San Rafael Municipal Code Art. I Purpose and Definitions

The purpose of this chapter is to prevent actual or potential public health hazards and nuisance within the city of San Rafael, Marin County, state of California, by regulating the accumulation, collection and disposal of solid waste, and to provide for the licensing and responsibilities of persons engaged therein. It is declared to be in the public interest that the accumulation, storage and disposal of all such materials be handled in such a manner as to prohibit the harboring and breeding of rodents and insects, to reduce pollution of the air caused by burning, fermentation or putrefaction of such materials, to prevent the spread of disease, to reduce the hazards of fire, and to prevent unsightliness resulting in the depreciation of property values and the comfortable enjoyment of life.

(Ord. No. 2004, § 1, 3-7-2022)

It is further the intention of the city by this chapter to provide for the source reduction, recycling and resource recovery of solid waste generated within the city to the maximum extent feasible and as required by state law. Therefore, this chapter establishes and includes an approved solid waste collection program for all persons in the city for the purpose of providing for the orderly and regular collection of solid waste.

(Ord. No. 2004, § 1, 3-7-2022)

A. As used in this chapter:

"Act" means the California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989 (commencing with Section 40000 of the Public Resources Code), as amended by, including, but not limited to, the Jobs and Recycling Act of 2011 (AB 341), SB 1016 (Chapter 343, Statutes of 2008 [Wiggins, SB 1016]), the Mandatory Commercial Organics Recycling Act of 2014 (AB 1826), and the Short-Lived Climate Pollutants Bill of 2016 (SB 1383), and as implemented by the regulations of the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery ("CalRecycle").

"Authorized collector" means such persons, firms or corporations collecting and delivering for disposal, recycling or processing solid waste (other than solid waste generated by a permitted building project) originating in the city and doing so under a contract or franchise agreement with the city.

"Bulky waste" means large items of solid waste such as appliances (white goods), e-waste (except for universal waste), furniture, tires, carpets, mattresses and similar large items, large auto parts, trees, branches, stumps, and other oversize wastes whose large size precludes or complicates their handling by normal collection, processing, or disposal methods. It does not include abandoned vehicles or household hazardous waste.

"CalRecycle approved solid waste facility, operation, activity, or property" means a facility, operation or activity the use of which is deemed to constitute a reduction in landfill disposal in accordance with 14 CCR, Division 7, Chapter 12 for the purposes of this chapter.

"CCR" means the California Code of Regulations. CCR references in this chapter are preceded with a number that refers to the relevant title of the CCR (e.g., "14 CCR" refers to Title 14 of CCR).

"City manager" means the city manager of the city of San Rafael, or their designee, which may include city employees.

"Collection" means to take physical possession of solid waste at, and remove from, the place of generation for transport to a solid waste facility or other recovery activity.

"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 multi-family dwelling, or as otherwise defined in 14 (CCR) Section 18982(a)(6). A multi-family dwelling that consists of five (5) or more dwelling units is "commercial," for the purposes of this chapter.

"Commercial edible food generator" means a tier one or a tier two commercial edible food generator as defined in 14 CCR Section 18982(a)(73) and (a)(74). Food recovery organizations and food recovery services are not commercial edible food generators.

"Community composting" means any activity that composts green material, agricultural material, food material, and vegetative food material, alone or in combination, and the total amount of feedstock and compost on-site at any one (1) time does not exceed one hundred (100) cubic yards and seven hundred fifty (750) square feet, as specified in 14 CCR Section 17855(a)(4); or, as otherwise defined by 14 CCR Section 18982(a)(8).

"Composting" means the process of controlled biological decomposition of organic waste.

"Construction and demolition debris" or "C&D" means used or discarded materials resulting from construction, renovation, remodeling, repair, demolition, excavation or construction clean-up operations on any pavement or structure.

"Container" or "collection container" means, for the purpose of this chapter, any bin, box or cart used for the purpose of holding solid waste for collection.

"Debris box" means any ten (10) to forty (40) cubic yard container, or any compactor provided by a solid waste generator, placed in the public right-of-way, on city property, private property, or elsewhere in the service area, which is procured by a solid waste generator for their use in the collection of their solid waste. Debris boxes are serviced by means of lifting the entire container, including all contents, onto a designated collection vehicle.

