San Antonio City Code § 14-40 Solid waste haulers.
Sec. 14-40. - Solid waste haulers.
It is unlawful to operate a solid waste vehicle without a permit (public nuisance). It is an offense for a person to collect or offer to collect, or to dispose or offer to dispose of, solid waste within the city's corporate limits unless the person has obtained and affixed a current, valid permit decal to each vehicle covered by this article. Under authority of V.T.C.A., Local Government Code ch. 217, subch. C, regulation by a home rule municipality, it is further declared a public nuisance for a person to collect or offer to collect, or to dispose or offer to dispose of, solid waste within the city's corporate limits unless the person has secured and affixed a current, valid permit decal to each vehicle covered by this article.
(1) Recyclables exemption. Any vehicle used exclusively for transporting recyclable materials to recycling facilities is not required to pay the vehicle permit fee or to possess and display a permit. Vehicles performing only deliveries to a city-operated brush recycling facility and other duly authorized brush recycling facilities will be permit exempt only upon approval from the director. All brush disposal and other fees apply.
(2) Annual and quarterly solid waste hauler permits. The annual permit shall be effective for twelve (12) months from the date of issuance, if issued and fully paid at commencement of the permit year, May 1st. Quarterly permits may be secured on May 1, August 1, November 1, and February 1 of each calendar year, or the next business day should any of the above dates fall upon weekends or city holidays. These individual quarterly permits and quarterly fee payments shall not be pro-rated for use of the vehicle during partial quarters. Failure to pay within a ten-day grace period will result in a penalty sum to be imposed as promulgated by the city council.
(3) Permit fees; timely payment discounts; late payment penalty.
a. Fee schedule. Prior to the issuance of a solid waste hauler permit, the applicant shall pay the current permit fee for each vehicle in accordance with the vehicle permit fees schedule for commercial/industrial vehicles. Such fee schedule may be reviewed by the city annually and adjusted by the city council.
b. Proration. Applicant will be entitled to prorate annual permit fees for vehicle units added after commencement of the annual permit period. Prorations shall not be allowed on a daily or monthly basis but will be calculated on a quarterly basis. Any portion of a quarter for which a permit fee is paid must satisfy the entire quarterly obligation.
c. Early payment discount; late payment penalty. Early annual and quarterly payments made before the first day of the month when due will be entitled to a ten-percent discount. Late payments, made after a ten-day grace period, applicable to annual and quarterly payments, shall be subject to a ten-percent late fee penalty.
City-owned or leased vehicles. Vehicles owned and/or leased by the city are exempt from paying the vehicle permit fee and from displaying a permit decal. The vehicle permit fee is in addition to any other city fees or charges for disposal at any city solid waste disposal or processing facility.
(4) Permits for solid waste hauling vehicles; permit conditions. Persons who own or operate vehicles defined in this article shall permit with the city in accordance with the following:
a. For the purposes of permitting within this article, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section unless the context requires otherwise:
City means the City of San Antonio, Texas, as represented by the official acts of the city council and council designated representatives.
Department means the City of San Antonio Solid Waste Management Department or its successor.
Director means the director of the solid waste department or his/her designee.
Hauler means a person who owns, drives, or operates a vehicle for the purpose of collecting or disposing solid waste.
Permit means the formal consent provided by the city to a person which entitles the person to collect, offer to collect, or dispose of waste within the corporate limits of the city, which consent is evidenced by display of a permit decal.
Permittee means a person issued a permit under this article.
Person means an individual, corporation (including a government corporation), organization, governmental subdivision or agency, political subdivision of a state, interstate agency or body, business or business trust, partnership, association, firm, company, joint stock company, commission, or any other legal entity, including, but not limited to non-profit organizations, utilities, education and special districts, and municipalities.
Shall, whenever used in this article, will be interpreted in its mandatory sense; "may" is permissive.
Solid waste means any garbage, refuse, sludge from a waste treatment plant, water supply treatment plant or air pollution control facility, and other discarded material, including solid, liquid, semisolid, or contained gaseous material resulting from industrial, municipal, commercial, mining, and agricultural operations, and from community and institutional activities, but does not include the following:
1. Solid or dissolved material in domestic sewage (i.e., material confined within a POTW collection or treatment system) or solid or dissolved material in irrigation return flows or industrial discharges subject to regulation by permit issued pursuant to V.T.C.A., Water Code ch. 26.
2. Solid dirt, rock, sand, and other natural or manmade inert solid materials being used to landfill when the object of the filling activity is to make the land suitable for the construction of surface improvements.
