Los Banos Municipal Code Ch. 3.2 Organic Waste Disposal Reduction

For the purposes of this chapter, unless otherwise apparent from the context, certain words and phrases used in this chapter are defined as follows:

"Blue container"

means a container where either: (1) the lid of the container is blue in color or (2) the body of the container is blue in color and the lid is either blue, gray, or black in color and shall be used for the purpose of storage and collection of source separated recyclable materials

"Commercial business" or "commercial"

means a firm, partnership, proprietorship, joint-stock company, corporation, or association, whether for-profit or nonprofit, strip mall, industrial facility, or a multifamily residential dwelling.

"Commercial edible food generator"

means a commercial edible food generator that is one of the following:

(1)

Tier one.

(A)

Supermarket.

(B)

Grocery store with a total facility size equal to or greater than 10,000 square feet.

(C)

Food service provider.

(D)

Food distributor.

(E)

Wholesale food vendor.

(2)

Tier two.

(A)

Restaurant with 250 or more seats, or a total facility size equal to or greater than 5,000 square feet.

(B)

Hotel with an on-site food facility and 200 or more rooms.

(C)

Health facility with an on-site food facility and 100 or more beds.

(D)

Large venue is a large event that charges an admission price or is operated by a local agency.

(E)

Large event is a permanent venue facility that annually seats or serves an average of more than 2,000 individuals within the grounds of the facility per day of operation of the venue facility.

(F)

A state agency with a cafeteria with 250 or more seats or a total cafeteria facility size equal to or greater than 5,000 square feet.

(G)

A local education agency with an on-site food facility.

"Compliance review"

means a review of records by the City of Los Banos, or designee, to determine compliance with this chapter.

"Compost"

means the product resulting from the controlled biological decomposition of organic solid wastes that are source separated from the municipal solid waste stream, or which are separated at a centralized facility.

"Container contamination" or "contaminated container"

means a container, regardless of color, that contains prohibited container contaminants.

"C&D"

means construction and demolition debris.

"Designee"

means an entity that a City contracts with or otherwise arranges to carry out any of the City's responsibilities of this chapter. A designee may be a government entity, a hauler, a private entity, or a combination of those entities.

"Edible food"

means food intended for human consumption. For the purposes of this chapter edible food is not solid waste if it is recovered and not discarded. Nothing in this chapter requires or authorizes the recovery of edible food that does not meet the food safety requirements of the California Retail Food Code.

"Enforcement action"

means an action of the City to address noncompliance with this chapter, including, but not limited to, issuing administrative citations, fines, penalties, or using other remedies.

"Enforcement official"

means the City Manager, or his or her authorized designee(s) who is/are partially or wholly responsible for enforcing this chapter.

"Food distributor"

means a company that distributes food to entities, including, but not limited to, supermarkets and grocery stores.

"Food facility"

means an operation that stores, prepares, packages, serves, vends, or otherwise provides food for human consumption at the retail level (refer to Section 113789 of the Health and Safety Code for a complete definition).

"Food recovery"

means actions to collect and distribute food for human consumption that otherwise would be disposed.

"Food recovery organization"

means an entity that engages in the collection or receipt of edible food from commercial edible food generators and distributes that edible food to the public for food recovery either directly or through other entities including, but not limited to:

(1)

A food bank as defined in Section 113783 of the Health and Safety Code;

(2)

A nonprofit charitable organization as defined in Section 113841 of the Health and Safety Code; and

(3)

A nonprofit charitable temporary food facility as defined in Section 113842 of the Health and Safety Code.

"Food recovery service"

means a person or entity that collects and transports edible food from a commercial edible food generator to a food recovery organization or other entities for food recovery.

"Food scraps"

means all food such as, but not limited to, fruits, vegetables, meat, poultry, seafood, shellfish, rice, beans, pasta, bread, cheese, and eggshells. Food scraps excludes fats, oils, and grease when such materials are source separated from other food scraps.

