public Resources Code Section 40141.

2. Radioactive waste regulated pursuant to the State Radiation Control Law (Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 114960) of Part 9 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code).

3. Medical waste regulated pursuant to the State Medical Waste Management Act (Part 14 (commencing with Section 117600) of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code). Untreated medical waste shall not be disposed of in a solid waste landfill, as defined in Public Resources Code Section 40195.1. Medical waste that has been treated and deemed to be solid waste shall be regulated pursuant to Division 30 of the Public Resources Code.

(Ord. No. 2021-48, § 2, 11-23-2021)

A. Single-family organic waste generators and commercial business organic waste generators, including multi-family residential dwellings, shall comply with this chapter and the county waste regulations and SLCP regulations, as amended from time to time. This does not prohibit an organic waste generator from preventing or reducing waste generation, managing organic waste on site, or using a community composting site pursuant to 14 CCR Section 18984.9(c) to the extent permitted by other applicable laws.

B. Unless exempted or waived pursuant to the county waste regulations, the owners or occupants of all single-family, multi-family and commercial premises shall subscribe to regular solid waste, recyclable materials, and organic waste collection services provided by a hauler that is authorized pursuant to the county waste regulations.

(Ord. No. 2021-48, § 2, 11-23-2021)

Waivers for organic waste generators shall only be granted as allowed by the SLCP regulations and county waste regulations.

(Ord. No. 2021-48, § 2, 11-23-2021)

Commercial edible food generators shall comply with the requirements for safe recovery of food for human consumption as contained in the county waste regulations, SLCP regulations and all other applicable laws and regulations.

(Ord. No. 2021-48, § 2, 11-23-2021)

Food recovery services and food recovery organizations shall comply with the requirements for safe recovery of food for human consumption as contained in the county waste regulations, SLCP regulations and all other applicable laws and regulations including the California Retail Food Code beginning at California Health and Safety Code Section 113700.

(Ord. No. 2021-48, § 2, 11-23-2021)

A. A hauler providing single-family, commercial, or industrial collection service shall meet the requirements and standards contained in the county waste regulations, SLCP regulations and all other applicable laws and regulations.

B. Owners of facilities, operations, and activities that recover organic waste, including, but not limited to, compost facilities, community composting operators and in-vessel digestion facilities shall meet the requirements and standards contained in the county waste regulations, SLCP regulations and all other applicable laws and regulations.

(Ord. No. 2021-48, § 2, 11-23-2021)

A. Self-hauling in place of curbside collection is only allowed if approved by the county in accordance with the county waste regulations.

B. Any person that desires to be a self-hauler must meet and comply with all requirements as set forth in the county waste regulations.

(Ord. No. 2021-48, § 2, 11-23-2021)

A. The county is authorized to conduct inspections and investigations, at random or otherwise to confirm compliance with the provisions of this chapter, the county waste regulations and SLCP regulations.

B. This section does not allow entry in a private residential dwelling unit for inspection.

C. A person subject to the requirements of this chapter shall provide or arrange for access during all inspections (with the exception of a private residential dwelling unit) and shall cooperate with such inspections and investigations.

D. The county shall receive and address written complaints related to this chapter in accordance with the county waste regulations and SLCP regulations.

(Ord. No. 2021-48, § 2, 11-23-2021)

A. Violation of any provision of this chapter shall constitute grounds for issuance of administrative citations and assessment of a fine by the county. The county's procedures on imposition of administrative citations and fines are set forth in the county waste regulations and shall govern the imposition, enforcement, collection, and review of administrative citations and fines issued to enforce this chapter.

B. Persons receiving an administrative citation containing a penalty for an uncorrected violation may request a hearing to appeal the citation as set forth in the county waste regulations.

C. Violation of any provision of this chapter may also be addressed by any other remedies allowed by law, including civil action or prosecution as a misdemeanor or infraction. The county may pursue civil actions in the California courts to seek recovery of unpaid administrative citations, and fines.

(Ord. No. 2021-48, § 2, 11-23-2021)

Regulations to implement, administer, and enforce this chapter, the solid waste collection and organics waste reduction regulations, are being adopted concurrently with adoption of this chapter. The adopted regulations may be revised from time to time after electronic posting of the proposed revisions on the web site of any department or agency with responsibility for enforcement of the ordinance, with an opportunity for the public to submit comments, and consideration by that department or agency of any public comments received.

(Ord. No. 2021-48, § 2, 11-23-2021)