Chapter 8.06
GARBAGE COLLECTION AND DISPOSAL
Sections:
8.06.010 Application for service.
8.06.050 City sanitation division.
8.06.070 Container regulations.
8.06.080 Unlawful disposal – Permits – Compost – Special wastes.
8.06.090 Collection frequency.
8.06.100 Separation of garbage.
8.06.110 Hotels and restaurants.
8.06.120 Disposal of garbage and other refuse.
8.06.140 Duties – Service charges.
8.06.150 Charges and qualified senior citizens rate.
8.06.170 Enforcement by the city.
8.06.180 Penalty for violations.
8.06.010 Application for service.
A. It is the intent of the city that all utility deliveries, whether water, sewer, garbage or some combination thereof, shall be deliveries of services and/or utilities to the property served. All such delivery of utilities and/or services shall be a claim against the property and a claim against the owner of that property served or furnished utilities and/or services. It shall be the responsibility of each property owner served by city utilities to determine the extent of utility services and deliveries being made and/or furnished to the owner’s property. It shall be the responsibility of the property owner to pay all claims, charges, penalties and/or costs imposed by the city for the furnishing and/or delivery of utilities and/or services to the owner’s property. The property owner’s responsibility shall exist independent of any claim of lien the city may have or make pursuant to any statute, rule or regulation. The fact the owner has directed or allowed the billings for utilities furnished and/or services delivered to the owner’s property to be delivered to a tenant or other third person does not in any way reduce or extinguish the property owner’s responsibility for water, sewer and/or garbage billings, charges, costs or penalties imposed by the city. All delinquent charges for water, sewer, garbage or some combination thereof shall bear interest at the maximum rate allowed by law.
B. All applications for garbage service shall be made by the property owner or someone acting on behalf of the owner of the property to be provided garbage service, unless the service is initiated or changed by the city in order to protect the public health, welfare and safety, and responsibility for billing payment shall be borne by the property owner. All charges for garbage service will be sent directly to the property address unless the property owner directs otherwise, or in the event of a combined utility billing, the billing shall be sent to the address maintained by the finance director for such combined billing.
C. Upon a failure to pay the charges for garbage collection and/or disposal, the amount thereof shall become a lien against the real property furnished the service as provided by law. (Ord. 1187 § 2, 2014).
8.06.020 Application.
This chapter shall apply to all territory embraced within the corporate limits of the city of Soap Lake. (Ord. 1187 § 2, 2014).
8.06.030 Intent.
The maintenance of health and sanitation require, and it is the intent hereof to make the collection, removal and disposal of garbage, solid wastes, refuse and dead animals within the city of Soap Lake universal. (Ord. 1187 § 2, 2014).
8.06.040 Definitions.
The following definitions shall apply to this chapter:
“Agricultural waste” means all solid waste generated by the growing, washing or preparation for marketing of agricultural products, without cooking, blanching or other processing.
“Ashes” means the solid waste products of coal, wood or other fuels used for heating and cooking, from all public and private establishments and from all residences.
“Combustible rubbish” means burnable material in general, the organic component of refuse paper, rags, cartons, boxes, wood excelsior, furniture, bedding, rubber, plastics, leather, tree branches, lawn trimmings, and the like.
“Commercial refuse” means all solid wastes which originate in businesses, office buildings, stores, markets, theaters, and other buildings.
“Compactor collection truck” means enclosed vehicles provided with special mechanical devices for loading the refuse into the main compartment of the body, for compressing the loaded materials, and for distributing the refuse within the body.
“Compost” means a mixture that consists largely of decayed organic matter and is used for fertilizing and conditioning land.
“Construction and demolition wastes” means waste building materials and rubble resulting from construction, remodeling, repair and demolition operations on houses, commercial buildings, pavements and other structures.
“Containers” means receptacles required by the city on contract garbage collectors for the collection of garbage. Also referred to as toters.
“Disposal site” means the location where any treatment, utilization processing or deposition of solid waste occurs.
“Drop box site” means a loading site where small loads of solid waste are dumped into a large container for transport to a processing and/or disposal site.
“Functional standards” means the criteria for solid waste handling expressed in terms of expected performance.
