The County has relied on a mixture of private companies and County staff and equipment to collect and transport solid waste, green waste, and recyclable material within the unincorporated area. In 1958, the Board of Supervisors, pursuant to competitive bidding, awarded two exclusive franchises for the collection of residential and commercial solid waste north of Calvine Road, one north of the American River and the other south of the American River. Pursuant to the discovery that there had been fraud and collusion among bidders for the franchise north of the American River, the franchise was terminated in 1963. Collection responsibility north of the American River was delegated, on an emergency basis, to another private hauler by contract. In 1968, the hauler became financially unstable and went out of business. The County undertook the performance of residential solid waste collection services directly by acquiring equipment, employing personnel, and acting as an enterprise. Six nonexclusive permits were issued for commercial collection north of the American River. When the second franchise terminated in 1973, the transition was largely complete, leaving only the area south of Calvine Road to be served by a contractor to the County. Single-family dwelling residential curbside collection of recyclable material began in 1991 and of green waste in 1993.
Permittees continued to collect commercial solid waste within the unincorporated area throughout this transition. In 1975, regulations were enacted requiring permittees to divest themselves of ownership interests in each other. In 1996, in order to provide uniform regulation of commercial solid waste collection, removal, and transportation, the Sacramento Regional Solid Waste Authority (SWA) assumed regulatory responsibility for commercial solid waste permitting in the City of Sacramento and the unincorporated County of Sacramento. In 2000, the SWA adopted an ordinance establishing a non-exclusive franchise system for the collection of commercial solid waste throughout the City of Sacramento and the unincorporated County of Sacramento.
The County began operating the Kiefer landfill in 1967 to serve the solid waste disposal needs of residents and businesses in the County. An expansion of disposal capacity was approved in 2005 to extend the useful life of the landfill beyond 2036. The North Area Recovery Station (NARS) on Roseville Road was opened in 1973 to serve the County's waste transfer needs and still functions in this role, along with a Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) facility and expanded infrastructure for a variety of recyclable materials. The South Area Transfer Station (SATS) on Fruitridge Road was opened in 1977 and was utilized for solid waste transfer until 1999, when it was closed to the public. While SATS continues to provide usable, permitted waste transfer and processing capacity, since 2016 it has not been used in that manner.
The State of California has placed increased statutory and regulatory mandates for waste diversion from landfilling, reduced emissions and discharges from waste management and processing, and more stringent requirements for protecting human health and the environment from the risks associated with solid waste. These mandates, while intended to improve the environmental performance of municipal solid waste management systems, simultaneously pose challenges to effective and efficient solid waste management.
On April 23, 2019 the County Board of Supervisors adopted Resolution 2019-0277 electing to withdraw from the SWA. Such withdrawal effectively dissolved the SWA, as it had only the City of Sacramento and the County as member agencies, and transferred to the County commercial solid waste collection, removal, and transportation services for its unincorporated areas effective July 1, 2021.
The mission statement of the County of Sacramento Department of Waste Management and Recycling is to further enhance the quality of life in the County's unincorporated areas by providing: solid waste management and recycling programs in a fiscally responsible manner; public and employee health and safety; stewardship of our natural resources and environment; consumer protection; and outstanding customer service.
The Department is responsible for, in coordination with the municipalities located within the County, the implementation of the Countywide Integrated Waste Management Plan.
(SCC 517 § 2, 1982; SCC 229 § 2, 1975; SCC 1044 § 2, 1996; SCC 1654 § 1, 2019; SCC 1672 § 1, 2021; SCC 1720 § 1, 2023)
A. 
The purposes of this chapter are to express the County's overall plan for the collection, recycling, and disposal of solid waste, organic material, and recyclable material within the unincorporated areas and to establish uniform regulations ensuring the implementation and execution of the plan in a manner which protects public health, safety and welfare. It is also the purpose of this chapter to provide mechanisms to sustainably fund the abovementioned critical endeavors and achieve compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
B. 