3. Waste materials that result from activities associated with the exploration, development, or production of oil or gas and are subject to control by the state railroad commission.
Vehicle means a "for-hire" or other commercial, industrial, motorized instrument of solid waste conveyance regulated under this article, and used, designed and/or equipped to collect, move, or dispose of solid waste materials within the corporate limits of the city. For example, vehicle includes, but is not limited to, those owned or operated to haul waste generated by the owner of the vehicle, such as a demolition company, construction company, commercial or residential builder, including, but not limited to hazardous or special wastes regularly or occasionally disposed within the city's jurisdiction, including those vehicles that transport liquid wastes.
b. Solid waste transportation; duties of solid waste haulers; permit conditions; prorations and discounts. It shall be conditions of any permit issued to a person that:
1. Any person receiving a permit shall have the duty to exercise reasonable, prudent, and sufficient care when undertaking his/her activity in order to preserve the health, safety, and general welfare of the community. The permittee must obtain and maintain current all the necessary legal documents required by local, state, and federal authorities.
2. In the event of an unpermitted, illegal disposal, or accidental discharge of solid waste during collection or hauling, the permittee shall immediately contain the impacted area and safely recover the discharged solid waste. The permitted solid waste hauler shall take any and all action as may be required by local, state, or federal officials, having jurisdiction, so that the discharge will not present a public health or environmental hazard, threat, or nuisance.
3. Failure to promptly and properly take effective remedial action necessary to public health and safety protection shall constitute a violation of this article and a violation of the permit conditions.
4. Permit application; representations become permit conditions. In addition to complying with the proper registration or license procedures established by the agencies having jurisdiction over permittee's activities, all persons owning, operating, or driving solid waste vehicles subject to this article shall complete a permit application to receive a permit from the city through the solid waste management department or its successor department. All applicants, including those persons who may claim exemption, must generally supply the department with the following information and documentation in order for the department to make an informed decision. The following representations made by the applicant also become conditions of the permit:
A. Name, business address, and telephone number of the applicant solid waste hauler. If the applicant is a corporation, the names and addresses of its president, all vice-presidents and agent, for service shall be provided.
B. The trade name under which the applicant hauls or intends to haul solid waste.
C. The number and type of vehicle(s) that the applicant intends to operate, together with a general physical description or manufacturer's trade description of each vehicle (e.g., year made, model, manufacturer's rated capacity).
D. The period of time the applicant has been engaged in the activity of hauling solid waste refuse and the daily hours of operation of his intended collection, transportation, and disposal activity.
E. Certificates of insurance or other documentation evidencing that the applicant has obtained insurance coverages described below.
F. No later than August 8, 2006 and annually thereafter during the month of April, permittees shall furnish to the city a descriptive list of all vehicles engaged in solid waste hauling and list which vehicles will be collecting within or using any landfill disposal or other legal disposal site within the city's jurisdiction for solid waste disposal or deposit. Based upon the best available information, the solid waste hauler shall project the anticipated annual tonnage of solid waste to be disposed of by his company and the source(s) of such waste as being either generated inside the city limits or outside the city limits expressed in a percentage of the hauler's total projected annual tonnage.
G. Commercial concerns that are not in the business of hauling solid waste for others but rather are hauling waste generated by themselves or their own commercial activities, shall permit their vehicles in accordance with this article.
H. Notices; driver agent; violations.
i. For purposes of notice, where required by this article, it shall be sufficient to notify the permittee by certified mail at the address represented in the permit application. When a violation of this article is alleged, in contemplation of criminal or civil prosecution, certified mail, return receipt, shall be sufficient evidence of notice of violation to a permittee in whose name a permit has been issued, whether the permit is current or delinquent.
ii. When a violation of this article is alleged, based upon a vehicle's displaying no evidence of a permit, a citation upon the driver of the vehicle shall be the same as and legally sufficient to effect notice of the violation to the owner. In which case, the driver is the apparent agent of the owner, as allowed by law. Thereafter, service of process for civil or criminal prosecutions shall be conducted as prescribed by law. Where the permittee is a corporation, notice may be personally hand delivered to the president, any vice president, or agent of the corporation. In the event the president, a vice president, or registered agent cannot with reasonable diligence be found at the registered office, duplicate copies of the notice shall be sent to the registered agent identified according to records of the secretary of state by certified mail, return receipt requested. Or, in the alternative or in supplementation, any sufficient form of substituted service provided by law may be employed.
I. Any other requested relevant information that can reasonably be provided to the department which bears a reasonable relationship to the regulation of permittees under this article and is necessary to evaluate the permit application.
