San Joaquin County Municipal Code Ch. 2 Solid Waste Collection Contracts

Except as otherwise provided by this division, no person shall collect or transport solid waste within the unincorporated area of San Joaquin County without having first entered into a contract for solid waste collection with the County or without lawfully possessing a valid collector's license, in addition to any otherwise required business license, from the County to collect or transport solid waste.

(Ord. 877; 2887; Ord. 3977 § 4, 1998)

(a) The Board shall establish residential refuse service areas within the unincorporated area of the County for which exclusive contracts shall be awarded for the collection of residential solid waste. In any such refuse service area, no person, other than the person to whom an exclusive residential solid waste collection contract has been awarded, shall collect or transport residential solid waste generated within such refuse service area.

(b) The exclusive residential solid waste collection contracts shall be for an initial term not to exceed eight (8) years and may be extended by the Board for subsequent terms. The duration of such subsequent extensions shall be determined by the Board at the time of such extensions. The contracts shall contain, among other provisions, a requirement that the maximum rates that may be charged by the collector for services provided under the contract be first approved by the Board, in accordance with existing law, after a published noticed public hearing. However, such approval and public hearing shall not be required for annual construction cost index adjustments required by the contract. The exclusive residential solid waste collection contract may contain such other provisions as the Board deems legally appropriate.

(Ord. 877; 2887; 3228; 3440; Ord. 3977 § 5, 1998)

(a) The collection and transportation of commercial and industrial solid waste shall be open to competition and shall be allowed in any refuse, service area, subject to the provisions of this section where not otherwise controlled by the provisions of this division.

(b) All persons desiring to collect or transport commercial or industrial solid waste shall possess a current valid County business license and also possess a valid County commercial/industrial solid waste collection license or a valid residential solid waste collection contract issued pursuant to Section 5-2201 of this chapter. Such license or contract shall specifically allow such person to collect or transport commercial or industrial solid waste within the entire unincorporated area of San Joaquin County. Any such person that holds a valid residential solid waste collection contract shall be exempt from the provisions of Subsection (b), other than the requirement possessing a current valid County business license, and Subsections (c) and (d) of this section. An application for a commercial/industrial solid waste collection license shall be made, in writing, to the Board by filing such application with the Director of Public Works and shall be accompanied by a cashier's check or an irrevocable letter of credit as a deposit payable to the County Solid Waste Enterprise Fund in the amount of twenty thousand dollars ($20,000.00). Such deposit shall be nonrefundable for the term of the licensed, collector's license, but any interest earned on such deposit shall be remitted to the depositor on an annual basis. The purpose of such deposit shall be to guarantee payment to the County of the monies due and payable by such licensed collector to the County to defray costs incurred by the County to correct problems resulting from negligent or intentional acts or omissions of such licensed collector in violation of applicable provisions of the Ordinance Code of San Joaquin County or such collector's license. Such deposit shall not limit the County's remedies, with respect to any acts or omissions of the licensed collector, which damage the County.

(c) Each application for a collector's license shall also be accompanied by an audited financial statement of the person for whom the license is sought. Such audited financial statement shall include an itemization of all revenues and expenses of such person for the calendar year preceding the date of such application and such financial statement shall have affixed thereto an opinion by a certified public accountant or a licensed public accountant that the figures presented represent a reasonably accurate statement of the income and expenses of such person.

(d) Upon receipt of an application for a collector's license, the Director of Public Works shall review such application to determine if the application is appropriately filed and contains the necessary attachments, including the required performance bond, financial statements, proof of adequate worker's compensation and casualty insurance, and County business license. After determining that an application is complete and that any outstanding debts to the County or any public agency or joint powers authority of which the County is a participating agency are paid in full, the Director of Public Works shall transmit such application to the Environmental Health Division for review and recommendation. The Environmental Health Division shall base its recommendation upon its determination of compliance or ability to comply, by the person for whom such collector's license is sought, with all applicable provisions of the rules and regulations of the Environmental Health Division, and the applicable provisions of all County regulations and ordinances and State law, and any amendments thereto, made after the effective date of the ordinance from which this provision derives. The Environmental Health Division shall transmit its review and recommendations to the Department of Public Works. The Director of Public Works shall then submit an application, along with the Department of Public Works and the Environmental Health Division's recommendations to the Board for consideration. If the Board determines, based on the recommendations and its own review of the application, that issuance of the application is in the best interest of the County, the Board may issue such license, but it is not required to do so. Any collector's license issued under this Chapter shall be subject to the following:

(1) The initial term of a Commercial and Industrial Solid Waste Collector's License issued pursuant to this Chapter shall be one (1) year from the date of issuance (the "Initial Term").

(2) Prior to the expiration of the Initial Term, the Director shall conduct a compliance evaluation of the licensee. The purpose of the evaluation is to determine whether the licensee has complied with all applicable provisions of this Division.

(3) Following the evaluation, and prior to the expiration of the Initial Term, the Director may renew the license for successive two (2) year terms, provided that the licensee is determined to be in good standing.

(4) Effective on the date of this ordinance, all active collector's licenses shall, without reapplication, convert to a two (2) year term. Licensees shall comply with all provisions of this Division.

