CHAPTER 4.1
ORGANIC WASTE DISPOSAL REDUCTION
ARTICLE 3. INVESTIGATORY AND ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY OF THE CITY
SECTION:
§4380.7 Inspections And Investigations By The City
§4380.7 INSPECTIONS AND INVESTIGATIONS BY THE CITY
A. City representatives and/or its designated entity, including designees, are authorized to conduct inspections and investigations, at random or otherwise, of any collection container, collection vehicle loads, or transfer, processing, or disposal facility for materials collected from generators, or source separated materials to confirm compliance with this chapter by organic waste generators, commercial businesses (including multifamily residential dwellings), property owners, commercial edible food generators, haulers, self-haulers, food recovery services, and food recovery organizations, subject to applicable laws. This section does not allow the City to enter the interior of a private residential property for inspection.
B. Regulated entity shall provide or arrange for access during all inspections (with the exception of residential property interiors) and shall cooperate with the City’s employee or its designated entity/designee during such inspections and investigations. Such inspections and investigations may include confirmation of proper placement of materials in containers, edible food recovery activities, records, or any other requirement of this chapter described herein. Failure to provide or arrange for: (1) access to an entity’s premises; or (2) access to records for any inspection or investigation is a violation of this chapter and may result in penalties described.
C. Any records obtained by the City during its inspections and other reviews shall be subject to the requirements and applicable disclosure exemptions of the Public Records Act as set forth in Government Code section 6250 et seq.
D. City representatives, its designated entity, and/or designee, are authorized to conduct any inspections or other investigations as reasonably necessary to further the goals of this chapter, subject to applicable laws.
E. The City shall receive written complaints from persons regarding an entity that may be potentially noncompliant with SB 1383 regulations, including receipt of anonymous complaints. (Ord. 1221, §2, adopted 2022; Ord. 1233, §1, adopted 2023. Formerly 4380.6)
§4380.8 ENFORCEMENT
A. Violation of any provision of this chapter shall constitute grounds for issuance of a notice of violation and assessment of a fine by the City Enforcement Official or representative. Enforcement actions under this chapter are issuance of an administrative citation and assessment of a fine. The City’s procedures on imposition of administrative fines are hereby incorporated in their entirety, as modified from time to time, and shall govern the imposition, enforcement, collection, and review of administrative citations issued to enforce this chapter and any rule or regulation adopted pursuant to this chapter, except as otherwise indicated in this chapter.
B. Other remedies allowed by law may be used, including civil action or prosecution as misdemeanor or infraction. The City may pursue civil actions in the California courts to seek recovery of unpaid administrative citations. The City may choose to delay court action until such time as a sufficiently large number of violations, or cumulative size of violations, exist such that court action is a reasonable use of City staff and resources.
C. Responsible Entity For Enforcement:
1. Enforcement pursuant to this chapter may be undertaken by the City Enforcement Official, which may be the City Manager or their designee, legal counsel, or combination thereof.
2. Enforcement may also be undertaken by a regional or County agency enforcement official, designated by the City, in consultation with City Enforcement Official.
a. City Enforcement Official(s) and regional or County agency enforcement official, if designated, will interpret this chapter; determine if violation(s) have occurred; implement enforcement actions; and determine if compliance standards are met.
b. City Enforcement Official(s) and regional or County agency enforcement official, if designated, may issue notices of violation(s).
D. Process For Enforcement:
1. City Enforcement Officials or regional or County enforcement officials and/or their designee will monitor compliance with this chapter randomly and through compliance reviews, route reviews, investigation of complaints, and an inspection program. Section 4380.7 establishes City’s right to conduct inspections and investigations.
2. The City may issue an official notification to notify regulated entities of its obligations under this chapter.
3. The City shall issue a notice of violation requiring compliance within sixty (60) days of issuance of the notice.
4. Absent compliance by the respondent within the deadline set forth in the notice of violation, the City shall commence an action to impose penalties, via an administrative citation and fine, pursuant to this section. Notices shall be sent to "owner" at the official address of the owner maintained by the tax collector for the City or if no such address is available, to the owner at the address of the dwelling or commercial property or to the party responsible for paying for the collection services, depending upon available information.
