Pittsburg Municipal Code Art. I General Provisions

The health, welfare and safety of the people in the city require that a mandatory collection procedure be established for the periodic collection and the disposal of all refuse that accumulates within the city. Such a refuse collection and disposal procedure benefits all real property owners in the city. To ensure the existence and continuance of such a refuse collection system, the city council finds that all real property owners are required to properly maintain and store refuse upon their properties, that each property owner mandatorily engage in the contracting for refuse collection by the collection contractor, and that a fiscal procedure be established to accomplish said purposes as set forth in this chapter.

(Ord. 997 § 1, 1990; Ord. 21-1489 § 1, 2021)

Failure to comply with the provisions of this chapter shall lead to enforcement actions pursuant to Article V, VI, or VII of this chapter.

(Ord. 997 § 1, 1990; Ord. 21-1489 § 1, 2021)

In this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:

A.

"Black cart waste" or "black container waste"

means refuse that is appropriate for storage and disposal in the black cart or container and includes rubbish.

B.

"C&D"

means construction and demolition debris.

C.

"Cart"

means all such plastic receptacles ranging between 15 and 96 gallons in volume provided by the city or collection contractor that store refuse for collection.

D.

"Collection contractor"

means the city department, private contractor, franchise holder or a combination of these designated and approved by the city council to collect and dispose of refuse.

E.

"Collection station"

means the curbside or enclosure location where refuse is placed in carts, containers or bundles for the purpose of collection through curbside programs by the collection contractor. For commercial premises with a designated refuse enclosure, collection station is synonymous with refuse storage location as defined in this section.

F.

"Commercial premises"

means business, commercial, industrial (as defined in Chapter 18.06 PMC) and other types of premises other than residential premises with fewer than five units and includes without limitation all commercial use classifications provided in PMC § 18.08.080, governmental and quasi-public use classifications provided in PMC § 18.08.060, and all industrial use classifications provided in PMC § 18.08.100.

G.

"Container"

means all such metal receptacles one cubic yard and larger in volume provided by the city or collection contractor that store refuse for collection.

H.

"Contamination"

of carts or containers occurs when:

Organic refuse as defined by PMC § 8.09.030 such as carpet, hazardous wood waste, or noncompostable paper, is placed in the green cart or container as defined by this section.

Organic refuse is placed in a black cart or container as defined by this section.

Organic refuse is placed in the blue cart or container as defined by this section.

Nonrecyclable refuse is placed in the blue cart or container.

Nonorganic refuse is placed in a green cart or container.

Recyclable refuse as defined by PMC § 8.06.030 is placed in the black or green cart or container.

Paper products and printing and writing paper as defined by PMC § 8.09.030 may be considered acceptable and not considered contaminants if they are placed in the blue cart or container.

I.

"Disposal area"

means the site where the disposal of refuse not produced on that site is permitted to occur.

J.

"Enforcement official"

means city code enforcement officer, environmental services staff, police department staff, building inspector, the city manager, or any authorized designee who is partially or wholly responsible for enforcing this chapter.

K.

"Hauler route"

means the designated itinerary or sequence of stops for each segment of the collection service area in the city.

L.

"Household hazardous waste"

is defined to include but is not limited to home and garden products, automotive care products, paint and paint related products, personal care products, and miscellaneous leftover or unused portions of chemical products used to maintain your home that are not suitable for disposal in the black, blue, or green carts and containers, and must be brought to the household hazardous waste facility as set forth in PMC § 8.04.090.

M.

"Large event"

means an event that charges an admission price, or is operated by a local agency, and serves an average of more than 2,000 individuals per day of operation of the event, at a location that includes, but is not limited to, a public, nonprofit or privately owned premises when being used for an event.

N.

"Occupant"

means a person or entity using, leasing, renting, existing on, residing in, or creating solid waste on a residential or commercial premises in the city.

O.

"Permittee"

means the person or entity that receives authorization from the city to host a special event or temporary activity in the city.

P.

"Premises"

includes a Residential dwelling, Commercial establishment, vacant property, and every parcel of land in the city.

Q.

"Prohibited waste material"

means items that are prohibited from being placed in the black, blue, and green carts and containers as defined in this section, PMC § 8.06.030, and § 8.09.030 respectively, and includes:

Schedule A1 prohibited waste material, or prohibited waste material that is collectable by the collection contractor via a special collection service, including: furniture, appliances, e-waste, tires, box springs, mattresses, Christmas trees, toilets, tubs, bathroom and kitchen sinks, shower panels, wood pallets, treadmills, basketball hoops, bicycles, doors, mirror closet doors, carpet, window coverings, sliding glass doors, charcoal and gas grills, electric lawn mowers, and other items as specified by the city or collection contractor.