The Board of Supervisors finds as follows:
1. 
The safe and sanitary collection and disposal of solid waste and the diversion of recyclable material and organic material are of such importance to the protection of the health, safety and welfare that either direct provision by government or constant monitoring, regulation, and evaluation by government must be sustained to ensure continuing adequacy, reliability and efficiency of private service systems;
2. 
Economies and efficiencies expected from privately provided commercial and rural collection services will best promote the public interest if such services are sufficiently monitored, regulated and evaluated to insure reliability and adequacy;
3. 
A variety of factors dictate the necessity for exclusivity in the provision of solid waste collection services in varying degrees depending upon the nature, extent, and magnitude of service demands;
4. 
The factors include, but are not limited to, the following: (a) the provision of efficient service requires heavy capital investment in trucks and other equipment and maintenance of trucks in continuing operating condition in order to insure regularity of service and the meeting of collection schedules; (b) unrestricted competition may or may not result in a sufficient number of adequately equipped firms to satisfy the total demand and need for reliable collection service, and may discourage the introduction of capital investment among competing firms sufficient to satisfy service inadequacies; (c) by severely restricting the authority of a local agency to substitute an exclusive direct governmental or franchised service for service provided by holders of solid waste collection franchises, State law (Health and Safety Code Sections 4270 through 4273) impairs the ability of local government to effectively correct any service inadequacies produced by an unrestricted competitive environment; (d) revocation of franchises for cause relating to unreliable or inadequate service or failure to fulfill minimum standards requires heavy commitments of County staff, prolonged investigations, and results in time consuming and costly hearings, and litigation while services remain inadequate and endanger the health, safety and welfare; (e) certain types of collection services (particularly those in areas with low density) are so costly as to make the price of collection prohibitive unless the collector can equalize costs and charges associated with low density or rural areas with those associated with high density or urban areas, and competition will divide the high density high efficiency business in a manner which produces inadequate or nonexistent service to low density areas; (f) certain types of collection (particularly residential) will produce the most efficient service at the lowest cost when collection routes provide door-to-door service uninterrupted by competition in the same area; and (g) objectives of energy conservation in fuel consumed by collection equipment and the reduction of traffic congestion on roads and streets;
5. 
Sacramento County has the second largest unincorporated area population of any County within the State of California, and experiences service and regulatory demands similar to those in large cities;
6. 
The unincorporated area population of the County is predominantly concentrated north of Calvine Road. The remainder of the unincorporated area is largely devoted to agricultural uses with sparse and low density population and intermittent commercial use, and as such, the provision of waste material management services, including diversion programs, are less efficient. Solid waste self-hauling in low density areas is traditional and waivers for diversion mandates are commonly found in State law;
7. 
The demographical characteristics of the unincorporated area of the County require variable approaches to the provision of solid waste collection services based upon factors which include, but are not limited to, weighing and balancing the following: (a) the degree to which exclusivity of collection is necessary to support the public interest; (b) the nature and extent of capital investment required to provide adequate services within particular areas; (c) the cost of providing collection services within various areas; and (d) the extent to which the cost of serving areas to which service cannot be provided economically should be spread to high density areas;
8. 
Illegal hauling, illegal dumping, and otherwise irresponsible management of waste materials such as littering persistently present dangers to the health, safety, welfare, public finances, quality of life, and environment of Sacramento County.
(SCC 517 § 2, 1982; SCC 1044 § 2, 1996; SCC 1654 § 1, 2019; SCC 1672 § 1, 2021; SCC 1720 § 1, 2023)
It is hereby determined that the public interest will be best promoted within the unincorporated area of the County by the following types of service delivery systems:
A. 
Exclusively by the County Solid Waste Enterprise: cart collection service to residential areas from single-family residences, duplex residences, and certain triplex and quadplex residences, and certain multiple-family dwelling units, mobile home parks, and commercial establishments as determined by the Director. The County may contract with a private collector for collection from certain residential areas where determined by the Director to be in the best interest of the County rate payers.