“Garbage” means all putrescible material including all putrescible animal and vegetable wastes resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking and consumption of food, swill and carcasses of dead animals, except sewage, sewage sludge and human body wastes.
“Ground water” means water in the ground that is in the zone of saturation.
“Hazardous wastes” means dangerous wastes requiring special handling including, but not limited to, explosives, pathological wastes, radioactive materials and chemicals.
“Industrial solid waste” means all solid wastes which result from industrial processes and manufacturing operations such as factories, processing plants, repair and cleaning establishments, refineries and rendering plants.
“Institutional solid waste” means solid waste generated by hospitals, nursing homes, schools, prisons, reformatories, or other buildings housing any organization having social, education or religious purposes, excluding sharps and biomedical costs.
“Jurisdictional health department” means the Grant County health district.
“Landfill” means the solid waste disposal process using land for the final disposal site.
“Noncombustible rubbish” means material that is unburnable at ordinary incinerator temperatures (1,300 degrees to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit). For the most part, it is the inorganic component of refuse, such as tin cans, heavy metal, mineral matter, glass crockery, dust, metal furniture, ashes and the like.
“Offal” means intestine and discarded parts from the slaughter of animals.
“On-site disposal” includes all means of disposal or, more usually, volume reduction, of refuse on premises before collection. Examples are garbage and grinding, burning or incineration, burial, compaction or slurrying at homes and commercial establishments.
“Open burning” means the burning of solid wastes in an open area or burning of solid wastes in a type of vessel or chamber which is not approved in regulations.
“Open dumping” means the depositing of solid wastes into a body or stream of water, or onto the surface of the ground without compacting the wastes and covering with suitable material to a suitable depth that would prevent vector nuisance and pollution problems.
“Pathogen” means any infective agent capable of producing disease; may be a virus, rickettsia, bacterium, protozoan, etc.
“Person” means an individual, firm, association, co-partnership, political subdivision, government agency, municipality, industry, public or private corporation or any other entity whatsoever.
“Pollution” means the presence in the environment or portion of the environment of contaminating substances, materials, forms of animal or plant life in sufficient quantities and of such characteristics and duration, as is or is likely to be, injurious to humans, to other plant or animal life, or property, or which unreasonably interfere with enjoyment of life and property.
“Processing of waste” means the operation of solid waste which converts a waste into something useful, leaving the term “handling” to describe what is done to prepare it for disposal.
“Putrescible” means capable of being decomposed by microorganisms with sufficient rapidity as to cause nuisances from odors, gases, etc. Kitchen wastes, offal and dead animals are examples of putrescible components of solid waste.
Refuse. See “Solid waste.”
“Rendering” means a process of salvaging fats and oils, animal feed and other products from animal waste by cooking. Dead animals, fish and wastes from slaughterhouses and butcher shops are commonly used.
“Rubbish” means all discarded nonputrescible solid waste except ashes, including paper, cardboard, tin cans, wood, glass, bedding, yard clippings, etc.
“Salvage” means reclaimable solid waste such as paper, metal, bottles, or other objects saved for the purpose of sale or other use not prohibited by law, rule or regulation.
“Sanitary landfill” means a method of disposing of refuse on land without creating nuisances or hazards to public health or safety, by utilizing the principles of engineering to confine the refuse to the smallest practical area, to reduce it to the smallest practical volume, and to cover it with a layer of earth at the conclusion of each day’s operation or at such more frequent intervals as may be necessary.
“Sanitation technician” means the mayor or employee of the city of Soap Lake delegated by the mayor and authorized to administer this chapter.
“Scavenging” means the uncontrolled picking of materials.
“Solid waste” means all putrescible and nonputrescible solid and semisolid wastes, including garbage, rubbish, ashes, industrial wastes, demolition and construction wastes, abandoned vehicles or parts thereof, discarded home and industrial appliances, manure, vegetable or animal solid and semisolid wastes and other discarded material.
“Solid waste disposal” means final disposition of solid waste by acceptable means.
“Solid waste handling” means the storage, collection, transportation, treatment, utilization, processing and final disposal of solid wastes.
“Special wastes” means wastes that are difficult or unusual in the characteristics of quantities or composition to handle.