Schedule A2 prohibited waste material or prohibited waste material that is collectable by the collection contractor via the special curbside waste program, including: batteries, compact fluorescent bulbs, oil filters, and other special curbside program waste as defined by city and collection contractor.

Schedule B prohibited waste material, or prohibited waste material that is not collectable by the collection contractor, including:

a.

Dead animals;

b.

Designated waste: as defined in 27 CCR Section 20210;

c.

Hazardous waste, as defined in the California Public Resources Code Section 40141;

d.

Industrial wastes;

e.

Liquid wastes: wastes that contain more 50 percent liquids by weight may not be disposed of in a landfill without an exemption from the Regional Water Quality Control Board;

f.

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

g.

Oils;

h.

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

i.

Sewage;

j.

Sludge;

k.

Volatile wastes;

l.

Aerosol cans (unless empty);

m.

Waste that in jurisdiction's or its designee's reasonable opinion would present a significant risk to human health or the environment, cause a nuisance or otherwise create or expose jurisdiction, or its designee, to potential liability; but not including de minimis volumes or concentrations of waste of a type and amount normally found in single-family or multifamily solid waste after implementation of programs for the safe collection, processing, recycling, treatment, and disposal of batteries and paint in compliance with Sections 41500 and 41802 of the California Public Resources Code.

R.

"Property owner"

means the owner of real property including a lot, parcel, or site as defined by PMC § 18.06.595.

S.

"Route review"

means a visual inspection of containers along a hauler route for the purpose of determining contamination of carts or containers and may include mechanical inspection methods such as the use of cameras, or as otherwise defined in 14 CCR Section 18982(a)(65).

T.

"Refuse"

means all putrescible or nonputrescible solid and semisolid waste, whether combustible or noncombustible, excluding Schedule B prohibited waste material as defined in subsection (Q) of this section, but including:

Schedule A1 and A2 prohibited waste material rubbish (black cart/container waste) as defined in this section;

Recyclable refuse (blue cart/container waste) as defined in PMC § 8.06.030;

Organic refuse (green cart/container waste) as defined in PMC § 8.09.030.

U.

"Refuse storage location"

means the location on a premises, on other than collection days, where refuse is stored in carts, containers or bundles. For commercial premises with a designated refuse enclosure, refuse storage location is synonymous with collection station as defined in this section.

V.

"Residential premises"

means single- and multifamily premises with fewer than five dwelling units. Residential premises shall receive individual curbside refuse service.

W.

"Rubbish"

means all refuse not disposed of for recycling purposes but excludes Schedule B prohibited waste material as defined in subsection (Q) of this section and organic refuse as defined in Chapter 8.09 PMC. Disposal of rubbish is appropriate only in the black cart or container.

X.

"Self-haul"

means when a person other than the collection contractor hauls solid waste generated to a disposal area appropriate for receipt of said solid waste.

Y.

"Solid waste"

means all putrescible or nonputrescible solid and semisolid waste, whether combustible or noncombustible including refuse and all prohibited waste material as defined in subsection (Q) of this section.

Z.

"Special collection service"

as described in PMC § 8.04.150 means a collection service that collects Schedule A1 prohibited waste materials upon request for transport to a disposal area.

AA.

"Special event" or "temporary activity"

means an event held on public or private property in the city that requires authorization via a special event permit or temporary activity permit from the city.

BB.

"Source separate" or "source separated"

means materials, including commingled recyclable materials, that have been separated or kept separate from the refuse 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 the chapter, source separated shall include separation of materials by the generator, property owner, or occupants into different containers for the purpose of collection such that source separated materials are separated from black cart or container waste or other refuse for the purposes of collection and processing.

CC.

"Uncontainerized collection service"

means a collection service that collects green cart or container waste (as defined in PMC § 8.06.030) and household hazardous waste (as defined in subsection (L) of this section) that is properly stored outside of standard carts or containers per PMC § 8.04.060 for collection and transport to the disposal area as described in PMC § 8.04.150.

(Ord. 997 § 1, 1990; Ord. 18-1449 § 3, 2018; Ord. 21-1489 § 1, 2021)