Banning Municipal Code Art. IV Inspections, Investigations and Enforcement

It is found and determined that the accumulation of solid waste upon private property and abutting or adjacent public property constitutes a danger to the public health and safety, and is a public nuisance.

(Ord. No. 1576, § 2, 10-12-21)

A. City representatives and/or the city's designated entity, including designees (which includes the authorized collector), are authorized to conduct inspections and investigations, at random or otherwise, of any container, collection vehicle loads, or transfer, processing, or disposal facility for materials collected from generators to confirm compliance with this chapter by generators, commercial businesses (including multi-family residential dwellings), property owners, commercial edible food generators, haulers, self-haulers, food recovery services, and food recovery organizations, subject to applicable laws. This section does not allow the city, its designees or agents to enter the interior of a private residential property for inspection.

B. Regulated entities shall provide or arrange for access during all inspections (with the exception of residential property interiors) and shall cooperate with the city's employee or its designated entity/designee during such inspections and investigations. Such inspections and investigations may include confirmation of proper placement of materials in containers, edible food recovery activities, records, or any other requirement of this chapter described herein. Failure to provide or arrange for access to an entity's premises or access to records for any inspection or investigation is a violation of this chapter and may result in penalties described.

C. Any records obtained by the city during its inspections and other reviews shall be subject to the requirements and applicable disclosure exemptions of the Public Records Act as set forth in Government Code Section 6250 et seq.

D. City representatives, its designated entity and/or designees are authorized to conduct any inspections or other investigations as reasonably necessary to further the goals of this chapter, subject to applicable laws.

E. The city shall receive written complaints from persons regarding an entity that may be potentially non-compliant with SB 1383 Regulations, including receipt of anonymous complaints in accordance with by 14 CCR Section 18995.3.

(Ord. No. 1576, § 2, 10-12-21)

A. Violation of any provision of this chapter shall constitute grounds for issuance of a notice of violation and assessment of a fine by the 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 set forth in Chapter 1.20 (Administrative Citations) of Title 1 (General Provisions) of the Code 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. Enforcement pursuant to this chapter may be undertaken by the city enforcement official or designee.

D. Process for enforcement.

1. The city enforcement official or designee will monitor compliance with this chapter randomly and through compliance reviews, route reviews, investigation of complaints, and an inspection program. Section 8.28.270 of this chapter establishes the city's right to conduct inspections and investigations.

2. The city may issue an official notification to notify regulated entities of its obligations under this chapter.

3. With the exception of violations of generator contamination of container contents, the city shall issue a notice of violation requiring compliance within sixty days of issuance of the notice.

4. Absent compliance by the respondent within the deadline set forth in the notice of violation, the city shall commence an action to impose penalties, via an administrative citation and fine, pursuant to the Chapter 1.20 (Administrative Citations) of Title 1 (General Provisions) of this Code.

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. For purposes of this chapter, the penalty levels for violations of the provisions of this chapter are as follows:

1. For a first violation, the amount of the base penalty shall be fifty dollars to one hundred dollars per violation.

2. For a second violation, the amount of the base penalty shall be one hundred dollars to two hundred dollars per violation.

3. For a third or subsequent violation, the amount of the base penalty shall be two hundred fifty dollars to five hundred dollars 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 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 Section 18996.2 due to those deficiencies.

G. Education period for non-compliance. Beginning January 1, 2022 and through December 31, 2023, city or its designee will conduct inspections, route reviews or waste evaluations, and compliance reviews, depending upon the type of regulated entity, to determine compliance, and if city determines that a 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.

H. Civil penalties for non-compliance. Beginning January 1, 2024, if the city determines that a 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.

(Ord. No. 1576, § 2, 10-12-21)