Fremont Municipal Code Art. I General Provisions and Definitions

This chapter may be referred to and cited as the “integrated waste management ordinance” of the city of Fremont. (Ord. 11-2021 § 1, 11-16-21.)

It is declared to be in the interest of the public health, sanitation, safety and welfare of all residents of the city of Fremont, and the policy of the city, that the accumulation, preparation, storage, collection, transportation and disposal of municipal solid waste, organics and recyclable materials in the city of Fremont be handled in a safe, sanitary, routine and efficient manner so as to maximize the reduction, reuse, recycling and composting of materials that otherwise would be disposed of as municipal solid waste; to preserve and maximize landfill disposal capacity; to maintain the good condition, cleanliness and safety of city rights-of-way; to comply with state, regional and local law; to prevent the harboring and breeding of rodents and insects and other pests; to reduce contamination of the environment by the unauthorized burying, burning, or putrefaction of such materials; to prevent the spread of diseases associated with unsanitary conditions; to reduce the hazard of fire; and to prevent unsightliness and other public nuisance which may result in the depreciation of property values and otherwise interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life within the city. It is further the policy of the city to prefer in its procurement practices the purchase of products composed of or containing recycled materials. (Ord. 11-2021 § 1, 11-16-21.)

The purpose of this chapter is to accomplish the foregoing results, and to confirm and establish regulations for their accomplishment. The provisions hereof, therefore, shall be liberally construed so as to give full effect to, and support the accomplishment of, such purpose. (Ord. 11-2021 § 1, 11-16-21.)

For the purposes of this chapter, Articles I through Article IX, unless otherwise apparent from the context, the following words and phrases shall have the following meanings as described below. However, the definitions and terms in Article IX shall be used specifically for that Article IX, and shall have the meanings described therein.

“Act” shall mean the California Integrated Waste Management Act, Cal. Pub. Res. Code § 40000 et seq., as amended.

“Alternative daily cover” shall mean material approved for use as daily cover to landfill MSW deposits, as an alternative to soil cover.

“Brown goods” shall mean discarded electronic equipment and other small appliances such as stereos, televisions, computers, DVD players, video cassette recorders (VCRs), and similar items. Brown goods may also include electronic waste or e-waste.

“Bulky goods” shall mean discarded materials such as large and small household appliances, furniture, carpets, mattresses, white goods, brown goods, clothing, tires, and oversized landscape debris, such as tree trunks and large branches, and similar large items produced as refuse, excluding construction and demolition waste.

“Business” or “commercial,” as used herein to describe categories of customers or materials, shall mean of, from, or pertaining to an establishment other than a residential dwelling, building or complex, including, but not limited to, commercial, industrial, medical, nursing and recuperative, governmental, religious, and educational facilities or properties, and shall otherwise have its common meaning, as reflected in Chapter 5.05.

“City” shall mean the city of Fremont, California, a municipal corporation, and its geographical territory, including any subsequently annexed geographic portions thereof.

“City council” shall mean the governing legislative body of the city.

“City legislation” shall mean the municipal code of the city of Fremont, as it may be amended or recodified from time to time, as well as any ordinances or resolutions duly promulgated or adopted by the city council, as such ordinances or resolutions may be amended from time to time.

“Collector” or “collectors” shall mean the franchise collector, persons that have limited continuation rights under Cal. Pub. Res. Code § 49520, and persons permitted to collect hazardous waste, medical and infectious wastes.

“Commercial recyclables” means recyclables from commercial generators. Commercial recyclables do not include those recyclables that a commercial generator chooses to sell through a bona fide sale where the commercial generator does not incur any cost or charge for the collection, transportation, processing or any other service; or for those recyclables that a commercial generator donates to a nonprofit organization.

“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 California Code of Regulations Title 14, Section 17855(a)(4).

“Compactor” means a stationary or self-contained equipment unit used for the purpose of reducing the volume of municipal solid waste, recyclables, or organics contained in a bin by compressing the material.

“Composting” shall mean the controlled biological decomposition of organics that are source separated from the municipal solid waste stream or which are separated at a centralized facility.

“Composting facility” shall mean any business, site, location or facility where composting occurs, other than composting by a householder of waste materials produced in his or her own household.

“Construction and demolition debris” shall mean permitted material generated as a result of construction, remodeling, repair or demolition on pavement, houses, commercial buildings and other structures as well as construction job sites, including without limitation discarded packaging, containers and waste construction materials, whether brought on site for fabrication or used in construction or resulting from demolition, excluding liquid waste, hazardous waste, and medical and infectious waste. Such materials may include brick, mortar, concrete, plaster, scrap wood, scrap metal, sheet rock, packaging and rubble.

“Customer” shall mean a generator located within the city who subscribes or is required to subscribe to the applicable services under this chapter.

“Designated disposal facility” shall mean the landfill and solid waste facility or facilities approved by the city for the receipt, processing, transfer and disposal of permitted materials. The Altamont Landfill and the Fremont Recycling and Transfer Station are currently designated as the landfill and solid waste facility.

