La Mesa Municipal Code Ch. 14.27 Construction and Demolition Debris Diversion Deposit Program

The purpose of this chapter is to promote the recycling of construction and demolition debris in order to protect the public health, safety, and welfare and to meet the city's obligations under the California Integrated Waste Management Act and its alternative diversion debris requirement, approved by the California Integrated Waste Management Board.

(Ord. 2005-2763 § 1 (part); November 22, 2005)

For the purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply:

"Applicant" means any individual, firm, limited liability company, association, partnership, political subdivision, government agency, municipality, industry, public or private corporation, or any other entity whatsoever who applies to the city for the applicable permits to undertake any construction, demolition, or renovation project within the city.

"California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989" means law codified in the California Public Resources Code Sections 40000 et seq.

"Construction" means the building of any facility or structure or any portion thereof, including any tenant improvements to an existing facility or structure.

"Conversion rate" means the rate set forth in the standardized conversion rate table approved by the city pursuant to this chapter for use in estimating the volume of weight of materials identified in a waste management plan.

"Covered project" shall have the meanings set forth in Section 14.27.060 of this chapter.

"Debris" means used or discarded materials removed from premises during construction, renovation, or demolition operations on any pavement, house, commercial building, or other structure. This term includes, but is not limited to, asphalt, concrete, brick, dirt, rock, lumber, cardboard, metals and any other vegetative or woody land clearing/landscaping materials.

"Deconstruction" means the process of carefully dismantling a building or structure in order to salvage components for reuse or recycling.

"Demolition" means the decimating, razing, ruining, tearing down or wrecking of any facility, structure, pavement or building, whether in whole or in part, whether interior or exterior.

"Disposal" means the final deposition of solid waste at a permitted landfill.

"Divert" or "diversion" means to use material for any purpose other than disposal in a landfill or transformation facility.

"Diversion deposit" means the moneys remitted to the city by an applicant for a covered project to incentivize the recycling of construction and demolition debris.

"Diversion requirement" means the minimum percentage of construction and demolition debris for each project that must be diverted from landfills.

"Exempt project" means activities that do not require a building or demolition permit. Exempt projects shall not be subject to the provisions of this chapter.

"Hazardous waste" has the same meaning as set forth in state and federal law.

"Jurisdiction-sponsored project" means any public works project, defined as construction, renovation, demolition, installation, or repair work done under contract and paid for, in whole or in part, out of public funds, and/or street, sewer, or other improvement work done under the direction and supervision of any political subdivision or district thereof, being constructed within the city.

"Large project" shall have the meaning set forth in Section 14.27.060(B) of this chapter.

"Noncovered project" means those projects that do not meet the threshold of any category of covered project.

"Project" means any activity that requires a building or demolition permit or any similar permit from the city.

"Recycling" means 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.

"Recycling facility" means a recycling, composting, materials recovery or reuse facility that accepts construction and demolition debris.

"Renovation" means any change, addition, alteration or remodel in an existing structure.

"Reuse" means further or repeated use of construction or demolition waste.

"Salvage" means the controlled removal of construction or demolition waste from a permitted building or demolition site for the purpose of recycling, reuse, or storage for later recycling or reuse.

"Small project" shall have the meaning set forth in Section 14.27.060(A) of this chapter.

"Solid waste" means all putrescible and nonputrescible solid, semisolid, and liquid wastes, including, but not limited to, garbage, trash, refuse, paper, rubbish, ashes, industrial wastes, construction and demolition debris, abandoned vehicles and parts thereof, discarded home and industrial appliances, dewatered, treated, or chemically fixed sewage sludge which is not hazardous waste, manure, vegetable or animal solid and semisolid wastes, and other discarded solid and semisolid wastes. Solid waste does not include hazardous waste, hazardous substances or medical wastes.

"Waste management plan" or "WMP" means a completed form prepared and submitted by an applicant for any covered project approved by the city for the purpose of compliance with this chapter. The form is submitted when applying for a permit.

"Waste management plan form part I" means the form on which an applicant for a large project shall provide information, including, but not limited to, the types and amounts of construction and demolition debris the applicant anticipates the project will generate and the expected diversion the applicant expects to achieve for that project.

"Waste management plan form part II" means the form on which the applicant for a large project shall provide information, including, but not limited to, the name and address of the person to whom a deposit refund, if any, shall be issued, as well as documentary evidence in a form satisfactory to the WMP compliance official demonstrating the construction and demolition debris diversion the applicant achieved for the project.

"WMP compliance official" means the person designated by the city manager who is authorized and responsible for implementing this chapter.

