Fremont Municipal Code Art. II Accumulation, Preparation and Storage – Subscription to Collection Service…

All persons residing, domiciled, or maintaining business or other premises in the city of Fremont shall comply with the relevant sections of this article, state law and local ordinances. Subscription to the following collection services shall be mandatory: single-family residences shall subscribe to MSW, recyclables and organics collection services; multifamily residences shall subscribe to MSW, recycling and organics collection services in compliance with state law and local ordinances; and commercial generators shall subscribe to MSW, commercial recyclables and organics collection services, as applicable. (Ord. 11-2021 § 1, 11-16-21.)

No person shall maintain a nuisance by permitting the accumulation of municipal solid waste, including recyclables, organics or other discarded and/or derelict materials, upon the premises of which that person has ownership, possession, occupancy, control or charge. These materials shall not be allowed to remain on the premises for more than seven days (except for inert, nonputrescible recyclables) to prevent propagation, harborage, or attraction of flies, rodents or other vectors and the creation of nuisances. Every person who has ownership, occupancy, possession, control or charge of any dwelling place, business or other premises within the city in, upon, or from which municipal solid waste, recyclables or organics are created, produced, or generated, and who, therefore, has the responsibility for the day-to-day maintenance of the premises including, where applicable, common areas or accommodations, shall be responsible for ensuring the storage of these materials in an appropriate enclosure and the removal of municipal solid waste, recyclables or organics from those premises at least on a weekly basis, or more often as may be required to adequately serve the premises. Such removal shall be ensured by contracting, or requiring the occupant, possessor, controller or administrator of the premises to contract, for containers and collection services provided by the collector. The person responsible for maintenance of the premises shall ensure removal of litter and waste materials not subject to collection by the franchise collector either by self-haul, or by arrangement with a person qualified to handle the material in question. Nothing in this section is intended to allow persons to self-haul materials routinely generated on a premises on an ongoing basis. Nothing in this section is intended to alter the effect of the terms of any lease or agreement applicable to any premises. Maintenance and cleaning of trash enclosures are the responsibility of the occupant or owner of the premises. Trash enclosures shall be maintained in the condition in which they were approved and shall meet requirements of Article II of the storm water management and discharge control regulations beginning at Section 18.210.060. (Ord. 11-2021 § 1, 11-16-21.)

Every person in possession, charge or control of any multifamily dwelling, single-family dwelling, commercial facility or other premises in, upon, or from which municipal solid waste, organics or recyclables are generated, created, produced, kept or accumulated within the city of Fremont shall deposit the materials in a water-tight container or containers equipped with a secure-fitting cover provided by the franchise collector, or alternate methods, such as overage bags, which have been approved by city. Container covers and lids shall be kept closed except when the container is being serviced. Generators subscribing or required to subscribe to collection services shall deposit those materials in the respective containers designated by and available from the collectors, as further provided below. In all events, discarded materials stored prior to collection and/or disposal shall be contained in a manner so as to discourage disturbance by, or harboring of, animals or pests; to prevent fire or other safety hazard; and to prevent odors or unsightliness amounting to a nuisance. (Ord. 11-2021 § 1, 11-16-21.)

The franchise collector operating under an exclusive franchise agreement with the city is the sole authorized collector of residential municipal solid waste, residential recyclables, and residential organics. No residential generator may contract with another commercial enterprise or person engaged in business for the collection of such materials, except as provided below. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to interfere with the right of residential generators to reuse or sell their recyclable materials, donate recyclables to a nonprofit organization as defined herein, or to engage in home composting. (Ord. 11-2021 § 1, 11-16-21.)

The basic collection service provided to each single-family dwelling residential generator by the franchise collector shall consist of MSW, recyclables, and organics collection, and shall include additional services described below. The residential customer shall pay to the franchise collector the single integrated waste management service rate approved by the city for such collection services.

Single-family dwelling residents who produce 10 gallons of MSW or less per month may make arrangements with the franchise collector for the alternative MSW collection service described in Article III of this chapter.

The collection service requirement for multifamily dwellings shall be MSW, recyclables and organics collection. Rates for such service will vary in accordance with the volume of service provided to the residential customer under the subscription. (Ord. 11-2021 § 1, 11-16-21.)

Single-family dwelling MSW, recyclables, and organics set out for collection for the franchise collector must not be commingled and shall be segregated by the residential generator and set out for collection in the appropriate containers provided by the franchise collector for each respective material. The franchise collector may refuse to collect residential dwelling containers of MSW, recyclables and/or organics which contain improperly disposed of materials, and in that event shall notify the residential generator of the reason for noncollection. Multifamily dwelling generators shall be provided with sufficient containers and instructions to encourage proper segregation of MSW, recyclables and organics. Recyclables, organics, and MSW generated at multifamily dwellings shall not be commingled and shall be segregated into the appropriate containers for collection by the franchise collector. (Ord. 11-2021 § 1, 11-16-21.)