“Street refuse” means material picked up by manual and mechanical sweeping of streets and sidewalks, litter from public litter receptacles, and dirt removed from catch basins.
“Surface water” means a body of water whose top surface is exposed to the atmosphere including a flowing body as well as a pond or lake.
“Swill” means the semiliquid animal or vegetable waste of kitchens, markets or stores.
“Transfer station” means a loading site where solid waste is transferred from one vehicle to another for transfer to a final disposal site.
Trash. See “Rubbish.”
“Vector (of disease)” means a living insect or other arthropod, or animal (not human), which transmits infectious diseases from one person or animal to another.
“Waste” means useless, unused, unwanted or discarded materials. Waste includes solids, liquids, and gases. The gases are principally industrial fumes and smoke; the liquids consist mainly of sewage and the fluid part of industrial wastes; the solids are classed as refuse or solid wastes. (Ord. 1187 § 2, 2014).
8.06.050 City sanitation division.
A. For the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions and aims of this chapter, there is created and established a division to be known as the city sanitation division.
B. The mayor is empowered and authorized to appoint a suitable and qualified person as sanitation technician and this person shall have full charge and control of all the work provided for and contemplated under this chapter and as may be provided for by rules and regulations subsequently adopted. He shall also have charge of all collections and the enforcement of all charges for services rendered. In the absence of the appointment of a sanitation technician, the mayor may designate an individual employed by the city to perform the functions of the sanitary technician. (Ord. 1187 § 2, 2014).
8.06.060 Sanitation fund.
There is created and established a special fund known and designated as the sanitation fund, into which all sums collected under this chapter shall be deposited and kept by the treasurer of the city and from which all expenses of the administration and operation of this chapter shall be paid. (Ord. 1187 § 2, 2014).
8.06.070 Container regulations.
A. It shall be the duty of every person in possession, charge or in control of any dwelling, flat, rooming house, apartment house, or eating place, or in possession, charge or control of any shop, place of business or manufacturing establishment, at all times, containers and to deposit or cause to be deposited the refuse therein.
B. Such containers shall be of the type designated by the city.
C. Every container, on the day designated for collection, shall be kept in a place accessible to the collector of garbage and refuse. Where no alley access is available, all containers shall be placed in the street at the curb line, or where designated by the sanitation department, on the day designated for collection and on all other days shall be removed from the street to be as inconspicuous as is practical.
D. Each garbage container shall be kept clean inside and out so that no odor nuisance shall exist. The area around the containers shall be kept in a neat and sanitary condition. The sanitation technician shall report all garbage containers found to be in violation of this subsection to City Hall. All violators will be notified when the areas around the container are not being kept in a neat and sanitary condition. Two or more violations of this provision of this section shall subject the person responsible to a C-4 penalty.
E. Those containers found to be illegal shall be subject to impounding and disposal.
F. No garbage container shall contain earth, rocks or heavy refuse. Any extra container requiring a man to lift it shall not exceed 40 pounds in total weight of container and refuse. Customers must restrain dogs beyond reach of the garbage containers and prevent any interference with the pickup person on account of such dogs.
G. Larger containers may be used in the business, residential and commercial zones as provided by the contract collector. (Ord. 1187 § 2, 2014).
8.06.080 Unlawful disposal – Permits – Compost – Special wastes.
A. It is unlawful for any person to burn, dump, collect, remove or in any other manner dispose of garbage, refuse or swill upon any streets, alleys, public place or private property within the city otherwise than as provided in this chapter.
B. No person shall maintain on his premises in any residential zone in the city any receptacle for outdoor burning of waste paper, boxes, rubbish, brush, leaves, grass, woods, limbs, paper or cardboard.
C. No compost pile shall be kept or maintained unless sufficient appropriate material or substance, approved by the sanitation technician, is used to prevent the presence of flies, insects, bugs, rodents or other pests or menace to public health and welfare.
D. Residential Sharps Waste Disposal.
1. Chapter 165, Laws of 1994, provides that residential sharps waste shall not be placed into refuse, trash or solid waste collection containers if a residential sharps waste collection service is separately provided. The city does not elect to provide a sharps waste collection program within the city’s solid waste utility.