"Designee" means an entity that the city contracts with or otherwise arranges to carry out any of the city's responsibilities of this chapter as authorized in 14 CCR Section 18981.2. A designee may be a government entity, a hauler, a private entity, or a combination of those entities.

"Disposal" means the final disposition of solid waste at a solid waste facility permitted for disposal.

"Diversion" means activities reducing or eliminating the amount of solid waste from solid waste disposal, and which return these materials to use in the form of raw materials for new, reused, or reconstituted products, which meet the quality standards necessary for commercial use, or for other purposes of reuse.

"Dwelling unit" means one (1) or more rooms with internal access between all rooms, which provide complete independent living facilities for at least one (1) family, including provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking, bathing, and sanitary facilities.

"Edible food" means food intended for human consumption, or as otherwise defined in 14 CCR Section 18982(a)(18). For the purposes of this chapter or as otherwise defined in 14 CCR Section 18982(a)(18), "edible food" is not solid waste if it is recovered and not discarded. Nothing in this chapter or in 14 CCR, Division 7, Chapter 12 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 non- compliance with this chapter including, but not limited to, issuing administrative notices, citations, fines, penalties, or using other remedies.

"Enforcement agency" means an entity with the authority to enforce part or all of this chapter as specified herein. Employees and agents of an enforcement agency may carry out inspections and enforcement activities pursuant to this chapter. Nothing in this chapter authorizing an entity to enforce its terms shall require that entity to undertake such enforcement except as agreed to by that entity and the city. The city is an enforcement agency for all sections of this chapter. The city may choose to additionally delegate enforcement responsibility for certain sections, to other public entities, including the Marin Hazardous and Solid Waste Joint Powers Authority (Zero Waste Marin) and the County of Marin.

"Exempt waste" means biohazardous or biomedical waste, hazardous waste, medical waste, regulated radioactive waste, waste that is volatile, corrosive, or infectious, waste treatment or processing sludge, contaminated soil and dirt, contaminated concrete, contaminated asphalt, automobiles, automobile parts, boats, boat parts, boat trailers, internal combustion engines, lead-acid batteries, any matter or materials which are not acceptable for disposal at a solid waste landfill as defined in the California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989 and subsequent legislation, and those wastes under the control of the nuclear regulatory commission, all as further defined in subsection 38 of this section.

"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 or as otherwise defined in 14 CCR Section 18982(a)(25), 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, or as otherwise defined in 14 CCR Section 18982(a)(26). A food recovery service is not a commercial edible food generator for the purposes of this chapter and implementation of 14 CCR, Division 7, Chapter 12 pursuant to 14 CCR Section 18982(a)(7).

"Food waste" means food scraps and trimmings and other putrescible waste that result from food production, preparation, cooking, storage, consumption or handling. Food waste includes, but is not limited to, meat, fish and dairy waste, fruit and vegetable waste and grain waste. Food waste does not include exempt waste.

"Garbage" means all non-recyclable packaging and other waste attributed to normal activities of a premises. Garbage must be generated by and at the service unit wherein the garbage is collected. Garbage does not include recyclable materials, organic materials, debris from construction and demolition, large items, e-waste, universal waste, hazardous waste, household hazardous waste or exempt waste.

"Garbage container" has the same meaning as "gray container" in 14 CCR Section 18982(a)(28) and shall be used for the purpose of storage and collection of garbage.

"Generators," for the purpose of this chapter, means a person or entity, including commercial generators and residential generators, that is responsible for the initial creation of organic materials, or as otherwise defined as "organic waste generator" in 14 CCR Section 18982(a)(48).

"Health officer" means the health officer of the county, acting as health officer for the city.

"Inspection" means a site visit where the city, its designee or enforcement agency, reviews records, containers, and an entity's collection, handling, recycling, or disposal of solid waste or edible food handling to determine if the entity is complying with requirements set forth in this chapter, or as otherwise defined in 14 CCR Section 18982(a)(35).

"Organics container" has the same meaning as "green container" in 14 CCR Section 18982(a)(29) and shall be used for the purpose of storage and collection of source separated organic materials designated for organic materials processing, including food waste and landscape and pruning waste accepted in the city's organic waste collection program, and other organic materials as determined by the city and authorized collector as acceptable for the organics container. The city and authorized collector shall have the right to promulgate changes to organic material types acceptable for the organics container.

