Sonoma County Municipal Code § 22-16 Organic waste hauling requirements—Self-haulers

(a) Spill Prevention. No person shall transport solid waste, organic waste, or recyclable materials, of any type, upon or across any public property, public right-of-way, watercourses, or bank of any watercourse, or upon the premises of any other person, except at a solid waste site, recycling facility, or composting facility approved by the department, without covering or enclosing the materials and taking effective measures to prevent any fluid or materials from blowing, leaking, or dropping from the vehicle during transport. Load covers and control measures on transport vehicles shall be adequate to prevent the release or potential release of materials and fluids. The department and local enforcement agency may enforce this provision.

(b) Spill Kits. Each vehicle hauling solid waste, C&D materials, recyclable materials, or organic waste in the county under permit shall carry a shovel, broom, spill absorbent and fire extinguisher.

(c) Fire Prevention. No person shall transport recently-burned solid waste.

(Ord. No. 6361, § II(Exh. A), 11-16-2021)

All solid waste shall be the property and responsibility of the person that produced it. In the event the Generator of solid waste is unknown, such materials shall be the property and responsibility of the owner of the parcel upon which they have been deposited. Once collected by the authorized county franchisee or other entity responsible for said collection, all discarded materials with the exception of excluded waste shall become the responsibility of the authorized county franchisee or other entity that is responsible for their collection. If such county franchisee or other entity can identify the person or business that produced excluded waste inadvertently collected by that enterprise, responsibility for excluded waste shall remain with said person. If such person cannot be identified, the county franchisee or other entity shall be responsible for proper disposal of the exclude waste and shall assume responsibility for its disposal and related costs.

(Ord. No. 6361, § II(Exh. A), 11-16-2021)

No person shall deposit any excluded waste in a collection container. The storage and disposal of excluded waste shall be subject to all applicable local, state and federal laws.

(Ord. No. 6361, § II(Exh. A), 11-16-2021)

No person, except for the owner or occupant of the premises, shall dispose of, place or deposit solid waste, organic waste, recyclable materials, or C&D in containers stored on public or private property without the express written permission of the owner or occupant. In addition, except in connection with the collection and related activities authorized in this chapter, no person shall remove, tamper with or interfere in any manner with any collection container or the contents thereof. Further, no person shall by any means hinder, obstruct or interfere with the collection or transportation of solid waste, organic waste, recyclable materials, or C&D by an authorized county franchisee or other enterprise eligible to provide collection services under this chapter.

(Ord. No. 6361, § II(Exh. A), 11-16-2021)

(a) Unlawful Accumulations. No person shall accumulate solid waste, organic waste, recyclables, C&D debris, or excluded waste in any amount that creates a nuisance. Solid waste and organic waste shall not be allowed to remain on a premises for more than seven (7) days, or such lesser period as may be prescribed by applicable permits.

(b) County Approved Disposal or Non-Disposal Sites. The board shall provide approved disposal and non-disposal sites (e.g. transfer stations and composting facilities) for the management of solid waste, organic waste, and recyclable materials collected within the county. The board may, by resolution, establish regulations governing the use of approved disposal and non-disposal sites, including transfer stations. The board reserves the authority and right to establish, by resolution, a schedule of fees for the disposal of solid waste, including all organic waste, and the acceptance of recyclables for processing and diversion at any approved disposal or non-disposal site owned or maintained by the county. Nothing in this section is intended to modify or restrict the authority of the local enforcement agency to issue solid waste facility permits as may be required under state law and all solid waste facilities shall be subject to applicable land use restrictions and regulations.

(c) Design Review. The design of any new, substantially remodeled or expanded building or other facility shall provide for proper storage and disposal of solid waste and recyclables generated on the premise during the designated removal period. The design shall be submitted for approval to the permit and resource management department and shall meet all applicable regulations. This subsection shall not apply to one (1) or two (2) family dwellings.

(1) Collection container areas shall be adequate to be serviced by commercial mechanical loading trucks.

(2) Commercial buildings with fifteen thousand (15,000) square feet of floor space or greater, and multiple housing units with seven (7) or more bedrooms, or any facility generating or anticipated to generate one (1) cubic yard or more solid waste per week, shall provide sufficient container area(s) to house the number and size of containers required. Container areas shall not be less than ten feet (10′) wide, seven and one-half feet (7½′) deep and six feet (6′) high.

(3) Gates, if installed on the container area, shall be double doors, opening at the center and level with the access road.

(4) Access roads shall provide all weather access and be capable of supporting collection vehicle weight. Access roads shall have a minimum width of twelve feet (12′).

(5) A turn around for the collection vehicle shall be provided in the immediate vicinity of the container area. The turn around area shall not be less than a thirty-two (32′) radius.

(6) Overhangs, wiring or other obstructions on the approach to the container area must be at least fifteen feet (15′) high and at least sixteen feet (16′) high directly over the container area.