(Ord. 2005-2763 § 1 (part); November 22, 2005)

The city council shall establish by resolution a schedule of construction and demolition debris diversion deposits applicable to covered projects. The schedule shall be reviewed and adjusted periodically to ensure that the purposes of this chapter are met.

(Ord. 2005-2763 § 1 (part); November 22, 2005)

No building, site development or demolition permit shall be issued for a covered project unless and until the diversion deposit for the project has been posted with the city. Compliance with the provisions of this chapter shall be listed as a condition of approval on any building, site development or demolition permit issued for a covered project.

(Ord. 2005-2763 § 1 (part); November 22, 2005)

Diversion deposits may be made in the form of cash, check, cashier's check, money order, debit card, Visa or MasterCard. All payments shall be in the exact amount due. Checks, cashier's checks, and money orders shall be made payable to the "city of La Mesa".

(Ord. 2005-2763 § 1 (part); November 22, 2005)

(a) Small Project.

(1) New Construction. All new construction projects within the city, the total size of which is, or is projected to be, greater than or equal to two thousand five hundred square feet shall comply with all applicable provisions of this chapter. For the purposes of determining whether a project meets the foregoing threshold, all phases of a new construction project and all related projects taking place on a single or adjoining parcels, as determined by the WMP compliance official, shall be deemed a single project.

(2) Renovation. All renovation projects within the city, the total size of which is, or is projected to be, greater than or equal to one thousand square feet shall comply with all applicable provisions of this chapter. For the purposes of determining whether a project meets the foregoing threshold, all phases of a renovation project and all related projects taking place on a single or adjoining parcels, as determined by the WMP compliance official, shall be deemed a single project.

(3) Demolition. All demolition projects within the city, the total size of which is, or is projected to be, greater than or equal to one thousand square feet shall comply with all applicable provisions of this chapter. For the purposes of determining whether a project meets the foregoing threshold, all phases of a renovation project and all related projects taking place on a single or adjoining parcels, as determined by the WMP compliance official, shall be deemed a single project.

(4) Roofing. All roofing projects within the city that include the tear-off of all or part of an existing roof shall comply with all applicable provisions of this chapter.

(b) Large Project. All new construction, renovation, demolition, and roofing projects within the city, the total size of which is, or is projected to be, greater than or equal to ten thousand square feet shall comply with all applicable provisions of this chapter. For the purposes of determining whether a project meets the foregoing threshold, all phases of a large project and all related projects taking place on single or adjoining parcels, as determined by the WMP compliance official, shall be deemed a single project.

No building, site development or demolition permit shall be issued for a large project unless and until the WMP compliance official has approved a WMP for the project. Compliance with the provisions of this chapter shall be listed as a condition of approval on any building, site development or demolition permit issued for a large project.

(c) Jurisdiction-Sponsored Project. All jurisdiction-sponsored new construction, renovation, demolition, and roofing projects shall be considered large projects for the purposes of this chapter.

(Ord. 2005-2763 § 1 (part); November 22, 2005)

(a) For the purposes of this section, diversion of construction and demolition debris may be achieved by any of the following methods:

(1) On-site reuse;

(2) Acceptance of the construction and demolition debris by a recycling facility; or

(3) Salvage, other donation or reuse of the construction and demolition debris acceptable to the WMP compliance official.

(b) Construction and demolition debris shall be measured by weight or by volume; whichever is most accurate and practicable. To the extent practicable, all construction and demolition debris shall be weighed on a scale.

(1) For construction and demolition debris that is weighed, the applicant shall use a scale that is in compliance with all federal, state, and local regulatory requirements for accuracy and maintenance of such scale.

(2) For construction and demolition debris for which measurement by weight is not practicable, the applicant shall measure by volume and convert the volumetric measurements to weight using the city's conversion rate tables.

(Ord. 2005-2763 § 1 (part); November 22, 2005)

The city shall make available to each applicant a current list of area recycling and salvage/reuse facilities. Applicants for noncovered projects shall be encouraged to divert at least fifty percent of all project-related construction and demolition debris.

(Ord. 2005-2763 § 1 (part); November 22, 2005)

(a) Applicants for permits for a large project shall complete and submit a waste management plan (WMP), on a WMP form approved by the city for this purpose, as part of the permit application packet. The completed WMP shall indicate all of the following:

(1) The estimated total weight or volume of construction and demolition debris generated by the project;

(2) The means that the applicant proposes to use to divert construction and demolition debris:

a. In describing the means of diversion of construction and demolition debris other than salvage/reuse, the applicant shall state the recycling facility that will be used, by material type,

b. In describing the means of diversion of construction and demolition debris proposed for salvage/reuse, the applicant shall state the quantity and means of reuse;

(3) Acknowledgement of Responsibility. The WMP shall be signed by both the contractor and owner indicating: (a) an understanding of consequences of not meeting the diversion requirement, and that (b) they are responsible for the actions of their subcontractors with regard to this diversion requirement.