B. 
By County franchisees: containerized service to commercial and industrial sources, multi-family residential properties, schools, public agencies, and construction and demolition activities.
C. 
By self-hauling: certain residential and commercial waste generators may self-haul recyclable and organic material consistent with this chapter.
(SCC 517 § 2, 1982; SCC 568 § 2, 1983; SCC 0823 § 2, 1991; SCC 1044 § 2, 1996; SCC 1654 § 3, 2019; SCC 1672 § 1, 2021; SCC 1720 § 1, 2023; SCC 1761, 8/5/2025)
Unless the context indicates otherwise, the following definitions of terms shall govern the meaning of those terms as used in this chapter.
"Accessory dwelling unit"
means "dwelling, accessory unit" and/or "dwelling, junior accessory unit" as defined in the Sacramento County Zoning Code, which code may be amended from time to time.
"Alternative service activity"
means the manner in which a generator may lawfully divert recyclable material and/or organic material to satisfy recycling compliance, pursuant to this chapter, including rules and regulations promulgated under section 6.20.035. Alternative service activities include self-hauling, shared service, backhauling, and third-party hauling.
"Backhauler" or "Backhauling"
means a business generator who transports their recyclable material and/or organic material to a consolidated location to be reused or recycled. Backhauling is not a method of compliance available to residential generators or multi-family generators.
"Board"
means the Board of Supervisors of the County.
"Broker" or "brokering"
means a person that arranges waste material collection, recycling, and/or disposal services for a commercial generator that are provided by a franchisee.
"Business day"
means any day other than a Saturday, Sunday, or County holiday.
"Business generator"
means a business, including commercial and industrial sources (e.g., stores, business offices, commercial warehouses, hospitals, hotels, food trucks, etc.), educational, health care, military, and correctional institutions, special events, non-profit organizations, government offices, schools, and public agencies, that produce waste materials through hits acts or processes and/or contracts for waste material collection service, back-hauls, and/or self-hauls. Business generator also includes those that engage in construction and demolition activities. A business generator is a type of commercial generator.
"C&D debris"
means used or discarded materials resulting from construction, renovation, remodeling, repair or demolition operations on any pavement, house, commercial building, or other structure and such other materials as may be removed during the normal cleanup process of such construction, renovation, remodeling, repair, or demolition operations. C&D debris includes mixed C&D debris and source separated recyclable C&D material.
"CalRecycle"
means the California Department of Resources, Recycling, and Recovery.
"CFR"
means the Code of Federal Regulations.
"Clerk"
means the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors of the County.
"Collection"
means the act of removing waste material at the place of waste material generation.
"Commercial generator"
means a business generator and/or a multi-family generator.
"Commercial solid waste"
means all solid waste generated by a commercial generator.
"County"
means the County of Sacramento.
"Director"
means the Director of the Department of Waste Management and Recycling (DWMR) and/or his or her designee.
"Dwelling unit"
means "dwelling unit" as defined in the Sacramento County Zoning Code, which code may be amended from time to time.
"Dwelling"
means any building or portion thereof used or designed for residential occupancy, including any garages or other accessory buildings belonging thereto, and including those which are rented or leased for any term or duration, type or tenure.
"DWMR"
means the Sacramento County Department of Waste Management and Recycling. As indicated by context, DWMR may include "its designee" (e.g. when referring to enforcement), or "a contractor acting on its behalf" (e.g., when referring to collection).
"EMD"
means the Sacramento County Environmental Management Department or successor thereto.
"Farm" or "ranch"
means a place where agricultural production is the primary use and shall include, but not be limited to, the cultivation and tillage of the soil; dairying; the production, cultivation, growing, and harvesting of any agricultural commodity including timber, viticulture, apiculture, or horticulture; the raising of livestock, fur-bearing animals, fish, or poultry; and any place where practices performed by a farmer or on a farm as incidental to or in conjunction with such farming operation, including preparation for market, delivery to storage or to market, or to carriers for transportation to market.