(5) Licenses issued under this Chapter shall be revocable by the Board and shall not be transferable.

(e) Each licensed collector shall pay to the County the disposal gate fee established by the Board for County disposal facilities. Such fee shall be determined by the weight or volume of waste disposed of by the licensed collector, as measured by scales, at the County's facilities, or by the volume of the collection, or transfer vehicle. The Director of Public Works shall determine whether gate fee calculations shall be based on weight or volume. The licensed collector shall post a noninterest earning cash advance deposit with the County, as an advance payment of gate fees, to be paid by the licensed collector to the County. The initial amount of the advance deposit shall be determined by the Director of Public Works. The amount of the advance deposit shall be reviewed once every six (6) months and adjusted to equal the monthly average of the prior six (6) months of gate fees paid by the licensed collector to the County. Individual gate fee transactions will be deducted from the advance deposit. At the beginning of each month, the Department of Public Works shall notify the licensed collector of the amount of such deductions from the prior month. The licensed collector shall replenish the advance deposit by paying to the County the amount of deductions as reported to the licensed collector by the Department of Public Works. Such payment shall be made no later than the last business day of the month, following the month in which the licensed collector incurred the deductions. In lieu of paying the advance deposit towards gate fees, the licensed collector may utilize a different method of paying gate fees, providing such method is approved, in writing, by the Director of Public Works, prior to implementation. Such approval will be granted on a temporary basis and may be revoked at the discretion of the Director of Public Works. If such approval is revoked, the licensed collector shall immediately pay the advance deposit as required by this section.

(f) If any payment required by this section is not paid by the date specified herein, such payment shall then be delinquent and a delinquency charge of five percent (5%) of the payment or payments due shall be imposed upon such and added to such payment or payments for each month or part thereof during which such payment or payments remains delinquent. If the licensed collector is delinquent in its payments to the County for more than thirty (30) days, the license shall be immediately revoked.

(g) At all times, the books and records specified in subsection (h) below of each licensed collector maintained in connection with such collector's operations under the license shall be open to inspection by the County Auditor, the County Administrator, the Director of Public Works, or the County Counsel. Any such inspection shall be done only during customary business hours on Mondays through Fridays. In addition, each licensed collector shall provide copies of documents from the books and records specified in subsection (h) below upon request by County.

(h) The books and records of each licensed collector relating to such collector's operations under the collector's license shall be maintained as would those of an independent entity including, but not limited to, collection routes, customer lists, service addresses, service levels, customer telephone numbers and billing rates, records of assets, liabilities, revenues, expenses, net worth, and gross receipts, and shall be maintained in existence for at least the term of the license plus four (4) years.

(i) Annually, at a date approved by the Director of Public Works, each licensed collector shall provide the County with a reviewed financial statement of each collector's operations under the license for the collector's preceding fiscal year prepared by a certified public accountant or a licensed public accountant containing a balance sheet, statement of income, retained earnings and cash flows. However, if required by the Director of Public Works, the collector shall furnish an audited financial statement by a certified public accountant or a licensed public accountant who has annexed an opinion to such audit that the figures presented represent a reasonably accurate statement of the income and expenses of such collector. The County Auditor shall specify the form and detail of the annual audit which, among other things, shall include a complete statement of gross receipts for each month during said preceding calendar year. Each licensed collector shall include with the annual audit required by this subsection, a similar annual audit, of all other business or entities in which such collector or collector's owners or officers have an interest, which other businesses or entities are or may be directly or indirectly related to, connected with, competing with, or doing business with such collector, collector's operations under the license, or collector's owners or officers.

(j) Within thirty (30) days after every calendar quarter, each licensed collector shall furnish to the County a statement of the licensed collector's prior quarter activities for calendar quarters ending March 31, June 30, September 30 and December 31. Such statement shall be in the format provided by the County and shall include total residential, commercial and industrial waste quantities, measured in cubic yards or tons, received by the licensed collector in its operations in the unincorporated County, and its total residential, commercial and industrial waste quantities measured in cubic yards or tons, received from its operations in each of the incorporated areas of the County, unless otherwise approved in writing by the Director of Public Works. Such statement shall also include total quantities of waste recycled, composted or otherwise recovered by the licensed collector. Also, the statement shall include the number of customers for the various types of residential, commercial and/or industrial services provided by the licensed collector. Failure of the licensed collector to provide the County with the information required in this section, within forty-five (45) days after the end of the quarter, shall cause the licensed collector to pay to the County a penalty of fifty ($50.00) per day for each day of such failure.

(k) Each licensed collector shall annually provide to the Department of Public Works a list of equipment, which is used in the licensed collector's solid waste collection and transportation operations in the County. Such list shall give the vehicle type, make, model number, volume in cubic yards, and collector and County identification numbers. Each licensed collector shall report to the Department of Public Works any deletions or additions to this list at the time such changes occur.

(l) All solid waste collected from unincorporated areas and from cities under County contract shall be delivered to a County-owned solid waste site pursuant to Chapter 7 of this Division.