(Ord. 2005-2763 § 1 (part); November 22, 2005)

(a) Deconstruction and Salvage. In preparing the WMP for demolition projects, applicants shall consider deconstruction, to the maximum extent feasible, and shall make the materials generated thereby available for salvage prior to demolition. Materials generated in this process shall be included in the amount of construction and demolition debris generated.

(b) Approval. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, no building, demolition, or site development permits shall be issued for any large project, nor shall any demolition, construction or renovation take place on any large project, unless and until the WMP compliance official has approved the WMP. The WMP compliance official shall only approve a WMP if he or she first determines that all of the following conditions have been met:

(1) The WMP provides all of the information set forth in Section 14.27.090 of this chapter;

(2) The WMP indicates that at least the minimum diversion of all construction and demolition debris generated by the large project will be diverted;

(3) If the WMP compliance official determines that these two conditions have been met, he or she shall mark the WMP "approved" and return a copy of the WMP to the applicant.

(c) Nonapproval. If the WMP compliance official determines that the WMP fails to: (1) list all construction and demolition materials to be generated; (2) indicate that at least the minimum diversion of all construction and demolition debris generated by the large project will be reused or recycled; or (3) to have both the contractor and owner signatures, he or she shall return the WMP to the applicant marked "denied," including a statement of reasons.

(Ord. 2005-2763 § 1 (part); November 22, 2005)

(a) For permits issued on or after the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter until such time as a recycling facility that accepts mixed construction and demolition debris is operating in the San Diego region, the diversion rate shall be fifty percent by weight of the total construction and demolition debris generated by the covered project.

(b) For permits issued after a recycling facility that accepts mixed construction and demolition debris is operating in the San Diego region, the diversion rate shall increase to seventy-five percent by weight of the total construction and demolition debris generated by the covered project.

(Ord. 2005-2763 § 1 (part); November 22, 2005)

(a) The WMP compliance official shall authorize the refund of any diversion deposit that was erroneously paid or collected.

(b) The WMP compliance official shall authorize the refund of any diversion deposit when the permit application is withdrawn or cancelled before any work has begun.

(c) An applicant is eligible for a refund of the diversion deposit posted pursuant to Section 14.27.040 of this chapter, provided the applicant submits the following materials to the WMP compliance official within sixty days of the final inspection date for the covered project for which the deposit was posted:

(1) A properly completed WMP form approved by the city for this purpose, which demonstrates the construction and demolition debris diversion the applicant achieved for the project;

(2) Evidence satisfactory to the WMP compliance official that construction and demolition debris generated by the project was diverted.

(d) The WMP compliance official shall authorize a full refund of a diversion deposit when at least the required diversion of the construction and demolition debris generated by the project was diverted from landfill disposal.

(e) The WMP compliance official shall authorize a partial refund of a diversion deposit when less than the required diversion of the construction and demolition debris generated by the project was diverted from landfill disposal. The partial refund shall not exceed that portion of the diversion deposit that is in the same ratio as the demonstrated amount of diverted construction and demolition debris bears to the required diversion of the total construction and demolition debris generated.

(f) In no event shall the refund be in an amount greater than the deposit posted by the applicant.

(Ord. 2005-2763 § 1 (part); November 22, 2005)

A diversion deposit that is not refunded or claimed in accordance with this chapter is the property of the city. For purposes of every diversion deposit and all interest accrued thereon, the relationship between the applicant and the city is that of debtor and creditor, respectively. All interest accruing on diversion deposits is the property of the city, and the applicant shall have no claim upon the interest.

(Ord. 2005-2763 § 1 (part); November 22, 2005)

Diversion deposits received by the city, including earned interest, shall be used for:

(1) Payment of diversion deposit refunds; and

(2) Cost of programs and activities whose purpose is to divert recyclable waste from landfill disposal.

(Ord. 2005-2763 § 1 (part); November 22, 2005)

Appeal of a determination made under this chapter by the WMP compliance official shall be made to the city manager. The appeal shall be in writing and filed with the jurisdiction of La Mesa within ten days of receipt of the WMP compliance official's decision by the appellant. Appeals shall be limited to whether the applicant made a good faith effort to comply with the WMP, and/or whether the amount of the deposit refunded was proper under this chapter.

(Ord. 2005-2763 § 1 (part); November 22, 2005)