"Food service provider"

means an entity primarily engaged in providing food services to institutional, governmental, commercial, or industrial locations of others based on contractual arrangements with these types of organizations.

"Food-soiled paper"

is compostable paper material that has come in contact with food or liquid, such as, but not limited to, compostable paper plates, paper coffee cups, napkins, pizza boxes, and milk cartons.

"Food waste"

means food scraps, and food-soiled paper.

"Gray container"

means container used only for the purpose of storage and collection of garbage.

"Green container"

means a container used only for the purpose of storage and collection of source separated organic waste including food waste.

"Grocery store"

means a store primarily engaged in the retail sale of canned food; dry goods; fresh fruits and vegetables; fresh meats, fish, and poultry; and any area that is not separately owned within the store where the food is prepared and served, including a bakery, deli, and meat and seafood departments.

"Hauler route"

means the designated itinerary or sequence of stops for each segment of the City's collection service area.

"Inspection"

means a site visit where a City or City designee reviews records, containers, and an entity's collection, handling, recycling, or landfill disposal of organic waste or edible food handling to determine if the entity is complying with requirements set forth in this chapter.

"Multifamily residential dwelling"

means residential premises with five or more dwelling units.

"Noncompostable paper"

includes, but is not limited to, paper that is coated in a plastic material that will not break down in the composting process.

"Nonorganic recyclables"

means nonputrescible and nonhazardous recyclable wastes, including, but not limited to, bottles, cans, metals, plastics and glass.

"Notice of violation (NOV)"

means a notice that a violation has occurred that includes a compliance date to avoid an action to seek penalties.

"Organic waste"

means solid wastes containing material originated from living organisms and their metabolic waste products, including, but not limited to, food, green material, landscape and pruning waste, lumber, wood, paper products, printing and writing paper, and manure.

"Organic waste generator"

means a person or entity that is responsible for the initial creation of organic waste.

"Prohibited container contaminants"

means discarded materials that are not acceptable recyclable materials to be placed in the blue container; discarded materials that are not acceptable source separated organic waste to be placed the green container; and discarded materials that are not acceptable to be placed in the gray container and excluded waste placed in any container.

"Recovered organic waste products"

means products made from California, landfill-diverted recovered organic waste processed in a permitted or otherwise authorized facility.

"Recovery"

means any activity or process of diverting organic waste from the landfill, processed at an approved recycling center, composting facility, in-vessel digestion operation or facility, biomass conversion operation or facility, or used as soil amendment for erosion control, revegetation, slope stabilization, or landscaping.

"Recycled-content paper"

means paper products and printing and writing paper that consists of at least 30%, by fiber weight, postconsumer fiber.

"Route review"

means a visual inspection of containers along a hauler route for the purpose of determining container contamination and may include mechanical inspection methods such as the use of cameras.

"SB 1383"

means Senate Bill 1383 of 2016 approved by the Governor on September 19, 2016, which added Sections 39730.5, 39730.6, 39730.7, and 39730.8 to the Health and Safety Code, and added Chapter 13.1 (commencing with Section 42652) to Part 3 of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code, establishing methane emissions reduction targets in a Statewide effort to reduce emissions of short-lived climate pollutants as amended, supplemented, superseded, and replaced from time to time.

"SB 1383 regulations" or "SB 1383 regulatory"

means or refers to, for the purposes of this chapter, the Short-Lived Climate Pollutants: Organic Waste Reduction regulations developed by CALRecycle and adopted in 2020 that created 14 CCR, Division 7, Chapter 12 and amended portions of regulations of 14 CCR and 27 CCR.

"Self-hauler"

means a person, who hauls solid waste, organic waste or recyclable material he or she has generated to another person. Self-hauler also includes a person who back-hauls waste. Back-haul means generating and transporting organic waste to a destination owned and operated by the generator using the generator's own employees and equipment.

"Single-family"

means of, from, or pertaining to any residential premises with fewer than five units.

