To: Board of Supervisors
From: Anna Roth, Health Services Director
Report Title: Ordinance No. 2024-22 to add Chapter 418-3 to the County Ordinance Code
☒Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
INTRODUCE Ordinance No. 2024-22 to add Chapter 418-3 to the County Ordinance Code to regulate commercial nonfranchise solid waste haulers that transport waste on County roads and highways during the period from January 2, 2025, through December 31, 2027; WAIVE reading; and FIX December 3, 2024, for adoption.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no impact to the General Fund as a result of this ordinance. The Contra Costa Health Services Department, Environmental Health Division (EHD) is fully fee supported and any enforcement actions would follow existing cost recovery procedures outlined in County Ordinance Code.
BACKGROUND:
In 2017 to help combat illegal dumping, the Board of Supervisors adopted Ordinance No. 2017-16 amending Chapter 418-2 of the County Ordinance Code and created a program to regulate the collection and transport of solid waste by nonfranchise haulers in the unincorporated areas of the County. The County’s Health Services Department, Environmental Health Division (EHD) facilitates the non-franchise solid waste hauler program which requires haulers to obtain a permit, display permit decals, and pay regulatory fees to cover the cost of program implementation. Chapter 418-2 regulates both the collection and transport of waste by haulers, as opposed to only transport, in the unincorporated areas under this program allowing the EHD to collect regulatory fees to pay for the program and avoid running afoul of a provision of the California Vehicle Code prohibiting a permit fee from being charged for the privilege of using public roadways. This creates enforcement challenges allowing both permitted and non-permitted haulers to operate within the unincorporated areas because the location of collection is a requirement in Chapter 418-2 and the origin of a solid waste load is not readily ascertainable.
The Board of Supervisors sponsored California Assembly Bill 592 (AB 592), which was approved by the Legislature and signed by the Governor in late 2023. AB 592 added Section 21100.6 to the California Vehicle Code authorizing the County to create a three-year pilot program to regulate the transportation of solid waste by commercial nonfranchise solid waste haulers on public roads in unincorporated areas of the County. A commercial nonfranchise solid waste hauler is any business, person, or entity that transports solid waste that is not part of a solid waste franchise in the unincorporated County. An example of such an entity would be 1-800-Got-Junk.
Under the ordinance, nonfranchise solid waste haulers will need to obtain a permit, pay a permit fee, provide insurance, and abide by certain other requirements included in Ordinance No. 2024-22. If the ordinance is adopted on December 3, 2024, the ordinance would be effective January 2, 2025 - the first County business day in the new year. A permit expires on December 31 of the year in which it is issued. No permit will be issued or renewed beyond December 31, 2027.
The ordinance does not require compliance by homeowners, contractors, and landscaping companies transporting solid waste from places where the waste was generated. The ordinance also exempts other classes of haulers found in Ordinance Code section 418-2.008.
By allowing the County to regulate solely the transportation of solid waste on public roadways by commercial nonfranchise solid waste haulers, new Chapter 418-3 will greatly increase the enforceability of the existing nonfranchise hauler permit program in the unincorporated areas.
Ordinance No. 2024-22 also amends Section 14-8.008 by authorizing the Office of the Sheriff and the Health Services Director to issue infraction citations for violations of Chapter 418-3. This provides expanding enforcement of the nonfranchise solid waste hauler permit program.
Under current legislation, the program will sunset January 1, 2028, unless a bill is adopted and signed to extend Vehicle Code section 21100.6. If this ordinance is adopted, it would expire January 1, 2028. If Vehicle Code section 21100.6 is extended beyond January 1, 2028, the Board would need to adopt another ordinance to extend Ordinance No. 2024-22 by the same amount of time.
This program does not encourage or discourage the hauling of waste. Rather, the ordinance will establish a permitting and enforcement program to regulate activity that otherwise occurs or would occur.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
Ordinance No. 2024-22 will not be formally introduced to the Board of Supervisors and cannot be adopted as scheduled on December 3, 2024, prohibiting the Health Services Department, Environmental Health Division from regulating the transport of solid waste on public roads in the unincorporated area of the County by commercial nonfranchise solid waste haulers.