Fresno County Municipal Code § 8.30.010 Purpose and intent

It is the purpose and intent of this chapter to regulate the land application of human-derived materials in the unincorporated territory of Fresno County in a manner that protects public health, ground and surface waters, agricultural markets, and sensitive wetlands and habitat areas. In order to ensure adequate protection of irreplaceable resources, including critical groundwater basins and agricultural land devoted to food production, this chapter provides local control and requires that the highest levels of safety be observed in the land application of human-derived materials. This chapter is intended to supplement and to operate in conjunction with standards imposed on the land application of human-derived materials by state law and by the applicable rules, regulations, orders and requirements of the State Water Resources Control Board and the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board.

(Ord. 01-011, § 1; Ord. No. 26-003, § 2, 4-21-2026)

This chapter is adopted pursuant to the police power of Fresno County as set forth in Article XI, Section 7, of the California Constitution. In addition, 40 CFR Part 503 recognizes the authority of local government to impose more stringent requirements on the use or disposal of biosolids in order to protect public health and the environment. California Health and Safety Code section 7116 expressly authorizes the County to adopt an ordinance specifically prohibiting the integration of reduced human remains, or human compost, into the soil on lands under the County's jurisdiction.

(Ord. 01-011, § 1; Ord. No. 26-003, § 2, 4-21-2026)

The board of supervisors authorizes County Department(s) to charge actual costs in enforcing this chapter.

(Ord. 01-011, § 1; Ord. No. 26-003, § 2, 4-21-2026)

For purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall be defined as follows:

A. "Active compost" means compost feedstock that is in the process of being rapidly decomposed and is unstable. Active compost is generating temperatures of at least fifty degrees Celsius (one hundred twenty degrees Fahrenheit) during decomposition and is releasing carbon dioxide at a rate of at least fifteen milligrams per gram of compost per day, or the equivalent of oxygen uptake.

B. "Applicator" means any person engaged in the land application of biosolids.

C. "Biosolids" are treated solid, semi-solid or liquid residues generated during the treatment of sewage in a wastewater treatment plant. These residues include, but are not limited to, scum or solids removed in primary, secondary or advanced wastewater treatment processes and material derived from sewage sludge. Biosolids do not include ash generated during the firing of sewage sludge in a sewage incinerator or grit and screenings generated during preliminary treatment of sewage. Biosolids, as used in this chapter, includes composted material that contains material derived from sewage sludge and which fails to meet the standards specified for "exceptional quality compost," as defined herein. Notwithstanding any other provision hereof, biosolids, as used in this chapter, specifically excludes those biosolids products that are packaged in a bag or container for routine retail sales through regular retail outlets, which products are primarily used for residential landscaping.

D. "County" means the county of Fresno, State of California.

E. "Exceptional quality biosolids" are those class A biosolids that meet each of the following requirements in order to be classified as "exceptional quality": (1) the pollutant concentration levels specified in 40 CFR § 503.13, Table 3; (2) a level of vector attraction reduction required by 40 CFR § 503.33; and (3) the bacteria limits specified in Alternatives 1 through 6 of 40 CFR § 503.32(a), for either the fecal coliform, or salmonella species.

F. "Exceptional quality compost" means an organic, composted material containing biosolids which meets the ceiling concentration standards set forth in 40 CFR § 503.13(b)(1), the pollutant concentration standards set forth in 40 CFR § 503.13(b)(3), one of the class A pathogen reduction alternatives set forth in 40 CFR § 503.32(a), and one of the vector attraction reduction options set forth in 40 CFR § 503.33(b)(l)-(8), and which has undergone the process to further reduce pathogens described in Section 17868.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, and which has reached a stage of reduced biological activity as indicated by reduced temperature and rate of respiration below that of active compost, as defined herein.

G. "Existing operator" means a person who on the effective date of this chapter is operating pursuant to current waste discharge requirements for the land application of biosolids as issued by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board or the State Water Resources Control Board.

H. "Floodway" means a channel for floodwater as designated by the Reclamation Board of the State of California or as shown on maps published by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

I. "Human compost" or "reduced human remains," means the remains of a human body that have been reduced to soil through a decomposition process, which may be accelerated with the addition of organic materials, and as per California Health and Safety Code section 7116(b).

J. "Human Derived Materials" means biosolids and human compost, as defined herein.

K. "Land application" means the spraying or spreading of biosolids onto the land surface, the injection of biosolids below the surface of the land, or the incorporation of biosolids into the soil so that it can either condition the soil or fertilize crops or vegetation grown in the soil.

L. "Land Owner" means the owner or owners of land upon which the biosolids are proposed to be applied or are being applied.

M. "Person" means any individual, firm, partnership, joint venture, association, corporation, estate, trust, receiver, syndicate, city, county or other political subdivision, or any other group or combination acting as a unit.

N. "Wastewater treatment facility" means a facility that has been permitted by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board and the County, or a city within the county, to conduct wastewater treatment operations, resulting in generation of biosolids as a by-product thereof.

(Ord. 01-011, § 1; Ord. No. 26-003, § 2, 4-21-2026)

The integration of or spreading of reduced human remains, or human compost, into the soil on land located in the unincorporated area of Fresno County, is hereby prohibited. This prohibition shall not apply to private property that is not open to the public, except upon private land where food is grown, if the first crop harvested after application will be made available to the public for human consumption.