E. Penalty Amounts For Types of Violations: The administrative penalty levels are as follows:
1. For a first violation, the amount of the base penalty shall be fifty dollars ($50.00) to one hundred dollars ($100.00) per violation.
2. For a second violation, the amount of the base penalty shall be one hundred dollars ($100.00) to two hundred dollars ($200.00) per violation.
3. For a third or subsequent violation, the amount of the base penalty shall be two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00) to five hundred dollars ($500.00) per violation.
F. Factors Considered In Determining Penalty Amount: The following factors shall be used to determine the amount of the penalty for each violation within the appropriate penalty amount range:
1. The nature, circumstances, and severity of the violation(s).
2. The violator’s ability to pay.
3. The willfulness of the violator’s misconduct.
4. Whether the violator took measures to avoid or mitigate violations of this chapter.
5. Evidence of any economic benefit resulting from the violation(s).
6. The deterrent effect of the penalty on the violator.
7. Whether the violation(s) were due to conditions outside the control of the violator.
G. Compliance Deadline Extension Considerations: The City may extend the compliance deadlines set forth in a notice of violation issued in accordance with this section if it finds that there are extenuating circumstances beyond the control of the respondent that make compliance within the deadlines impracticable, including the following:
1. Acts of God such as earthquakes, wildfires, flooding, and other emergencies or natural disasters;
2. Delays in obtaining discretionary permits or other government agency approvals; or
3. Deficiencies in organic waste recycling infrastructure or edible food recovery capacity and the City is under a corrective action plan with CalRecycle pursuant to 14 CCR Section 18996.2 due to those deficiencies.
H. Appeals Process: Persons receiving an administrative citation containing a penalty for an uncorrected violation may request a hearing to appeal the citation.
1. The violator may file an appeal of the issuance of the citation with the City Enforcement Official. Such appeal shall be in writing and shall identify the property subject to the citation. The City Enforcement Official shall then cause the matter to be set for hearing before a Hearing Officer appointed by the City to hear such matters. The Hearing Officer shall be qualified by training, education and/or experience to conduct the hearing and shall be impartial. Except in his or her capacity as a Hearing Officer, he or she shall have no personal or business relationship to the property owner or the City.
2. Notice of the date of hearing shall be given in writing. The date of the hearing shall be no sooner than fifteen (15) days from the date when notice of the hearing is given to the appellant and to the City Enforcement Official.
3. At the time fixed in the notice, the Hearing Officer shall receive evidence, including the testimony of all competent persons desiring to testify respecting the condition leading to issuance of the citation.
4. Upon conclusion of the hearing, the Hearing Officer(s) shall determine whether to sustain or overrule the issuance of the citation and shall issue a written order.
5. The decision of the Hearing Officer on the determination of nuisance is final. Any appeal of the Hearing Officer’s decision shall be governed by California Code of Civil Procedure section 1094.6 as such section may be amended from time to time.
I. Education Period For Noncompliance: Beginning January 1, 2022, and through December 31, 2023, City will conduct inspections, remote monitoring, route reviews or waste evaluations, and compliance reviews, depending upon the type of regulated entity, to determine compliance, and if City determines that organic waste generator, self-hauler, hauler, tier one commercial edible food generator, food recovery organization, food recovery service, or other entity is not in compliance, it shall provide educational materials to the entity describing its obligations under this chapter and a notice that compliance is required by January 1, 2022, and that violations may be subject to administrative civil penalties starting on January 1, 2024.
J. Civil Penalties For Noncompliance: Beginning January 1, 2024, if the City determines that an organic waste generator, self-hauler, hauler, tier one or tier two commercial edible food generator, food recovery organization, food recovery service, or other entity is not in compliance with this chapter, it shall document the noncompliance or violation, issue a notice of violation, and take enforcement action pursuant to this section, as needed. (Ord. 1221, §2, adopted 2022; Ord. 1233, §1, adopted 2023. Formerly 4380.7)