(7) Collection containers shall be of sufficient size and adequate number to contain without overflowing any of the solid waste, organic waste, recyclable materials, that are generated on the premises during the designated removal period.

(8) Storage containers shall be placed to minimize traffic, aesthetic and other problems, both on the property and for the general public.

(Ord. No. 6361, § II(Exh. A), 11-16-2021)

(a) Generally. No person shall throw or deposit, or cause to be thrown or deposited, any solid waste upon any premises whatsoever except at an approved disposal or non-disposal facility or in a manner that is otherwise authorized by federal, state and local laws.

(b) State Law Relative to Littering. The attention of all persons is directed to Section 374 of the Penal Code and other provisions of the laws of the state prohibiting the littering of public highways.

(Ord. No. 6361, § II(Exh. A), 11-16-2021)

Note— As to littering of the courthouse building and grounds, see Section 19-3 of this code. As to littering of public property generally, see Section 19-6 of this code.

The burning of solid waste or any other offensive odor-producing materials may be done only in accordance with the appropriate requirements of any governmental agency having jurisdiction, including the department of emergency services, local fire districts, the Northern Sonoma County air pollution control district and the Bay Area air quality management district.

(Ord. No. 6361, § II(Exh. A), 11-16-2021)

Note— Wood-burning appliance requirements are contained in Chapter 7C of this code. Open burning permit requirements are contained in Chapter 13 of this code.

(a) Generally. No person shall dispose of any solid waste that is generated outside the county at any disposal site within Sonoma County, except as otherwise authorized in this chapter and state and federal laws.

(b) Geothermal Drilling Waste. Nonhazardous geothermal drilling wastes may be imported and disposed of in permitted or exempted Sonoma County geothermal area disposal facilities if specifically permitted by a resolution of the board. A solid waste facility permit exemption also must be obtained from the local enforcement agency pursuant to state law.

(c) Other. Other foreign solid waste may be disposed of at approved disposal facilities if specifically permitted by a resolution of the board.

(Ord. No. 6361, § II(Exh. A), 11-16-2021)

No person shall engage in any scavenging activities at any disposal site or transfer station unless specifically permitted by a resolution of the board or by authorization of the department.

(Ord. No. 6361, § II(Exh. A), 11-16-2021)

No person shall dispose of any of the following materials at any disposal site within Sonoma County:

(a) Tires, whether shredded or not; provided, however, that if the department director of transportation and public works determines that tires cannot be recycled for a specific time period, then the department director of transportation and public works may permit the disposal of tires at any approved disposal site for that time period;

(b) Major appliances, including but not limited to: refrigerators, freezers, air-conditioners, washing machines, clothes dryers, hot water heaters, dehumidifiers, conventional and microwave ovens, stoves, trash compactors and residential furnaces; provided, however, that if large appliances cannot be recycled for a specified time period, then the director of transportation and public works may permit the disposal of large appliances at any approved disposal site for that time period;

(c) Organic waste; provided however, that if the department director of transportation and public works determines that organic waste, or any specific type, cannot be recycled for a specific time period, then the director of transportation and public works may permit the disposal of organic waste at any approved disposal site for that time period;

(d) Recyclable materials; provided however, that if the department director of transportation and public works determines that recyclable materials, or any specific type, cannot be recycled for a specific time period, then the director of transportation and public works may permit the disposal of recyclable materials at any disposal area for that time period.

(Ord. No. 6361, § II(Exh. A), 11-16-2021)

(a) Self-Haul Rights. This section describes provisions applicable to self-haul of organic waste by commercial businesses that have received a waiver from the obligation to subscribe to collection service pursuant to Section 22-3. The provisions of this section also apply to any commercial or residential generator who subscribes to collection service as required by Section 22-3, but who may have excess organic waste to manage from time to time. The provisions of this section also apply to service providers hauling organic waste pursuant to Section 22-18(b)(2).

(b) Source Separation. Self-haulers shall source separate all organic waste (materials that the county otherwise requires generators to separate for collection service via a franchised hauler) generated on-site from solid waste in a manner consistent with 14 CCR Sections 18984.1 and 18984.2, or shall haul organic waste to a high diversion organic waste processing facility as specified in 14 CCR Section 18984.3.

(c) Required Diversion. Self-haulers shall haul their source separated 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.

(d) Records Required. Self-haulers that are commercial businesses (including multi-family 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 subject to inspection by the county. 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.

(e) Reporting to County. Self-haulers that are commercial businesses (including multi-family self-haulers) shall provide information collected in Section 12(c) to the Department if requested.

(f) Exceptions for Residential Generators. A residential organic waste generator that self-hauls organic waste is not required to record or report information in Section 22-16 (c) and (d).

(g) Mandatory Service. The provisions of this Section 22-16 do not relieve a generator from the applicable requirements of Section 22-3 (mandatory service).

(Ord. No. 6361, § II(Exh. A), 11-16-2021)