"Organic material" or "organic waste" means solid wastes containing material originated from living organisms and their metabolic waste products, including, but not limited to, food waste, green material, landscape and pruning waste, organic textiles and carpets, lumber, wood, paper products, printing and writing paper, manure, biosolids, digestate, and sludges or as otherwise defined in 14 CCR Section 18982(a)(46).

"Organic material processing facility" means any facility selected by the authorized collector that is approved by the city, or specifically designated by the city, operated and legally permitted for the purpose of receiving and processing organic materials.

"Person" means any person or persons, firm, association, corporation or other entity acting as principal, agent or officer, servant or employee, for themselves or for any other person, firm or corporation. Person includes employees of the city of San Rafael.

"Premises" includes a tract or parcel of land with or without habitable buildings or appurtenant structures. (CCR, Section 17225.50) For purposes of this chapter the word premises includes residential and commercial uses of the land, whether owned, leased, rented or sub-let, including every dwelling house, dwelling unit, apartment house or multiple-dwelling building, trailer or mobile home park, store, restaurant, rooming house, hotel, motel, office building, department store, manufacturing, processing or assembling shop or plant, warehouse and every other place or premises where any person resides, or any business is carried on or conducted within the city.

"Prohibited container contaminants" means (1) discarded materials placed in the designated recyclables container that are not identified as acceptable source separated recyclables for the city's designated recyclables collection container; (2) discarded materials placed in the designated organic materials collection container that are not identified as acceptable source separated organic materials for the city's designated organic materials collection container; and (3) discarded materials placed in the garbage container that are acceptable source separated recyclables and/or source separated organic materials to be placed in city's designated organic materials collection container and/or designated recyclables collection container, and (4) exempt waste placed in any container.

"Recyclable (source separated) materials" or "recyclables" means any material designated to be segregated from the waste stream for purposes of recycling. This designation shall be made by the city and the authorized collector based on good public practice, ability to receive an acceptable economic return, and feasibility of separating the material from the waste stream at the point of collection. Recyclable materials are currently limited to paper, glass, cardboard, plastics, ferrous metal, and aluminum.

"Recycling" means the process of collecting, sorting, cleansing, treating and reconstituting materials that would otherwise become garbage and returning them for use or reuse in the form of raw materials for new, used or reconstituted products which meet the quality standard necessary to be used in the marketplace. Recycling does not include transformation as defined in Public Resources Code § 40201. (CCR, Title 14, Section 17225.54).

"Recycling container" has the same meaning as "blue container" in 14 CCR Section 18982.2(a)(5) and shall be used for the purpose of storage and collection of source separated recyclable materials. The city and authorized collector shall have the right to promulgate changes to recyclable material types acceptable for the recycling container.

"Residential" means, for the purposes of this chapter, any premises consisting of between one (1) and four (4) dwelling units, and onsite domestic uses accessory to these dwelling units. A multi-family dwelling that consists of fewer than five (5) dwelling units is "residential," for the purposes of this chapter.

"Self-hauler" means a person who hauls solid waste, organic waste or recovered material they have generated to another person. Self-hauler also includes a person who back-hauls waste, or as otherwise defined in 14 CCR Section 18982(a)(66). "Back-haul" means generating and transporting organic materials to a destination owned and operated by the generator using the generator's own employees and equipment, or as otherwise defined in 14 CCR Section 189881(a)(66)(A). Self-hauler does not include any hauling arrangement by which the owner or occupant of the premises pays any compensation to a third party for such hauling, including any transaction or arrangement involving discounted fees for services.

"Solid waste" means all putrescible and non-putrescible solid and semisolid wastes, including garbage, recyclable materials, organic materials, trash, refuse, paper, rubbish, ashes, industrial wastes demolition and construction wastes, bulky waste, discarded home and industrial appliances, manure, vegetable or animal solid or semisolid wastes, and other discarded solid and semisolid wastes. Solid waste includes materials defined as such per the Public Resources Code Section 49503 and as amended. Solid waste does not include any of the following wastes: (1) hazardous waste, as defined in the 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 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 Health and Safety Code). Untreated medical waste shall not be disposed of in a solid waste landfill, as defined in 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 Public Resources Code. Recyclable materials and organic materials are a part of solid waste and (4) abandoned vehicles and parts thereof.