(Ord. No. 26-003, § 2, 4-21-2026)

A. The land application of biosolids to land located in the unincorporated area of Fresno County, is hereby prohibited, except as expressly authorized under the provisions of Section 8.30.060.

B. The discharge of biosolids to surface waters or surface water drainage courses located within the unincorporated area of the county, including wetlands and waterways, is hereby prohibited.

C. Land application of biosolids within any designated floodway designated by the Reclamation Board of the State of California or within any designated floodway shown on maps published by the Federal Emergency Management Agency is hereby prohibited.

(Ord. 01-011, § 1; Ord. No. 26-003, § 2, 4-21-2026)

A. The prohibitions set forth in Paragraph A of the preceding Section 8.30.050 do not apply to exceptional quality biosolids, as defined herein; provided, however, that land application of exceptional quality biosolids:

1. Shall be subject to waste discharge requirements and any other applicable regulatory provisions of the State Water Resources Control Board and the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board, and

2. Shall constitute "solid waste disposal" under the provisions of the Fresno County Zoning Ordinance and accordingly shall be subject to regulation and discretionary approval under the conditional use permit process pursuant to Sections 853 and 873 thereof.

B. The prohibitions set forth in Paragraph A of the preceding Section 8.30.050 do not apply to exceptional quality compost, as defined herein provided, however, that any land application of exceptional quality compost after the effective date of this chapter:

1. Shall be subject to waste discharge requirements and any other applicable regulatory provisions of the State Water Resources Control Board and the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board, and

2. Shall be subject to regulation and authorization by use permit issued by the Fresno County agricultural commissioner. The terms and conditions of such permit shall be established by Resolution to be adopted by the board of supervisors prior to the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter.

C. From the effective date of this chapter through and including December 31, 2002, no person may land apply any biosolids in the unincorporated areas of Fresno County unless that person meets the following requirements:

1. From the effective date of this chapter through and including December 31, 2002, any existing operators may continue to land apply biosolids. Provided, however, that the existing operator's operations shall be limited to the specific site(s) for which waste discharge requirements have been issued, and for which a conditional use permit has been issued by the county (except as to land that is exempt from county zoning and land use requirements) prior to the effective date of this chapter.

2. The existing operator's continued operation under this subsection shall be subject to the following requirements and time limitations:

(a) During the period from the effective date of this chapter through and including December 31, 2002, no biosolids material may be land applied unless it meets the following standards:

(1) The Class A or Class B pathogen requirements in 40 CFR, Part 503, Section 503.32, subsections (a) or (b) respectively, or its revisions; and

(2) One of the vector attraction reduction requirements identified in 40 CFR, Part 503, Section 503.33 or its revisions; and

(3) The ceiling concentration limits in 40 CFR, Part 503, Section 503.13, Table 1, or its revisions; and

(4) Any standards established by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board or the State Water Resources Control Board in waste discharge requirements which are applicable either to the applicator's site or to the facilities where the biosolids are generated.

D. Commencing January 1, 2003, all existing operators shall be required to conform their activities to the prohibitions set forth in Section 8.30.050, except to the extent land application of biosolids is expressly authorized under Paragraph A of this section, such that no biosolids may thereafter be applied by existing operators to any land in the unincorporated area of the county unless the material to be applied meets the definition of either "exceptional quality biosolids" or "exceptional quality compost" set forth in Paragraphs E and F of Section 8.30.040.

(Ord. 01-011, § 1)

A. Any person who violates this chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof may be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) or by imprisonment in the County Jail for a period of not more than six (6) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. This section shall not serve to limit any other legal remedies or actions that the County may have to address violations of this chapter.

B. Administrative Citation. The County may, at its discretion, issue an administrative citation for each violation of this chapter. The administrative penalty to be assessed for each violation shall be as follows: (i) First violation, up to one thousand dollars ($1,000.00); (ii) Second occurrence of the same violation within one year of the first violation, up to two thousand dollars ($2,000.00); (iii) Third or subsequent occurrence of the same violation within one year of the first violation, up to five thousand dollars ($5,000.00).

C. Every violation of this chapter shall be construed as a separate offense for each day during which such violation continues and shall be punishable as provided in this chapter. The court or the County may also demand and require the violator to clean up at the violator's expense any illegally applied or deposited human-derived materials and dispose of it in a legal, approved, environmentally safe, and clean manner. In addition, any unauthorized application of human-derived materials in violation of this chapter shall constitute a public nuisance, and may be abated or enjoined, as appropriate, irrespective of any other remedy herein provided.

D. All fines, fees, and assessments may be recovered pursuant to Chapter 1.13.

(Ord. 01-011, § 1; Ord. No. 26-003, § 2, 4-21-2026)

If any clause, provision, sentence, or paragraph of this chapter, or the application thereof, is deemed to be invalid as to any person, entity, establishment, or circumstance, such invalidity shall not affect the other provisions of this chapter which shall still remain in full force and effect, and to this end, it is hereby declared that the provisions of this chapter are severable.

(Ord. 01-011, § 1)