“Director” shall mean the city manager, or the director’s designee.

“Discarded” shall mean any object or material which its owner, producer or generator wishes to dispose of by setting it out for collection, rather than reusing it, selling it, or donating it to a nonprofit organization, or any object or material which its owner, producer or generator has legally abandoned.

“Disposal facility” shall mean any facility or location where the business of acceptance and disposal of MSW occurs.

“Electronic waste or e-waste” are those materials described in Cal. Pub. Res. Code §§ 42460 through 42486, as amended.

“Franchise collector,” as used herein, shall mean the person to whom the city has granted an exclusive franchise for the collection of MSW, recyclables and/or organics.

“Generator” shall mean an owner or responsible party for a single-family dwelling, multifamily dwelling, business, commercial or residential facility, including property which generates MSW, organics and recyclables as a result of its single-family dwelling, multifamily dwelling, business, facility or property activity, including construction sites. Generators may also include tenants, property managers with leased space, employees and contractors of generators, as well as responsible parties.

“Haul” or “hauler” shall mean the act of transporting, or any person who transports MSW, recyclables, organics, or other discarded materials.

“Hazardous waste” and “household hazardous waste” shall mean any material, substance, waste or component thereof which poses an actual or potential risk to public health and safety or the environment by virtue of being actually or potentially poisonous, toxic, corrosive, bioaccumulative, reactive, ignitable, radioactive, infectious or otherwise harmful to public health and safety or the environment, and/or which requires special handling under any present or future federal, state or local law, including without limitation 42 U.S.C. § 6901 et seq. (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act), 42 U.S.C. § 9601 et seq. (Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act), Cal. Health and Safety Code § 25100 et seq. (Hazardous Waste Control Act), and Cal. Health and Safety Code § 25015 et seq. (Medical Waste Management Act). Unless the context otherwise requires, “hazardous waste” shall include household hazardous waste, extremely hazardous waste, acutely hazardous waste, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act hazardous waste, non-Resource Conservation and Recovery Act hazardous waste, and special waste, as these statutes and regulations may be amended.

“Hearing officer” or “administrative hearing officer” shall mean the person designated by the city manager to conduct the hearings and make the determinations required of the administrative hearing officer under this chapter.

“Integrated waste management services rates” or “IWMS rates” shall mean the fixed unit rates charged to customers as set forth in the franchise agreement for provision of collection services by the franchise collector, as adopted and/or adjusted from time to time by resolution of the city council, which shall be published to customers by the franchise collector.

“Landscape debris” shall include untreated and unpainted wood, yard waste such as prunings, brush, leaves, or grass clippings and such other types of waste (excluding palm fronds), as well as similar material that may be specified by the city in its reasonable discretion.

“Local enforcement agency” or “LEA” shall mean the Alameda County department of environmental health, or such other agency that may be designated from time to time under state law to regulate the permitting of regulated facilities.

“Mixed-use development” means those areas within the city described in Chapter 18.45.

“Multifamily dwelling” shall mean any dwelling place, other than a single-family dwelling, or other building or premises used for housing persons, including, but not limited to, premises such as apartment, condominium, and/or townhouse buildings or complexes, including such premises when combined in the same building with business establishments; except that units within such buildings, premises, or complexes which can be and are provided with collection service as an individual unit shall be treated as a single-family dwelling in regard to the collection service provided.

“Municipal solid waste” or “MSW” shall mean, except as provided below, all “solid waste” as defined in Cal. Pub. Res. Code § 40191, as that section may be amended from time to time, which is generated within the city. “MSW” means all putrescible and nonputrescible solid, semisolid and liquid wastes, including garbage, trash, refuse, rubbish, ashes, industrial wastes, discarded bulky goods, discarded brown goods, dewatered, treated or chemically fixed sewage sludge which is not hazardous waste, manure, vegetable or animal solid and semisolid wastes, residues from recycling, composting and similar processes, and other discarded wastes, but does not include abandoned vehicles, hazardous waste, household hazardous waste, unpermitted waste or material, recyclables including source separated recyclables or organics intended for diversion as part of a recycling or organics program.

“Nonprofit organization” shall mean a nonprofit charitable or civic organization which meets the standards for exemption from payment of business taxes pursuant to the California Revenue and Taxation Code.

“Organics” shall mean landscape debris as well as similar material that may be specified by city for collection and processing. Where the term “organics” is used in this code, it shall be deemed to include source separated organics including landscape debris, food waste, food soiled paper, nonhazardous wood waste or other compostable materials accepted in the city’s program, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

“Organics facility” shall mean a business or commercial location where organics are stored, chipped, processed into compost, or otherwise managed.

“Overage” means the amount of permitted materials in excess of the capacity of the containers for which generator has subscribed, and set out in accordance with requirements for the collection of overages.