(5) Investigation of information set out in application. The director or his designee may conduct an investigation to determine the accuracy of information supplied by the applicant prior to the issuance of a permit. Supplying false information to the department shall be grounds for refusal to grant a permit or revocation of a permit if already issued. The hauler shall at least annually update the information contained in the application to reflect any substantive changes in the information required by the initial application.
(6) Insurance requirements. With the application, hauler must show, for vehicles intended to carry seven thousand (7,000) pounds gross vehicular weight or more, evidence of a commercial general (public) liability insurance policy in an amount of no less than five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000.00) and thereafter keep same in full force and effect with an insurance company authorized to do business in the state. The policy shall insure the public against any loss or damage that may result to any person or property from the operation of the hauler's collection, transportation, and disposal activities. In addition, the hauler utilizing vehicles that are intended to carry seven thousand (7,000) pounds gross vehicular weight or more shall carry business automobile liability coverage for each and every vehicle of that capacity owned or operated by hauler with combined single limits for bodily injury and property damage of not less than five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000.00).
The policies shall contain a provision requiring that the city be provided with thirty (30) days advance notice, in writing, of cancellation or material change in the policies. In the event of cancellation or material change in the hauler's policies, the permit shall be suspended along with hauler's vehicular activities until such time as the hauler can again secure appropriate coverage.
(7) Vehicle inspection—General requirements. Prior to the issuance of a permit, the department may require the applicant to submit for inspection by the department at a city facility each vehicle to be permitted. Any city inspections hereunder shall be conducted by trained and qualified city inspectors carrying proper identification. In the event that the department chooses to inspect the vehicle, the department or its agents shall determine whether or not the vehicle(s) is constructed and equipped in accordance with the provisions of this article and that the vehicle(s) are generally in good repair. In addition to the initial optional department inspection prior to the issuance of a permit, designated employees of the department are hereby authorized to randomly re-inspect the vehicles at "off-road" locations periodically in order to observe that the vehicles are generally maintained in good repair and are likely not to constitute a public health hazard or public nuisance under the provisions of this and any other governing ordinances. These optional "off-road" department inspections may take place at a city facility to be designated by the department, at a city-owned or privately owned and operated transfer or landfill facility, or at the permittee's place of business during normal business operation hours. These optional "off-road" department inspections are in no way meant to satisfy the otherwise legally mandated inspection of motor vehicle requirements of the state department of public safety or the state department of transportation. All transport vehicles shall have a valid department of public safety inspection sticker properly displayed.
(8) Compliance monitoring. The city will monitor disposal sites within its jurisdiction on an as needed basis and may pursue enforcement, including, but not limited to, issuance of criminal citations to drivers of non-compliant vehicles used for hauling, citations to responsible legal entities, and establishment of predicates for civil enforcement against any responsible person.
(9) Payment of all undisputed taxes, fees, and debts. Prior to the issuance of any permit under this article, the applicant shall demonstrate, upon the director's request, the payment of any undisputed, previously due and outstanding, sales and/or property taxes, fees, and other debts owed to the city including any past due utility related accounts.
(10) City contracts. Contractors and subcontractors who perform city contracts and/or who participate in public projects must be in compliance with permit and fee requirements. Non-compliant haulers are not eligible to perform city contracts or to act as subcontractors to city contractors. Eligibility shall be verified by the city's various contracting departments in coordination with the solid waste management department.
(11) Issuance of permit. Upon the applicant's fulfilling the requirements set out in this article, the department will issue either an annual or quarterly permit(s) to the applicant for the qualifying vehicle(s). The annual permit(s) shall be valid for a period of twelve (12) months from the date of issuance or for a quarter (three (3) months), dependent on timely payment of vehicle permit fees. The requirements set out herein must be satisfied prior to the reissuance of a permit.
a. Local authority. A permit issued by the city pursuant hereto does not authorize the collection, transporting, discharge, or disposal of regulated hazardous solid wastes. Any transporter carrying hazardous solid waste from, within, or through, the city shall have obtained applicable state department of health services, state commission on environmental quality, or USEPA permit(s), all as may be necessary, and use the appropriate hazardous solid waste transportation and disposal manifest and routing system.
b. Display. Prior to the operation of any vehicle regulated by this article, each permittee:
1. Shall clearly and visibly display on both exterior sides of each vehicle on the door(s) or fender(s) the business or trade name of the hauler contained in the permit application in a color clearly contrasting with the background color in three-inch letters or larger.
2. Shall permanently affix the permit decal for prominent display as instructed by the solid waste management department. The permitted solid waste hauler shall keep the vehicle permit issuance receipt, or a copy thereof, with the vehicle and/or equipment operator at all times.