"Food waste"
means "food material" as defined in Section 17852(20) of Title 14 of the CCR.
"Franchisee"
means any person holding a valid commercial solid waste collection franchise issued by the County.
"GAAP"
means the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles comprised of a standard framework of guidelines generally accepted in the United States of America. GAAP includes the established standards, conventions, and rules accountants follow in recording and summarizing transactions, and in the preparation of financial statements.
"Garbage"
means discarded non-putrescible or putrescible household items, objects, or materials for which there is no use or reuse intended. Garbage does not include source separated recyclable materials or source separated organic materials set out for separate collection for recycling.
"Generator"
means a waste generator, business generator, multi-family generator, residential generator, or self-hauler. A generator is not a broker.
"Green waste"
means "green material" as defined in Section 17852(21) of Title 14 of the CCR.
"Hearing Officer"
means the person appointed by the County Executive, pursuant to Government Code Section 27720, et seq., to preside over and render judgments at hearings in accordance with this chapter. The Hearing Officer may be an employee of the County. However, they shall not have any interests in any property subject to any hearing at which they preside. The Hearing Officer may also be a person who is not a County employee, but who is retained pursuant to a contract to provide such services. Any such Hearing Officer shall be qualified by training or experience or shall be an attorney or an administrative law judge.
"Local enforcement agency" or "LEA"
means the enforcement agency designated by the local governing body and certified by CalRecycle, as defined in Public Resources Code Section 40130.
"Materials Recovery Facility" or "MRF"
means a permitted waste material management facility where solid wastes or recyclable materials are sorted, or separated, by hand or by use of machinery, for the purposes of recycling. This definition shall apply only within the framework of materials recovery facility services and the reporting requirements of this chapter.
"Mixed C&D debris"
means C&D debris that includes commingled recyclable C&D materials or recyclable C&D materials and non-recyclable C&D debris generated from a construction or demolition project.
"Multi-family generator"
means any multi-family dwelling, building or group of buildings, regardless of the number of dwelling units, that produce waste materials through its acts or processes and/or contracts for solid waste collection service with or through a franchisee. It includes, but is not limited to, apartment complexes, senior housing/care facilities, and condominium complexes. Unless otherwise indicated, multi-family generators also include single-family residential properties whose solid waste collection is shared and managed by an association or other organization. A multi-family generator is a type of commercial generator.
"Non-residential property"
means real property that is located in the unincorporated areas of the County, whose owner or operator contracts for waste material collection, and is used primarily for:
1. 
Commerce, including, but not limited to, offices, stores, restaurants, motels, hotels, recreational vehicle parks, theaters, and service stations;
2. 
Not-for profit organizations; or
3. 
Institutional uses, including schools, churches, and hospitals. It does not include residential units or undeveloped land.
"Organic material"
means food waste, green waste, landscape and pruning waste, nonhazardous wood waste, and food-soiled paper waste.
"Person"
means any individual, firm, co-partnership, limited liability company, corporation, government agency, joint venture, association, partnership, industry, public or private corporation, school, public agency, or any other entity whatsoever, and includes the plural as well as the singular.
"Recyclable material"
means materials that have been separated from the solid waste stream prior to disposal and returning them for use or for reuse in the form of raw materials for new, used or reconstituted products which meet the quality standard necessary to be used in the market place, and that are not landfilled, including, but not limited to, recyclable material designated by the Director pursuant to Section 6.20.435 or as established by the Director as minimum recycling program standards in County franchise agreements. Recyclable material is waste material.