A single-family dwelling residential customer may apply to the director for continuation of a previously granted exemption from payment of that portion of the integrated waste management service rate that is attributable to recyclables services if, and only if, the residential generator demonstrates that he or she does not discard any recyclables. This demonstration shall be made by demonstrating that the residential generator sells, or donates to a nonprofit organization as defined, all of his or her recyclables; by demonstrating that the residential generator reuses all of his or her recyclables; or by demonstrating that the residential generator employs some combination of the above, and therefore discards no recyclables. The director may require that any application for a continuance of a previously granted exemption be accompanied by receipts, if applicable, bearing the name, address, and telephone number of the organization(s) receiving the recyclables and stating the approximate amount of material received; and a signed statement, made under penalty of perjury, that all of the residential generator’s recyclables are sold, donated, or reused, including a brief description of the manner in which such recyclables are sold, donated or reused. The director shall be entitled to request further information to the extent that it is reasonably necessary to evaluate the validity of the request for continuance of such exemption. Any dispute between the residential generator and the director regarding a denial of exemption may be appealed to, and shall be finally resolved by, the administrative hearing officer. A residential generator who has an existing exemption may be required to provide periodic proof that he or she is continuing the practices on which the exemption was based.

New “zero generator” exemptions for recyclables as described in this section will no longer be approved, and residential generators will no longer have the right to apply for a new “zero generator” exemption from residential recyclables services fees described in this section as of the effective date of the ordinance codified in this section. Residential generators who have a current exemption will be allowed to continue with their exemption from payment of that portion of the integrated waste management service rate that is attributable to recyclables, as long as they provide adequate documentation to the director as described above. Failure to provide such documentation may result in a revocation of the exemption by the director. (Ord. 11-2021 § 1, 11-16-21.)

(a) A single-family dwelling residential generator may apply to the director for continuation of a previously granted exemption from payment of that portion of the integrated waste management service rate that is attributable to organics services if, and only if, the residential generator has demonstrated that he or she has an existing on-site composting system and produces and/or discards in the landfill bin or container a very low volume of organics. “Low volume” shall mean one gallon or less per weekly collection period. This demonstration must be made by submitting to the director a signed statement, made under penalty of perjury, that the residential generator generates this low volume of organics by chipping and/or composting all of his or her organics on his or her property. Any dispute between the residential generator and the director regarding denial of an exemption or a revocation of an exemption may be appealed to, and shall be finally resolved by, the administrative hearing officer. A residential generator who has an exemption may be required to provide periodic proof that he or she is continuing the practices on which the exemption was based.

(b) New “zero generator” exemptions for organics as described in this section will no longer be approved, and residential generators will no longer have the right to apply for a “zero generator” exemption from residential organics services fees described in this section as of the effective date of the ordinance codified in this section. Residential generators who have a current exemption based on verified chipping and/or composting systems will be allowed to continue with their exemption from payment of that portion of the integrated waste management service rate that is attributable to organics, as long as they provide adequate documentation to the director as described above. Failure to provide such documentation may result in a revocation of the exemption by the director. (Ord. 11-2021 § 1, 11-16-21.)

In no event shall a residential or commercial generator dispose of recyclables and/or organics in the incorrect container as a means of avoiding payment for recyclables and/or organics services. Any residential or commercial generator who has applied for or obtained an exemption from recyclables and/or organics collection services who improperly disposes of recyclables or organics, respectively, in any container shall be guilty of an infraction. (Ord. 11-2021 § 1, 11-16-21.)

The municipal solid waste franchise collector operating under an exclusive franchise agreement with the city is the sole authorized collector of municipal solid waste produced or generated within the city. No commercial generator, including but not limited to businesses, may contract with any other person for the collection and/or disposal of municipal solid waste.

The franchise collector has been designated the exclusive franchise collector for commercial recyclables, commercial organics, and construction and demolition debris. No commercial generators, including but not limited to businesses, may contract with any persons for collection or disposal of commercial recyclables, commercial organics, or construction and demolition debris other than the collectors as defined in this chapter. (Ord. 11-2021 § 1, 11-16-21.)