"Solid waste"

has the same meaning as defined in State Public Resources Code Section 40191, which defines solid waste as all putrescible and nonputrescible solid, semi-solid, and liquid wastes, including garbage, trash, refuse, paper, rubbish, ashes, industrial wastes, demolition and construction wastes, 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 semi-solid wastes, and other discarded solid and semi-solid wastes, with the exception that solid waste does not include any of the following wastes:

(1)

Hazardous waste, as defined in the State Public Resources Code Section 40141.

(2)

Radioactive waste regulated pursuant to the State Radiation Control Law (Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 114960) of Part 9 of Division 104 of the State Health and Safety Code).

(3)

Medical waste regulated pursuant to the State Medical Waste Management Act (Part 14 (commencing with Section 117600) of Division 104 of the State Health and Safety Code). Untreated medical waste shall not be disposed of in a solid waste landfill, as defined in State Public Resources Code Section 40195.1. Medical waste that has been treated and deemed to be solid waste shall be regulated pursuant to Division 30 of the State Public Resources Code.

"Source separated"

means materials, including commingled recyclable materials and organic waste, that have been separated or kept separate from the solid waste stream, at the point of generation, for the purpose of additional sorting or processing those materials for recycling or reuse in order to return 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. For the purposes of this chapter, source separated shall include separation of materials by the generator, property owner, property owner's employee, property manager, or property manager's employee into different containers for the purpose of collection such that source separated materials are separated from gray container waste or other solid waste for the purposes of collection and processing.

"Source separated blue container organic waste"

means source separated organic wastes that can be placed in a blue container that is limited to the collection of those organic wastes and nonorganic recyclables.

"Source separated green container organic waste"

means source separated organic waste that can be placed in a green container that is specifically intended for the separate collection of organic waste by the generator, excluding source separated blue container organic waste, carpets, noncompostable paper, and textiles.

"Source separated recyclable materials"

means source separated nonorganic recyclables and source separated green container organic waste.

"State"

means the State of California.

"Supermarket"

means a full-line, self-service retail store with gross annual sales of Two Million and No/100ths ($2,000,000.00) Dollars, or more, and which sells a line of dry grocery, canned goods, or nonfood items and some perishable items.

"Tier one commercial edible food generator"

means a commercial edible food generator that is one of the following:

(1)

Supermarket.

(2)

Grocery store with a total facility size equal to or greater than 10,000 square feet.

(3)

Food service provider.

(4)

Food distributor.

(5)

Wholesale food vendor.

"Tier two commercial edible food generator"

means a commercial edible food generator that is one of the following:

(1)

Restaurant with 250 or more seats, or a total facility size equal to or greater than 5,000 square feet.

(2)

Hotel with an on-site food facility and 200 or more rooms.

(3)

Health facility with an on-site food facility and 100 or more beds.

(4)

Large venue.

(5)

Large event.

(6)

A State agency with a cafeteria with 250 or more seats or total cafeteria facility size equal to or greater than 5,000 square feet.

(7)

A local education agency facility with an on-site food facility.

(§ 1, Ord. 1194, eff. March 1, 2022)

(a) Single-family dwellings shall subscribe to City's three-container organic waste collection services for all organic waste generated by placing garbage in the gray container, recyclables in the blue container, and organic materials such as green waste and food waste in the green container.

(b) Multifamily residential dwellings shall subscribe to City franchise hauler's three-bin container organic waste collection services for all organic waste generated by placing garbage in the gray container, recyclables in the blue container, and organic materials such as green waste and food waste in the green container.

(1) Provide adequate number, size, and location of collection containers with sufficient labels or colors consistent with City's blue, green, and gray collection services containers for employees, contractors, and tenants.

(2) Provide education information before or within 14 days of occupation of the premises to new tenants that describes requirements to keep source separated green container organic waste and source separated recyclable materials separate from gray container waste (when applicable) and the location of containers and the rules governing their use at each property.