2. All residential generators of sharps waste are prohibited from placing or causing or allowing the placing of such wastes into: (a) recycling containers or collection boxes provided by the city or (b) cans, carts, drop boxes or other containers in which refuse, trash or solid waste is or has been placed for collection.
3. All residential sharps waste shall be collected by an approved collector. The city’s collector of garbage is an approved collector. The city designates the city’s collector of garbage as the sharps waste collector for the city in order to assure such a service is available to generators of sharps waste. Any person needing or desiring to employ the services of the sharps collector shall deal directly with that collector. The collection of sharps waste shall be conducted outside the operation of the city’s garbage utility.
E. Special Materials.
1. The collection, transportation and disposal of medical, biomedical, biohazard and/or infectious waste from generators within the city shall not be part of the city’s garbage utility. The city’s collector of garbage may collect such wastes or such portion of such wastes as the collector shall notify the city in writing. If the city’s collector of garbage elects not to collect such waste or some part of such waste, then any licensed hauler of such materials authorized to operate in the city may provide such services. It shall be the responsibility of the generator of such wastes to arrange for their proper collection, transportation and disposal. Any licensed hauler, including the city’s collector of garbage, operating in the city for the purposes of collection, transportation and disposal of such wastes shall be subject to all license requirements of the city and shall be responsible to pay any utility tax imposed by the city on the occupation of garbage or solid waste collection.
2. For purposes of this section, medical, biomedical, biohazardous and infectious waste is considered to be any biologic material produced within a health care facility for which special precautions are taken within that facility to reduce potential exposure of the health care facility staff, to include but not limited to untreated solid waste as defined by the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission in WAC 480-70-050 as follows:
a. Animal waste;
b. Liquid human body fluids;
c. Cultures and stocks;
d. Biosafety level 4 disease waste;
e. Pathological waste; and
f. Sharps waste.
3. A “generator of medical, biomedical, biohazardous and infectious waste” is defined as any person, firm, partnership, corporation, public entity, joint venture or otherwise which produces any of the defined wastes. (Ord. 1187 § 2, 2014).
8.06.090 Collection frequency.
The collector of refuse shall collect, remove and dispose of all garbage and refuse in the residential business and commercial zones of the city on a schedule approved by the sanitation technician. (Ord. 1187 § 2, 2014).
8.06.100 Separation of garbage.
The city of Soap Lake reserves the right to, and may have the option to, require the separation of garbage to provide for and promote recycling and waste stream reduction as required by state law or ordinance of the city and may require the deposit thereof in separate containers or receptacles and may prescribe the method of disposal thereof. (Ord. 1187 § 2, 2014).
8.06.110 Hotels and restaurants.
It is unlawful for any person, firm or corporation conducting any hotel, restaurant or any public eating place to deposit, throw or place swill or other refuse matter in a lane, alley, street or other public place, or to deposit, throw or place any swill upon any property, regardless of ownership, unless the swill is enclosed in vessels or tanks of a type approved by the sanitation technician, and which are perfectly watertight and have tightly fitting covers, which covers shall not be removed, except when absolutely necessary for the depositing and removal of swill. Such vessels or tanks shall be kept in the rear of the premises or in the basement, or other place authorized by the sanitation technician, so as to be readily accessible for collection and shall not be kept upon the street, alley or sidewalk or public place. All tanks or vessels shall be promptly delivered to the collector when called for and shall be returned by him without necessary delay, and no person, except for the purpose of collection under license, shall in any manner interfere with the vessel or tanks or with contents thereof. (Ord. 1187 § 2, 2014).
8.06.120 Disposal of garbage and other refuse.
All disposal of refuse shall be at a landfill or other site as directed by the city council. (Ord. 1187 § 2, 2014).
8.06.130 Compliance.
Every person shall be responsible for disposal of all garbage promptly according to the terms of this chapter and rules and regulations. (Ord. 1187 § 2, 2014).
8.06.140 Duties – Service charges.
It shall be the duty of every person or company to cause their garbage and refuse to be removed and disposed of only by the collector of refuse. (Ord. 1187 § 2, 2014).