Collection from single-family dwellings shall be at curbside on a weekly basis, in accordance with a schedule published by the franchise collector. Customers who are physically unable to perform the activities necessary to avail themselves of curbside collection service may apply to the franchise collector for provision of collection from backyards or alleys, as appropriate, at no extra charge. Any dispute regarding the denial by the franchise collector of such service to a customer who claims to be entitled to it may be appealed by the customer to, and shall be finally resolved by, the administrative hearing officer. Other single-family dwelling customers may arrange with the franchise collector for backyard or alley collection at an additional charge. Collection from commercial generators that produce sufficiently small quantities of discarded materials so as to practicably utilize the carts provided by the franchise collector shall be from the premises or adjacent alley on a weekly basis. Empty collection containers shall be removed from the curbside within 24 hours of collection and shall be stored out of view from any street. No materials, containers or bulky items shall be set out for curbside collection before 6:00 a.m. on the day prior to scheduled collection. (Ord. 11-2021 § 1, 11-16-21.)

Occasional amounts of MSW which exceed the capacity of the MSW container (referred to as “overages”) for which a single-family dwelling customer has subscribed may be set out for collection alongside that container in an overage bag approved by the franchise collector. The franchise collector shall make approved overage bags available to the single-family customer either by delivery, or by distribution to designated outlets. Collection of occasional overages shall be at no additional cost to the residential generator; however, all residential and commercial generators are required under this chapter to utilize containers adequate to contain the volume of MSW that the generators normally would produce between collection dates. Recurrent set out of MSW in volumes greater than can be contained in the generator’s municipal solid waste container, with the lid closed, may result in the requirement that the generator subscribe to a greater level of service. The franchise collector shall notify the generator of the need to subscribe to a higher service level. Failure to redress the situation after a notice from the city to do so shall constitute an infraction. (Ord. 11-2021 § 1, 11-16-21.)

Collection from multifamily dwellings and commercial generators shall be on the premises at places agreed to between the generator and the collector on at least a weekly basis, and more frequently if necessary to adequately serve the premises and/or maintain such premises in compliance with this chapter. However, certain commercial on-call roll-off services with a minimal amount of putrescibles may be collected less frequently at the discretion of the director. If a multifamily dwelling or commercial generator routinely produces municipal solid waste or other discarded materials in excess of the capacity of the container or containers to which the generator has subscribed, the franchise collector will notify the generator of the requirement to subscribe to a larger container size and/or more frequent collection. Failure to redress the situation after a notice by the city to do so shall constitute an infraction. (Ord. 11-2021 § 1, 11-16-21.)

Recyclables, organics, and MSW generated at commercial facilities may not be commingled and shall be segregated into the appropriate containers for collection by the franchise collector. Commercial generators shall provide sufficient containers and instructions to encourage proper segregation of recyclables, organics, and MSW by staff and commercial tenants. (Ord. 11-2021 § 1, 11-16-21.)

The location, design and development of trash enclosures shall conform to all applicable regulations set out in Title 18 (Zoning). (Ord. 11-2021 § 1, 11-16-21.)

All persons including commercial and residential generators shall comply with all applicable federal, state, regional, local and city law governing the handling, treatment, storage, transportation, and disposal of hazardous wastes. Without limiting the foregoing, no hazardous waste, household hazardous waste, universal waste, or other unpermitted waste or material shall be disposed of in a municipal solid waste, recyclables or organics container set out for collection by the collector, nor shall such wastes be delivered by self-haul or otherwise to any landfill, transfer station, recyclery, materials recovery facility, organics processing facility, or any other facility which is not a regulated facility capable and permitted to handle such hazardous waste. Violation of this provision by any person shall result in noncollection of discarded materials and denial of access to facilities not in the business of receiving such wastes, and may result in assessment of costs for any special handling by the collector as a result of the violation, penalties and/or prosecution by the city, as well as any potential prosecution by the state or federal government. (Ord. 11-2021 § 1, 11-16-21.)

Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, used motor oil may be disposed of by generators utilizing the containers provided by, and complying with the instructions of, the collector. In addition, dry paint cans may be disposed of in municipal solid waste containers. Acceptable household hazardous wastes may be disposed of by self-haul to a permitted household hazardous waste facility, in compliance with the instructions of that facility and all other applicable city, county and state laws. (Ord. 11-2021 § 1, 11-16-21.)

The franchise collector is entitled to collect, and each customer is obligated to pay, the rates established for the services provided hereunder, including the fees assessed by the city to cover the costs of administering the collection and processing franchises and the city’s integrated waste management programs. Residential generators shall be billed quarterly, in advance of services provided. Commercial generators subscribing to bin service shall be billed monthly, in advance of services provided. Commercial generators subscribing to roll-off services shall be billed monthly for services provided in the previous month. All invoices shall be payable upon receipt. Collection of payments is the responsibility of the franchise collector; nothing in this chapter shall obligate the city to participate in collection of sums due to franchise collector from residential and commercial customers. (Ord. 11-2021 § 1, 11-16-21.)