"Recycling"
means the process of collecting, sorting, cleansing, treating and reconstituting materials, including organic material (unless otherwise indicated), that would otherwise become solid waste, and returning them for use in the form of raw materials for new, used or reconstituted products which meet the quality standard necessary to be used in the market place. Recycling does not include "transformation" as defined in Public Resources Code Section 40201.
"Removal"
means the act of taking waste materials from the place of waste generation. In some contexts, it is used interchangeably with collection.
"Residential generator"
means any owner, tenant, or occupant of a parcel with one or more residential buildings approved for occupancy that produces waste materials through its acts or processes and/or subscribes to County curbside waste material collection services.
"Residual"
means solid waste destined for disposal, further transfer/processing, or transformation as defined in Public Resources Code Section 40201, which remains after processing of recyclable material or organic material.
"Responsible person"
means the person who is required to and/or does arrange for waste material collection services and/or implementation of diversion programs. Responsible person includes, but is not limited to, a property owner, a business owner, a tenant, or a property manager. A broker is not a responsible person.
"Rubbish"
means "rubbish" as defined in Section 17225.59 of Title 14 of the CCR.
"Salvageable material"
includes materials which can be separated from refuse and sold for reuse or recycling, but shall not include material disposed of at a landfill. Salvageable material includes, but is not limited to, recyclable material, recyclable C&D debris, and organic material set out for separate collection.
"SB 1383"
means Senate Bill 1383 (Chapter 395, Statutes of 2016), which was signed into law by the Governor on September 19, 2016 and mandates, among other things, a 50 percent statewide reduction in the landfilling of organic wastes. It includes associated regulations promulgated by CalRecycle as contained in titles 14 and 27 of the CCR.
"Self-hauler" or "self-hauling"
means a generator hauling waste material that they have generated.
"Service agreement" or "customer service agreement"
means a written agreement between a franchisee and commercial generator for the collection of waste materials.
"Shared service"
is a means by which a generator achieves compliance with this chapter, including rules and regulations promulgated under section 6.20.035, by use of waste material containers on an adjacent property and which use has been consented to in writing by the adjacent property owner.
"Solid waste"
means all putrescible and non-putrescible solid, semisolid, wastes collected and transported for disposal, including garbage, trash, refuse, unrecyclable paper, rubbish, ashes, industrial wastes, construction and demolition debris, discarded home and industrial appliances, dewatered, treated or chemically fixed sewage sludge which is not hazardous waste, manure, vegetable or animal solid and semi-solid wastes, and other discarded solid and semi-solid wastes. Solid waste does not include hazardous waste as defined in the Health and Safety Code Section 25117, or medical waste, or low-level radioactive waste regulated under State law. Solid waste does not include source separated recyclable materials or source-separated organic materials set out for separate collection for the purposes of recycling. Solid waste is a waste material.
"Source separate" or "source separated"
means the keeping of recyclable materials or organic materials independently containerized or clearly segregated from solid waste at the point of generation for the purpose of reuse, recycling, composting or some other method of diversion and preventing them from being contaminated by solid waste.
"Special event"
means an organized assembly of more than fifty (50) persons, for which the County has issued a special event permit or other approval, occupying all or any portion of a public street, roadway, sidewalk, alley, park or public area for a period of more than thirty (30) minutes for the purpose of conducting a parade, march, rally, meeting, or procession.
"Third-party hauler" or "Third-party hauling"
means a collector of recyclable material and/or organic material, that is not a franchisee, and collects bulky items, recyclable material, and/or organic material from any generator, in a manner consistent with this chapter, including rules and regulations promulgated under section 6.20.035, to a recycling facility.
"Transfer/processing facility"
means a solid waste facility permitted or otherwise regulated by CalRecycle where waste materials are tipped for transfer to a landfill or subsequent processing, and/or are sorted, or separated, by hand or by use of machinery, for the purposes of recovery.
"Treated medical waste"
means medical waste treated in the manner described in Health and Safety Code Section 25123.5, subdivision (a).