(c) Commercial businesses shall subscribe to City's three-bin container organic waste collection services for all organic waste generated by placing garbage in the gray container, recyclables in the blue container, and organic materials such as green waste and food waste in the green container.

(1) Provide adequate number, size, and location of collection containers with sufficient labels or colors consistent with City's blue, green, and gray collection services containers for employees, contractors, and tenants.

(2) Pursuant to AB 827, commercial businesses that generate organic waste and recyclable materials shall provide green containers for the collection of organic waste and blue containers for recyclable materials in all indoor and outdoor areas where disposal containers are provided for customers, for materials generated by the business.

(3) Provide education information before or within 14 days of occupation of the premises to new tenants that describes requirements to keep source separated green container organic waste and source separated recyclable materials separate from gray and the location of containers and the rules governing their use at each property.

(§ 1, Ord. 1194, eff. March 1, 2022)

The City may waive a commercial business's, or property owner's obligation (including multifamily residential dwellings) to comply with some or all of the recyclable materials and/or organic waste requirements of this chapter.

(a) De Minimis Waivers. Commercial businesses requesting a de minimis waiver shall:

(1) Submit an application specifying the services that they are requesting a waiver from and provide either of the following documentation.

(A) The commercial business's, total solid waste collection service is two cubic yards or more per week and organic waste subject to collection in a blue container or green container comprises less than 20 gallons per week per applicable container of the business's, total waste; or

(B) The commercial business's total solid waste collection service is less than two cubic yards per week and organic waste subject to collection in a blue container or green container comprises less than 10 gallons per week per applicable container of the business's total waste.

(2) Notify City if circumstances change such that commercial business's organic waste exceeds threshold required for waiver, in which case waiver will be rescinded.

(3) Provide written verification of eligibility for de minimis waiver every five years if City has approved de minimis waiver.

(b) Physical Space Waiver.

(1) Submit an application form specifying the type(s) of collection services for which they are requesting a compliance waiver.

(2) Provide documentation that the premises lack adequate space for blue containers and/or green containers including documentation from its hauler, licensed architect, or licensed engineer.

(3) Provide written verification to City that it is still eligible for physical space waiver every five years if City has approved application for a physical space waiver. City will confer with staff, a hauler, licensed architect, or licensed engineer of the premises lack of adequate space for the collection containers required for compliance with the organic waste collection requirements.

(c) Review and approval of waivers shall be conducted by the Public Works Director, or designee.

(§ 1, Ord. 1194, eff. March 1, 2022)

(a) Tier one commercial edible food generators must comply with the requirements of this section commencing March 1, 2022, and tier two commercial edible food generators must comply commencing January 1, 2024.

(b) Large venue or large event operators not providing food services, but allowing for food to be provided by others, shall require food facilities operating at the large venue or large event to comply with the requirements of this section, commencing January 1, 2024.

(c) Commercial edible food generators shall comply with the following requirements:

(1) Arrange to recover the maximum amount of edible food that would otherwise be disposed.

(2) Contract with or enter into a written agreement with food recovery organizations or food recovery services for:

(A) The collection of edible food for food recovery; or

(B) Acceptance of the edible food that the commercial edible food generator self-hauls to the food recovery organization for food recovery.

(3) Shall not intentionally spoil edible food that is capable of being recovered by a food recovery organization or a food recovery service.

(4) Allow City's designated entity to access the premises and review records.

(5) Keep records that include the following information:

(A) A list of each food recovery service or organization that collects or receives its edible food pursuant to a contract or written agreement.

(B) A copy of all contracts or written agreements with food recovery service or organization.

(C) A record of the following information for each of those food recovery services or food recovery organizations:

(i) The name, address and contact information of the food recovery service or food recovery organization.

(ii) The types of food that will be collected by or self-hauled to the food recovery service or food recovery organization.

(iii) The established frequency that food will be collected or self-hauled.

(iv) The quantity of food, measured in pounds recovered per month, collected or self-hauled to a food recovery service or food recovery organization for food recovery.