8.06.150 Charges and qualified senior citizens rate.
The Soap Lake city council shall adopt rates and charges for the collection, removal, and disposal of garbage, refuse and dead animals within the city of Soap Lake by resolution from time to time. The resolution shall also list all other garbage related service fees and charges. Any services provided to an account during any month which changes shall be charged to the account for the entire month at the most intense service provided at any time during the month. The sanitation technician may, in his sole discretion, increase the charge of the service fee against any account requesting repeated or frequent service changes.
The solid waste collection rate to be charged to a qualified low income senior citizen single-family residential customer shall be the rate set forth set forth by resolution for senior rate customers.
For the purposes of this section, “qualified low income senior citizen” means a person who meets the following qualifications:
A. Resides in a single-family residential unit;
B. Customer or spouse, if married, must be 65 years of age or older. (Ord. 1316 § 1, 2021; Ord. 1187 § 2, 2014).
8.06.160 Administration.
A. If a home occupation is carried on in a residential zone as allowed by the planning commission, the resident shall pay only for residential service unless an unsanitary condition develops or unless more garbage and/or refuse is set for collection than is allowed for in a residential service. In the event a dispute arises over whether a home occupation should be required to pay residential or commercial rates, the sanitation technician shall make the determination as to what service is being used or should be used and therefore what service is to be charged.
B. If two or more types of service are available to a garbage account, both of which adequately and satisfactorily serve the account, the owner of the real estate or the party receiving the service, depending upon the circumstances, shall have the option of selecting the service he wishes to receive, so long as no unsanitary condition is created as a result of the service selection of the owner of the real estate or the party receiving the service. If a dispute arises between the owner of the real estate or the party receiving the service and the collector of refuse concerning the type of collection service an account should be receiving, the sanitation technician shall make the determination as to what type of service is to be charged.
C. A service fee for commercial accounts shall be determined by the sanitation technician depending upon the circumstances. If a dispute arises between the owner of the real estate or the party receiving the service and the collector of refuse concerning the type of collection service an account should be receiving, the sanitation technician shall make the determination as to what type of service is to be charged.
D. The city shall have the power, from time to time, by resolution or after council consideration by motion duly made and passed, to set forth and determine additional rules and regulations and other matters as may be necessary in the discretion of the city council for the proper execution of this chapter. (Ord. 1187 § 2, 2014).
8.06.170 Enforcement by the city.
The city of Soap Lake is empowered to carry out all the terms and provisions of this chapter and to collect and dispose of refuse in the manner provided herein. The city of Soap Lake shall be the final arbitrator of any disputes relating to the enforcement of this chapter. The city in its discretion, acting properly through its authorized agents, may proceed to vary any of the terms of this chapter due to the situation or circumstance of the individual refuse source. (Ord. 1187 § 2, 2014).
8.06.180 Penalty for violations.
A. Any person violating the provisions hereof shall be deemed to have committed a civil infraction and shall be subject to a penalty of up to $5,000.
B. It is further provided that for the following specific violations of this chapter, the following penalties are established:
1. Improper garbage being disposed of/overweight toters or bundles;
2. Toters left on street after collection day;
3. No approved garbage container.
C. All of the above enumerated violations shall be subject to punishment in the following manner:
1. The first offense, $10.00; second offense, $15.00; $20.00 for each succeeding offense;
2. Maintaining a burning barrel in a residential zone, $10.00 penalty;
3. Improper burning barrel in an industrial zone, $10.00;
4. Maintenance of an improper compost pile, $10.00;
5. Burning, dumping, collecting, removing or in any other manner disposing of garbage, refuse or swill upon any street, alley, public or private place or property: $10.00 first offense; second offense committed within six months of the first offense, $15.00; and each subsequent offense thereafter, if committed within six months of the prior offense, $20.00;
6. Failure to maintain clean toter to control odor: first offense, $10.00; second offense, $20.00; after second offense, toter is to be replaced by garbage hauler at the user’s expense. (Ord. 1187 § 2, 2014).
8.06.190 Severability.
The invalidity of any part of this chapter shall not affect the validity of any other part of this chapter which can be given effect without such involved part or parts. (Ord. 1187 § 2, 2014).