"Truck"
means any truck, trailer, semitrailer, conveyance, vehicle or equipment used to collect or haul waste materials.
"Waste generator"
means each person, as defined by Public Resources Code Section 40170, and each single-family home resident, business, non-residential property, multi-family residential property or single-family residential property managed by an association, or other organization, or the owner, manager, or operator thereof, whose act or process produces waste materials and/or that contracts for waste material collection service.
"Waste log"
means the record sheet (provided as a blank form by DWMR to the applicant) with periodic entries (completed by the project manager or permit holder) that detail the C&D debris management activity for the project pursuant to Sections 4.408.5 and 5.408.5 of Title 24 of the CCR, as amended from time to time, and Board Resolution 2011-0024.
"Waste management plan (WMP)"
means a completed WMP form prepared by the applicant and submitted for approval by the DWMR for the purpose of compliance with this chapter pursuant to Sections 4.408.5 and 5.408.5 of Title 24 of the CCR, as amended from time to time, and Board Resolution 2011-0023.
"Waste material container"
means any dumpster, roll-off container, compactor, bin, cart, or other container provided by the County or a franchisee and used to place waste materials.
"Waste materials"
means solid waste, recyclable material, and/or organic material.
(SCC 517 § 2, 1982; SCC 1044 § 2, 1986; SCC 1322 § 1, 2006; SCC 1522 § 1, 2013; SCC 1618 § 56, 2018; SCC 1654 § 3, 2019; SCC 1672 § 1, 2021; SCC 1688 § 1, 2022; SCC 1720 § 1, 2023; SCC 1761, 8/5/2025; SCC 1772, 2/10/2026)
The Director is authorized to promulgate and enforce rules and regulations governing the following:
A. 
Waste material generation, storage, recycling, recovery, accumulation, collection, transportation, and disposal;
B. 
Types, size, number, location, minimum frequency of collection, and hours of collection of waste material containers and the vehicles used therefor;
C. 
The operation and maintenance of sanitary methods of waste material recycling disposal;
D. 
The designation of recyclable materials, recyclable organic materials, and recyclable C&D materials required to be diverted;
E. 
Reporting requirements for franchisees, and facilities that manage waste material, necessary for implementation of this chapter; and
F. 
The effective administration of this chapter.
All such rules and regulations shall be consistent with the provisions of this chapter and effective on the 30th day following filing thereof with the Clerk.
It is unlawful and constitutes a violation of the provisions of this section for any person to violate or fail to comply with the provisions of regulations issued pursuant to this section which are expressly authorized by other provisions of this chapter.
(SCC 517 § 2, 1982; SCC 1044 § 2, 1996; SCC 1618 § 57, 2018; SCC 1654 § 3, 2019; SCC 1672 § 1, 2021; SCC 1720 § 1, 2023)
The generation, storage, recovery, collection, transportation, transfer, disposal, and recycling and recovery of waste material as well as the operation of solid waste facilities and other waste material management facilities within the unincorporated area of the County, including the handling of special waste such as hazardous waste, shall be regulated by the provisions of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (codified as 40 CFR Sections 239-282); Titles 14 and 27 of the CCR; and all other applicable Federal, State and local statutes, ordinances and regulations, as the same may be hereafter amended. All such regulations shall be enforced in the same manner as provisions of this chapter, and violations of any such regulations shall constitute violations of this chapter.
(SCC 517 § 2, 1982; SCC 1044 § 2, 1996; SCC 1618 § 59, 2018; SCC 1654 § 5, 2019; SCC 1672 § 1, 2021; SCC 1720 § 1, 2023)
Unless otherwise specified in this chapter, the Director shall enforce the provisions of this chapter.
(SCC 517 § 2, 1982; SCC 1044 § 2, 1996; SCC 1322 § 2, 2006; SCC 1618 § 60, 2018; SCC 1654 § 5, 2019; SCC 1672 § 1, 2021; SCC 1720 § 1, 2023)