(6) No later than September 1, 2022, submit an annual food recovery report to the City for the period of January 1, 2022 through June 30, 2022 that includes the list of food recovery organizations and services contracted to receive recovered edible food and the amount of edible food in pounds collected for each food recovery organizations and services. Submit annual food recovery report to the City July 1, 2023 and on or before July 1 each year thereafter for the period covering the entire previous calendar year.

(d) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to limit or conflict with the protections provided by the California Good Samaritan Food Donation Act of 2017, the Federal Good Samaritan Act, or share table and school food donation guidance pursuant to Senate Bill 557 of 2017 (approved by the Governor of the State of California on September 25, 2017, which added Article 13 [commencing with Section 49580] to Chapter 9 of Part 27 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code, and to amend Section 114079 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to food safety, as amended, supplemented, superseded and replaced from time to time).

(§ 1, Ord. 1194, eff. March 1, 2022)

(a) Food recovery services collecting or receiving edible food directly from commercial edible food generators, via a contract or written agreement shall maintain the following records otherwise:

(1) The name, address, and contact information for each commercial edible food generator from which the service collects edible food.

(2) The quantity in pounds of edible food collected from each commercial edible food generator per month.

(3) The quantity in pounds of edible food transported to each food recovery organization per month.

(4) The name, address, and contact information for each food recovery organization that the food recovery service transports edible food to for food recovery.

(b) Food recovery organizations collecting or receiving edible food directly from commercial edible food generators, via a contract or written agreement shall maintain the following records:

(1) The name, address, and contact information for each commercial edible food generator from which the organization receives edible food.

(2) The quantity in pounds of edible food received from each commercial edible food generator per month.

(3) The name, address, and contact information for each food recovery service that the organization receives edible food from for food recovery.

(c) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to limit or conflict with the protections provided by the California Good Samaritan Food Donation Act of 2017, the Federal Good Samaritan Act, or share table and school food donation guidance pursuant to Senate Bill 557 of 2017 (approved by the Governor of the State of California on September 25, 2017, which added Article 13 [commencing with Section 49580] to Chapter 9 of Part 27 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code, and to amend Section 114079 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to food safety, as amended, supplemented, superseded and replaced from time to time).

(d) Food recovery organizations and food recovery services that have their primary address physically located in the City and contract with or have written agreements with one or more commercial edible food generators shall report to the City it is located in the following:

(1) The list of commercial edible food generators.

(2) The total pounds of edible food recovered in the previous calendar year from the tier one and tier two commercial edible food generators.

(3) The above report is due to the City by:

(A) September 1, 2022, for the period of January 1, 2022 through June 30, 2022.

(B) July 1, 2023 and on or before July 1 each year thereafter for the period covering the entire previous calendar year.

(e) Provide information and consultation to the City, upon request, regarding existing, or proposed new or expanded, food recovery capacity that could be accessed by the City and its commercial edible food generators. A food recovery service or food recovery organization contacted by the City shall respond to such request for information within 60 days, unless a shorter timeframe is otherwise specified by the City.

(§ 1, Ord. 1194, eff. March 1, 2022)

(a) Exclusive franchise hauler providing residential, commercial, or industrial organic waste collection services to generators within the City's boundaries shall meet the following requirements and standards as a condition of approval of a contract or agreement with the City to collect organic waste:

(1) Through written notice to the City annually on or before February 15 of each year, identify the facilities to which organic waste including facilities for source separated recyclable materials, source separated green container organic waste, and mixed waste.

(2) Transport source separated recyclable materials, source separated green container organic waste, and mixed waste to a facility, operation, activity, or property that recovers organic waste.

(3) Exclusive franchise hauler authorized to collect organic waste shall comply with education, equipment, signage, container labeling, container color, contamination monitoring, reporting, and other requirements contained within its franchise agreement, permit, license, or other agreement entered into with the City.

