San Joaquin County Municipal Code Ch. 1 General Provisions

The purpose of this division is to institute within the County an orderly program for the collection, transportation, and disposal of refuse and waste matter of all kinds, in order to promote the community welfare, convenience, health, and safety.

It is declared by this Board that it is in the public interest and in the interest of all the residents of this County that the accumulation, preparation, storage, collection, transportation, and disposal of refuse and waste matter of all kinds, in the unincorporated area of the County, be handled in such a manner as to prohibit the harborage and breeding of rodents and insects, to reduce pollution of the air by burning, fermentation, or putrefaction of such material, to prevent the spread of disease, to reduce the hazards of fire, and to prevent unsightliness which results in the depreciation of property values and the prevention of the comfortable enjoyment of life.

(Ord. 877; 2887)

As used in this division, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings set forth in this section unless otherwise indicated by grammatical context:

(a) "Animal feeding yard" means the premises or site where the feeding to three or more animals, other than hogs, of swill, offal, food processing waste, vegetable and fruit packing waste, or garbage, not produced on such premises or site, is permitted or occurs.

(b) "Board" means the Board of Supervisors of San Joaquin County.

(c) "Board of Trustees" means the Board of Trustees of the San Joaquin Local Health District.

(d) "Commercial refuse" means any waste material not included in residential or industrial refuse definitions.

(e) "County" means the County of San Joaquin, except those areas within any incorporated city.

(f) "Disposal area" means the premises or site where the disposal of waste, refuse, and garbage, not produced on the premises or site, except an animal feeding yard or hog farm as herein defined, is permitted to occur.

(g) "District Health Officer" means the Health Officer of the San Joaquin Local Health District or his duly authorized representative.

(h) "Food processing waste" means that solid and semisolid putrescible waste resulting from vegetable canning, vegetable freezing, fruit canning, fruit freezing, food canning, or resulting from a milk plant, brewery, winery, or other food processing or manufacturing operation, except vegetable and fruit packing waste.

(i) "Franchised collector" means any person collecting or transporting residential solid waste pursuant to an exclusive residential refuse collection contract awarded by the County of San Joaquin.

(j) "Garbage" means any putrescible animal, fish, fowl, fruit, or vegetable refuse, resulting from the preparation, storage, handling, or consumption of foods, except food processing waste, vegetable and fruit packing waste, swill, and offal, and shall include containers or other nonputrescible material to which particles of putrescible material are attached.

(k) "Habitation unit" means a building or that portion of a building which is designed and/or utilized primarily as a dwelling place for a single family.

(l) "Health District" means the San Joaquin Health District.

(m) "Hog farm" means the premises or site where the feeding to three or more hogs of garbage, swill, offal, fruit processing waste, or vegetable or fruit packing waste not produced on such premises or site, in compliance with State law, is permitted or occurs.

(n) "Industrial refuse" means all liquid, semisolid or solid waste, except sewage, from any producing, manufacturing or processing business or operation, including food processing waste and vegetable and fruit packing waste and nonputrescible waste materials resulting from the wrecking, destruction, construction or alterations of buildings.

(o) "Licensed collector" means any person operating under a County commercial/industrial solid waste collection license issued by the County of San Joaquin for the purpose of transporting commercial or industrial solid waste and includes any person to whom a residential refuse collection contract has been awarded by the County of San Joaquin.

(p) "Person" means any individual, firm, association, organization, partnership, business trust, joint venture, corporation, or company, and includes the United States of America, the State of California, the County of San Joaquin, and any city or other political subdivision of the State of California, and any officer or agency thereof.

(q) "Department of Public Works" means the San Joaquin County Department of Public Works.

(r) "Director of Public Works" means the Director of San Joaquin County Department of Public Works or his designee.

(s) "Refuse," when used without a modifier, includes waste, commercial, industrial and residential refuse, vegetable and fruit packing waste, food processing waste, swill, offal, and animal and bird manure, rendering waste, garbage and nonputrescible, waste materials resulting from the wrecking, destruction, construction or alteration of buildings.

(t) "Rendering waste" means waste collected or saved, solely for purposes of commercial reduction for fats, tallow, or fertilizer, by canneries, packing houses or sheds, markets, hotels, butcher shops, hospitals, or similar institutions and establishments where large quantities of salvable garbage are produced.

(u) "Residential refuse" means all types of waste material which originate from any premises of nine or less habitation units, except that waste from hotels, motels, and mobile home parks is not considered residential refuse.

(v) "Vegetable and fruit packing waste" means that solid and semisolid putrescible waste resulting from vegetables and fruit processing establishments (excluding retail stores) which do not process fruit and vegetables by cooking, placing in sealed containers, freezing, fermenting, crushing, drying, dehydrating, pasteurizing, or other similar procedures.

(w) "Waste" means the useless, unused, unwanted or discharged material and debris resulting from normal community activities, or materials which by their presence may injuriously affect the health, safety, and comfort of persons and depreciate property values in the vicinity thereof, and all putrescible and nonputrescible solids or liquids, except sewage, whether combustible or noncombustible, not otherwise defined in the various definitions contained in this section.

(x) "Mandatory residential refuse collection areas" means any geographical area designated by Board order where residential refuse collection services must be provided by the franchised collector to all habitation units within the area.

(y) "Solid waste" means all putrescible and nonputrescible solid, semisolid and liquid wastes, including but not limited to Organic Waste, 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 (biosolids), which is not hazardous waste, manure, vegetable or animal solid and semisolid wastes, and other discarded solid and semisolid 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.

(z) "Transfer station" means a permitted solid waste facility from which materials are transferred for disposal, or at which materials are transferred directly from one vehicle to another for transport, or from which materials are removed or processed for the purposes of reuse, recycling or composting.

(aa) "Disposal" means the final deposition of solid waste by landfilling, transformation, or engineered municipal solid waste conversion at a permitted solid waste facility.

(bb) "Transformation" means incineration, pyrolysis, distillation, or biological conversion. "Transformation" does not include composting, gasification, engineered municipal solid waste conversion, or biomass conversion.

(cc) "Residual waste" means solid waste which is transferred directly from one vehicle to another for transport, or solid waste which remains after processing, and is transported from a Transfer Station to a permitted solid waste facility for disposal.

(Ord. 877; 2532; 2887; 3440; 3782; Ord. 3977 § 2, 1998)

(Ord. No. 4457, § 1, 12-9-2014; Ord. No. 4594, § 1, 2-15-2022)

Whenever, pursuant to this division, notice of any hearing or event is to be given by publication, unless otherwise specified, notice shall be given by the publication, at least once, of an appropriate display advertisement in one (1) or more newspapers of general circulation within the county at least ten (10) days prior to the hearing or event.

(Ord. 2896)