"Solid waste collection service" means collection of solid waste originating in the city, by persons, firms or corporations, and doing so under a contract or franchise agreement with the city. Solid waste collection service includes collection of source separated garbage, recyclable material and organic materials.

"Solid waste facility" or "facility" means a solid waste transfer or processing station including material recovery facilities, a recycling facility, a composting facility, a gasification facility, a transformation facility, an engineered municipal solid waste conversion facility, and/or a disposal facility in compliance with the definitions, provisions and requirements set forth in the Act. Solid waste facility additionally includes a solid waste operation that may be carried out pursuant to an enforcement agency notification, as provided in regulations adopted by CalRecycle, or otherwise set forth in the Act.

"Source separate" means the process of removing recyclable materials and organic materials from solid waste at the place of generation, prior to collection, and placing such materials into separate containers designated for recyclable materials and organic materials, or as otherwise defined in 14 CCR Section 17402.5(b)(4).

"Source reduction" means any action which causes a net reduction in the generation of solid waste. Source reduction includes, but is not limited to, reducing the use of nonrecyclable materials, replacing disposable materials and products with reusable materials and products, reducing packaging, reducing the amount of yard wastes generated, establishing garbage rate structures with incentives to reduce the amount of wastes that generators produce, and increasing the efficiency of the use of paper, cardboard, glass, metal, plastic, and other materials. Source reduction does not include steps taken after the material becomes solid waste or actions which would impact air or water resources in lieu of land, including, but not limited to, transformation.

"Tier one commercial edible food generator" means a commercial edible food generator that is one of the following as defined in 14 CCR Section 18982(a):

1. Supermarket with gross annual sales of two million dollars ($2,000,000.00) or more.

2. Grocery store with a total facility size equal to or greater than ten thousand (10,000) square feet.

3. Food service provider, which 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.

4. Wholesale food vendor, which means a business or establishment engaged in the merchant wholesale distribution of food, where food (including fruits and vegetables) is received, shipped, stored, prepared for distribution to a retailer, warehouse, distributor, or other destination.

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

"Tier two commercial edible food generator" means a commercial edible food generator that is one (1) of the following as defined in 14 CCR Section 18982(a):

1. Restaurant with two hundred fifty (250) or more seats, or a total facility size equal to or greater than five thousand (5,000) square feet.

2. Hotel with an on-site food facility and two hundred (200) or more rooms.

3. Health facility with an on-site food facility and one hundred (100) or more beds.

4. Large venue, which means a permanent venue facility that annually seats or serves an average of more than two thousand (2,000) individuals within the grounds of the facility per day of operation of the venue facility. For purposes of this chapter and implementation of 14 CCR, Division 7, Chapter 12, a venue facility includes, but is not limited to, a public, nonprofit, or privately owned or operated stadium, amphitheater, arena, hall, amusement park, conference or civic center, zoo, aquarium, airport, racetrack, horse track, performing arts center, fairground, museum, theater, or other public attraction facility. For purposes of this chapter and implementation of 14 CCR, Division 7, Chapter 12, a site under common ownership or control that includes more than one (1) large venue that is contiguous with other large venues in the site, is a single large venue.

5. Large event, which means an event, including, but not limited to, a sporting event or a flea market, that charges an admission price, or is operated by a local agency, and serves an average of more than two thousand (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 park, parking lot, golf course, street system, or other open space when being used for an event.

6. A state agency with a cafeteria with two hundred fifty (250) or more seats or total cafeteria facility size equal to or greater than five thousand (5,000) square feet.

7. A local education agency facility with an on-site food facility. "Local education agency" means a school district, charter school, or county office of education that is not subject to the control of city or county regulations related to solid waste, or as otherwise defined in 14 CCR Section 18982(a)(40).

"User disposal containers" are containers inside a business for the collection of source separated organic materials, source separated recyclables and garbage for employees, contractors, tenants, customers and other users of the business.

(Ord. No. 2004, § 1, 3-7-2022)