(§ 1, Ord. 1194, eff. March 1, 2022)

(a) Self-haulers shall source separate all recyclable materials and organic waste (materials that City otherwise requires generators to separate for collection in the City's organics and recycling collection program) generated on site from solid waste in a manner consistent with the three-container system (gray container for trash, blue container for recyclables, and green container for organic waste including food waste), or shall haul organic waste to a high diversion organic waste processing facility specified by the City.

(b) Self-haulers shall haul their source separated recyclable materials to a facility that recovers those materials; and haul their source separated green container organic waste to a solid waste facility, operation, activity, or property that processes or recovers source separated organic waste. Alternatively, self-haulers may haul organic waste to a high diversion organic waste processing facility specified by the City.

(c) Self-haulers that are commercial businesses (including multifamily residential dwellings) shall keep a record of the amount of organic waste delivered to each solid waste facility, operation, activity, or property that processes or recovers organic waste; this record shall be provided to the City, or designee, upon request. The records shall include the following information:

(1) Delivery receipts and weight tickets from the entity accepting the waste.

(2) The amount of material in cubic yards or tons transported by the generator to each entity.

(3) If the material is transported to an entity that does not have scales on site or employs scales incapable of weighing the self-hauler's vehicle in a manner that allows it to determine the weight of materials received, the self-hauler is not required to record the weight of material but shall keep a record of the entities that received the organic waste.

(§ 1, Ord. 1194, eff. March 1, 2022)

(a) City representatives and/or its designated entity, including designees are authorized to conduct inspections and investigations, at random or otherwise, of any collection container, collection vehicle loads, or transfer, processing, or disposal facility for materials collected from generators, or source separated materials to confirm compliance with this chapter by organic waste generators, commercial businesses (including multifamily residential dwellings), property owners, commercial edible food generators, haulers, self-haulers, food recovery services, and food recovery organizations, subject to applicable laws.

(b) Regulated entity shall provide or arrange for access during all inspections (with the exception of residential property interiors) and shall cooperate with the City's employee or its designated entity/designee during such inspections and investigations. Such inspections and investigations may include confirmation of proper placement of materials in containers, edible food recovery activities, records, or any other requirement of this chapter described herein. Failure to provide or arrange for:

(1) Access to an entity's premises; or

(2) Access to records for any inspection or investigation is a violation of this chapter and may result in penalties described.

(c) Any records obtained by a City during its inspections, and other reviews shall be subject to the requirements and applicable disclosure exemptions of the Public Records Act as set forth in Government Code Section 6250 et seq.

(d) City representatives, its designated entity, and/or designee are authorized to conduct any inspections, remote monitoring, or other investigations as reasonably necessary to further the goals of this chapter, subject to applicable laws.

(e) City shall receive written complaints from persons regarding an entity that may be potentially non-compliant with SB 1383 regulations, including receipt of anonymous complaints.

(§ 1, Ord. 1194, eff. March 1, 2022)

(a) Violation of any provision of this chapter shall constitute grounds for issuance of a notice of violation and assessment of a fine by a City of Los Banos enforcement official or representative. enforcement actions under this chapter are issuance of an administrative citation and assessment of a fine. The City of Los Banos' procedures on imposition of administrative fines (Title 4, Chapter 11) are hereby incorporated in their entirety, as modified from time to time, and shall govern the imposition, enforcement, collection, and review of administrative citations issued to enforce this chapter and any rule or regulation adopted pursuant to this chapter, except as otherwise indicated in this chapter.

(b) Other remedies allowed by law may be used, including civil action or prosecution as misdemeanor or infraction. The City may pursue civil actions in the California courts to seek recovery of unpaid administrative citations. The City may choose to delay court action until such time as a sufficiently large number of violations, or cumulative size of violations exist such that court action is a reasonable use of City staff and resources.

(c) Responsible Entity for Enforcement.

(1) Enforcement pursuant to this chapter may be undertaken by the City Enforcement Official, which may be the City Manager or his or her designated entity, legal counsel, or combination thereof.

