Diamond Bar Municipal Code Div. 7 Enforcement

It shall be unlawful for any person to violate any provision or to fail to comply with any of the requirements of this chapter. Any person, violating any provision of this chapter or failing to comply with any of its requirements shall be deemed guilty of an infraction and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished as provided in section 1.04.010 of this Code, the applicable requirements prescribed in 14 CCR Section 18997.2, and administrative citations pursuant to section 1.04.030 of this Code notwithstanding subdivision (d) of section 1.04.010.

(Ord. No. 04(2021), § II(Exh. A), 12-7-21)

(a) City enforcement official and/or their designee (whether an individual or entity) will monitor compliance with this chapter randomly and through compliance reviews, route review, investigation of complaint, and an inspection program.

(b) With the exception of violations of contamination of collection container contents with prohibited container contaminants which will be addressed through non-collection of containers and noticing by the collection contractor, and violations subject to immediate administrative citation, city shall issue a notice to abate violations in accordance with chapter 1.04.030 of this Code requiring compliance within a maximum of 60 days of issuance of the notice. The city may extend the compliance deadlines set forth in a notice to abate violations if it finds that there are extenuating circumstances beyond the control of the non-compliant party that make compliance within the deadlines impracticable, as described in 14 CCR Section 18995.4 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.

(c) City will conduct inspections, 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 owner, responsible party, 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, it may provide educational materials to the entity describing its obligations under this chapter during 2022 and 2023 and a notice that compliance is required, rather than issuance a notice of violation and assess penalties, except that the city may assess criminal and administrative civil penalties in the event that the city prosecutor determines that prosecution is warranted to deter egregious conduct. Commencing January 1, 2024, violations may be subject to criminal and administrative civil penalties.

(d) The violation of any of the provisions of this chapter shall constitute a nuisance and may be abated by the city through civil process by means of restraining order, preliminary or permanent injunction or in any other manner provided by law for the abatement of such nuisances.

(e) In addition to the remedies set forth in this chapter, violations of this chapter or a franchise agreement may be enjoined as unfair business practices that are presumed to nominally damage each and every resident of the community in which the collector operates.

(c) The remedies provided by this chapter are cumulative and in addition to any other criminal or civil remedies.

(Ord. No. 04(2021), § II(Exh. A), 12-7-21)

In addition to any other general functions, powers, and duties given to the city attorney and city prosecutor by this Code or California law, those individuals are authorized to:

(a) Prosecute on behalf of the people all criminal cases and on behalf of the city all civil cases for violations of this chapter including, without limitation, administrative or judicial nuisance abatement and suits for injunctive relief; and

(b) Prosecute all actions for the recovery of fines, penalties, forfeitures, and other money accruing to the city under this chapter.

(Ord. No. 04(2021), § II(Exh. A), 12-7-21)

Nothing in this chapter limits the right of any collector to bring a civil action against any person who violates California Public Resources Code §§ 41950, 41951, nor will a conviction for such violation exempt any person from a civil action.

(Ord. No. 04(2021), § II(Exh. A), 12-7-21)

The city and collectors may remove unauthorized collection containers located within the city's public right-of-way that have been placed by or belong to haulers that are not authorized to collect solid waste in the city. The city may recover from the unauthorized hauler any costs associated with impounding and storing an unauthorized container. Upon notification from city, or collector's locating of an unauthorized placed container, collector may begin the following procedure within 24 hours:

(1) Collector shall first place a notice on container that:

a. Directs the unauthorized hauler or its customer to remove the container within 24 hours of notice and if not removed, that the container will be impounded;

b. Cites to this section of the municipal code;

c. Indicates where the impounded container may be retrieved and the estimated impound and storage costs; and

d. Warns that, should a second container belonging to that company be found in the city in violation of this section, that container may be removed and impounded without warning.

(2) If the company can be identified and its address ascertained, city or collector shall mail the notice as well.

(3) Collector shall notify city of the notice and request written authorization to impound the container.

(4) With city written approval, collector may impound the container if it has not yet been removed by the illegal hauler.

(5) For subsequent violations by the same company after the initial notice has been posted, the collector has mailed a warning to the company if an address is ascertainable, and after having received written approval from city, collector may remove company's containers immediately, mailing a notice if address is known as to where the container may be retrieved and impound and storage costs. If address is unknown, collector shall place the notice as close as feasible to where the container was located.

(Ord. No. 04(2021), § II(Exh. A), 12-7-21)