(Ord. 877; 2887; 3228; 3440; Ord. 3977 § 6, 1998)

(Ord. No. 4457, § 2, 12-9-2014; Ord. No. 4658, 10-22-2024; Ord. No. 4684, § 1, 12-9-2025)

At any time, the Board may revoke an issued collector's license upon a finding of a failure by a licensed collector to fully and strictly comply with applicable provisions of the rules and regulations of the Health District, and the applicable provisions of all County regulations and ordinances and State law, and any amendments thereof, which may now exist or may be adopted or amended hereafter, or upon a finding that such licensed collector has infringed in any material way upon any exclusive residential collector's contract rights. Any such revocation shall be made only after a public hearing, written notice of which has been given to such licensed collector at least ten (10) days prior to the public hearing.

(Ord. 877; 2887)

(a) The collection of recyclable materials shall be allowed in any refuse service area subject to the provisions of this section where not otherwise controlled by the provisions of this division.

(b) All persons or firms desiring to collect recyclable materials, utilizing containers which have uncontrolled access by the public and are located within the unincorporated areas of the County, shall possess a current valid County business license and a County recycling license specifically allowing such person or firm to collect such recyclable materials within the entire unincorporated area of the County, except that any person or firm holding either an exclusive residential collection contract or a County commercial/industrial solid waste collection license.

(c) An application for a County recycling license shall be made in writing to the Director of Public Works, or Director's designee, and shall be accompanied by a cashier's check or an irrevocable letter of credit as a deposit payable to the County Solid Waste Enterprise Fund. The amount of the cashier's check or the irrevocable letter of credit shall be determined by multiplying the total number of recycling containers which have uncontrolled access by the public by one hundred dollars ($100.00), but in no event shall such deposit be less than five hundred dollars ($500.00). Such deposit shall be non-interest-bearing and shall be refunded once the person or firm discontinues collecting recyclable materials in the unincorporated areas of the County. The purpose of such deposit shall be to guarantee payment to the County to defray costs incurred by the County and to correct problems resulting from negligent or intentional acts or omissions of such licensed recycler in violation of applicable provisions of the County Ordinance Code or such recycling license. The right to use the deposit by the County to defray such costs shall be in addition to any other legal right or remedy which the County may have to correct the problem or to seek recourse and recovery against the licensee for such negligent or intentional acts or omissions.

(d) Upon receipt of an application for a County recycling license, the Director of Public Works shall review such application to determine if the application is appropriately filed and contains the necessary attachments, including the required deposit, proof of adequate worker's compensation and casualty insurance, and county business license. If the Department of Public Works determines, based on its own review of the application, that issuance of the license is in the best interest of the County, the Department may issue such license, but it is not required to do so. Any recycling license issued shall be issued for an unlimited period, shall be revocable by the Department of Public Works, and shall not be transferable.

(e) Each licensed recycler shall submit a collection schedule and a list of the addresses where the licensed recycler intends to locate recycling containers to the Department of Public Works Solid Waste Division prior to placement of such containers. Furthermore, the licensed recycler must provide a written notice to the Solid Waste Division whenever such recycling containers are moved from the originally reported address. Said notice shall reflect the address where the recycling containers are located. The placement of recycling containers in the public right-of-way is prohibited. Removal of recyclable materials from the containers shall be of sufficient frequency to prevent the overflow of the recycling containers. In addition, the licensed recycler shall be responsible for maintaining the area surrounding the collection containers free of debris. Furthermore, the licensed recycler must correct any and all complaints associated with the recycling containers within twenty-four (24) hours from the time he is notified by the Solid Waste Division.

(f) All containers used by any person collecting recyclable materials pursuant to this section shall have painted on the outside of each side wall of the containers in letters not less than four inches (4″) in height and one inch (1″) in width the following information in a color contrasting to the body color:

(1) The name and phone number of the licensed recycler;

(2) An identification number assigned by the licensed recycler.

(g) At the end of each calendar quarter, the licensed recycler shall provide a written summary, in addition to any other information requested by the Department of Public Works, of the total weight of each classification of recyclable materials collected during the quarter. Such summary shall be in the format prescribed by the Department of Public Works and shall be due within thirty (30) days following the end of the calendar quarter and shall be submitted to the Department of Public Works Solid Waste Division. Failure to supply the preceding information shall result in forfeiture of the licensed recycler's deposit and revocation of the recycling license.

(h) The Department of Public Works Solid Waste Division shall be responsible for administration of the provisions of this section.

(Ord. 3661; Ord. 3977 § 7, 1998; Ord. No. 4684, § 1, 12-9-2025)

Within thirty (30) days after every calendar quarter, each licensed collector shall pay a management fee to the County for prior quarter activities ending March 31, June 30, September 30 and December 31. The amount of the fee shall be equal to three percent (3%) of Gross Receipts during the applicable quarter for all services performed by the licensed collector. County shall use the fee to offset expenses, including but not limited to, administration; customer education, outreach, and technical assistance; regulatory compliance, monitoring, and reporting; and contractor compliance with applicable ordinance requirements.

(Ord. No. 4684, § 1, 12-9-2025)