(2) Enforcement may also be undertaken by a Regional or County Agency Enforcement Official, designated by the City, in consultation with the City Enforcement Official.

(A) The City Enforcement Official(s) (and Regional or County Agency Enforcement Official, if used) will interpret this chapter; determine the applicability of waivers, if violation(s) have occurred; implement enforcement actions; and, determine if compliance standards are met.

(B) The City Enforcement Official(s) (and Regional or County Agency Enforcement Official, if used) may issue notices of violation(s).

(d) Process for Enforcement.

(1) The City Enforcement Officials or Regional or County Enforcement Officials and/or their designee will monitor compliance with this chapter randomly and through compliance reviews, route reviews, investigation of complaints, and an inspection program (that may include remote monitoring). Section 6-3.2.08 establishes the City's right to conduct inspections and investigations.

(2) The City may issue an official notification to notify regulated entities of its obligations under this chapter.

(3) For incidences of prohibited container contaminants found in containers, the City will issue a notice of violation to any generator found to have prohibited container contaminants in a container. Such notice will be provided via a cart tag or other communication immediately upon identification of the prohibited container contaminants or within five days after determining that a violation has occurred. If the City observes prohibited container contaminants in a generator's containers on more than three consecutive occasion(s), the City may assess an administrative citation and fine, pursuant to subsection (e) of this section. Such fine shall be in addition to any contamination processing fee or penalty assessed by a hauler if authorized by its agreement or contract with the City.

(4) With the exception of violations of generator contamination of container contents addressed under subsection (d)(3), the City shall issue a notice of violation requiring compliance within 60 days of issuance of the notice.

(5) Absent compliance by the respondent within the deadline set forth in the notice of violation, The City shall commence an action to impose penalties, via an administrative citation and fine, pursuant to subsection (e) of this section. Notices shall be sent to the owner at the address of the dwelling or commercial property or to the party responsible for paying for the collection services, depending upon available information.

(e) Penalty Amounts for Types of Violations. The penalty levels are as follows:

(1) For a first violation, the amount of the base penalty shall be Fifty and No/100ths ($50.00) Dollars per violation.

(2) For a second violation, the amount of the base penalty shall be One Hundred and No/100ths ($100.00) Dollars per violation.

(3) For a third or subsequent violation, the amount of the base penalty shall be Two Hundred Fifty and No/100ths ($250.00) Dollars per violation.

(f) Compliance Deadline Extension Considerations. The City may extend the compliance deadlines set forth in a notice of violation issued in accordance with this section if it finds that there are extenuating circumstances beyond the control of the respondent that make compliance within the deadlines impracticable, 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 jurisdiction is under a corrective action plan with CALRecycle pursuant to 14 CCR Section 18996.2 due to those deficiencies.

(g) Administrative Hearing. Persons receiving an administrative citation containing a penalty for an uncorrected violation may request an administrative hearing to contest the citation. A hearing will be held only if it is requested within the time prescribed and consistent with procedures in Title 4 Chapter 11 of the Los Banos Municipal Code.

(h) Education Period for Noncompliance. Beginning March 1, 2022 and through December 31, 2023, the City will conduct inspections to determine compliance, and if City determines that organic waste generator, self-hauler, hauler, tier one commercial edible food generator, food recovery organization, food recovery service, or other entity is not in compliance, it shall provide educational materials to the entity describing its obligations under this chapter and a notice that compliance is required by March 1, 2022, and that violations may be subject to administrative penalties starting on January 1, 2024.

(i) Civil Penalties for Noncompliance. Beginning January 1, 2024, if the City determines that an organic waste 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 with this chapter, it shall document the noncompliance or violation, issue a notice of violation, and take enforcement action pursuant to this chapter, as needed.

(§ 1, Ord. 1194, eff. March 1, 2022)

This chapter shall be effective commencing on March 1, 2022.

(§ 1, Ord. 1194, eff. March 1, 2022)