“Permitted materials” shall mean materials that the collectors and processors may handle under their permits and applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations.

“Person” or “persons” shall mean an individual, firm, corporation, association, partnership, consortium, joint venture, commercial entity, governmental entity, or any other legal person domiciled, located, present or operating within the city.

“Pilot program” shall mean experimental or trial activities intended to test the viability or any other aspect(s) of process or procedures. Typically, a pilot program involves a sample population, audience, or confined scope and precedes any implementation of a larger or entire program.

“Recyclables” shall mean used residential, business or commercial materials which may be returned to the economic mainstream as commodities for reuse to create new or reconstituted products, which, if not segregated from MSW by the generator or through processing, would otherwise become MSW. For the purposes of this chapter, recyclables include, but are not limited to, newspaper; mixed paper; glass containers (including brown, clear and green glass bottles and jars); aluminum, including beverage containers; steel, including tin cans; bi-metal containers; plastics as designated by city; corrugated cardboard; as well as those materials designated (by addition or deletion) by the city through a resolution or other appropriate means. Where the term “recyclables” is used in this code, it shall be deemed to include and refer to source separated recyclables unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

“Recycle” or “recycling” shall mean the process of collecting, sorting, cleansing, treating, and reconstituting materials that would otherwise become solid waste, and returning them to the economic mainstream in the form of raw material for new, reused, or reconstituted products which meet the quality standards necessary to be used in the marketplace, as defined in Cal. Pub. Res. Code § 40180, as it may be amended. “Recycling” does not include transformation, as defined in Cal. Pub. Res. Code § 40201.

“Regulated or permitted facility” shall mean a municipal solid waste transfer or processing station, an organics or composting facility, a transformation facility and a disposal facility, or other solid waste facility subject to regulation by the LEA or the city.

“Resident” shall mean an owner or occupant of a dwelling place within the city.

“Residential” shall mean of, from, or pertaining to a multifamily dwelling or single-family dwelling.

“Residues” shall mean materials remaining after the processing of recyclables and/or organics which require landfill disposal.

“SB 1383” means Senate Bill 1383 of 2016, the Short-Lived Climate Pollutant Reduction Act of 2016.

“Segregated” shall mean any of the following as defined in Cal. Pub. Res. Code § 40190 as it may be amended: (1) the placement of recyclable materials in separate containers, (2) the binding of recyclable material separately from other waste material, (3) the physical separation of recyclable material from other waste material.

“Self-haul” (or “self-hauling”) shall mean a generator who transports his or her own permitted materials by using a vehicle owned by that generator and driven by the generator or the generator’s employees rather than using the hauling services of the franchise collector or a third-party hauling company.

“Single commodity soil, asphalt and concrete” means soil, concrete and asphalt resulting from construction, remodeling, repair or demolition on pavement, houses, commercial buildings, multifamily dwellings and other structures that is source separated from each other and any other permitted materials that contain a de minimis amount of residue. Single commodity soil, asphalt and concrete as defined are exempt from the city’s franchise collection agreement.

“Single-family dwelling,” notwithstanding any contrary definition in this code, for the purposes of this chapter, shall mean a detached or attached house or residence designed or used for occupancy by one family; provided, that collection service feasibly can be and is provided to such residence as an independent unit. For example, individual units within a condominium, townhouse or similar complex, or in a mobile home park, shall be regarded as single-family dwellings for the collection service or services, if any, provided to that unit on an individual basis.

“Source separated” or “source separation” means the process of segregating or preparing recyclables or organics per city standards by the generator for the purposes of diversion from other permitted materials.

“Transfer or processing station” shall mean those facilities utilized to receive MSW, recyclables or organics and temporarily store, separate, convert or otherwise process the materials; or to transfer MSW and other materials directly from smaller to larger vehicles for transport, and those facilities utilized for transformation.

“Transformation” shall mean incineration, pyrolysis, distillation, or biological conversion other than composting. “Transformation” does not include composting, gasification, or biomass conversion, as defined in Cal. Pub. Res. Code § 40201, as it may be amended.

“Transit-oriented development” or “TOD” means those areas described in Chapter 18.152.

“Trash enclosure” means an area screened from public view and used for storage of collection containers and municipal solid waste, recyclables, organics, tallow containers and other discarded materials prior to collection or disposal.

“Unpermitted waste or material” shall mean any and all material, including but not limited to hazardous waste, the acceptance or handling of which would cause a violation of any permit, condition or legal or regulatory requirement, including damage or threatened damage to collection equipment or disposal or processing facilities, or a substantial endangerment to the health or safety of the public or persons engaged in the collection, handling, processing or disposal of MSW, recyclables or organics. Waste or material which is otherwise permitted may be considered an unpermitted material when commingled with discarded material of another type, when segregation of such materials is required.

“White goods” shall mean appliances such as refrigerators, stoves, washers, dryers, water heaters and similar items. (Ord. 11-2021 § 1, 11-16-21.)