3. Transfer. A permit issued under this article is non-transferable from one solid waste hauler to another solid waste hauler without prior written approval of the director and submittal of proper re-registration information to the city. A permitted hauler who changes names or transfers permits by sale or other enterprise transfer, such as lease, must notify the city and pay an administrative transfer fee of twenty-five dollars ($25.00) per vehicle or as established by subsequent city budget ordinances.
c. Solid waste hauling vehicle specifications and maintenance requirements.
1. Permit condition. It shall be the duty of the permittee to ensure that all solid waste transportation vehicles utilizing the public streets, public alleys, and highways within the corporate limits of the city to transport solid waste at all operational times conform to the following minimum vehicle specifications and maintenance requirements. Failure to do so shall constitute a violation of this article and permit conditions.
2. Service standards and equipment. The permittee shall be required to maintain and operate its solid waste hauling vehicles and related equipment in good order to render sanitary service subject to the terms of this ordinance and the permit(s) issued pursuant hereto. The vehicles that are seven thousand (7,000) pounds gross vehicular weight or more that are used in the collection of solid waste refuse shall be all metal, watertight, and shall be equipped with closed bodies equipped with hydraulically operated devices for compacting collected garbage. Those vehicles that are seven thousand (7,000) pounds gross vehicular weight or more shall meet all federal and state laws and regulations with the exception of brush trucks and vehicles designed to haul roll-off collection containers, which are regulated by the state tarp law. All vehicles shall be kept in a clean and sanitary condition and all vehicles shall be cleaned inside and outside at least once each week. The solid waste hauler shall additionally cause the vehicle exterior to be clean, vector free, and relatively odor free at the beginning of each working day and provide for intermittent wash downs of vehicle and equipment exteriors and wash outs of container interiors as necessary to generally maintain the above conditions. Failure to comply with this section may result in revocation of a vehicle permit granted herein.
d. Solid waste hauler violation; penalties. It shall be unlawful for a person to do or perform any act prohibited by this article and it shall be unlawful for a person to fail to do or perform any act required hereby. Each day's violation hereof shall constitute a separate offense. Any person or permittee who is found guilty in the municipal court of the city of violating this article and/or waste hauler permit provisions shall be fined not less than five hundred dollars ($500.00) nor more than two thousand dollars ($2,000.00) for each offense. If the finder of fact (the court or jury) imposes a fine in excess of five hundred dollars ($500.00), the finder of fact must also find that the violation was committed knowingly, intentionally, or recklessly. Each day on which a violation shall occur or continue shall be deemed a separate and distinct actionable offense. In addition to the penalties provided for herein, the city may seek recovery in a court of competent jurisdiction for any actual damages it might suffer. The city may also seek reasonable attorney fees, court costs, and other expenses of litigation along with all other relief, both in law and in equity, to which it might be entitled. Additional recoveries and relief in law and/or equity under existing federal or state law are not precluded by specific recoveries obtained by the city under this section.
1. Civil remedy; additional injunction to temporarily or permanently remove alleged permit offenders from streets; jail for contempt. In prosecuting permit violations, the department will refer cases for civil and criminal prosecution and will assist the office of the city attorney in preparing and prosecuting petitions in courts of competent jurisdiction. The office of the city attorney is authorized to pursue civil relief, which may include, but is not limited to, an injunctive order, to remove vehicles belonging to offenders from streets and city property, and to enjoin persons from operating vehicles in violation of this article's permitting provisions. In such case, a petition for injunctive relief need not be preceded by a criminal conviction. The city may be entitled to its attorneys fees and costs and may plead entitlement to delinquent permit fees, and interest on the debt and judgment as may be allowed by law. The city may plead and prove facts to uphold issuance of a court order, the violation of which shall place the offender at risk of contempt of court and jail.
In addition to criminal prosecution, this section is cumulative, and not exclusive, of any other remedies at law and in equity to which the city may be entitled.
2. Presumption of debt. A hauler's use of city property, streets, alleys, roads, or other rights-of-way, without permit, shall create a presumption of debt. The city may elect to pursue debt enforcement against a hauler who uses such city property without proper permit(s). If the city elects this remedy, the city may plead the value of the service rendered to the delinquent hauler. In such case, the city may enforce a final judgment by all means at its disposal, including but not limited to recording and fixing liens, acquiring execution, foreclosure, and seizure orders from the court, and orders from the court directing sale of hauler's property to satisfy the judgment.
e. Falsifying information. Any person who knowingly makes any false statements, representations, or certifications in any solid waste permit application or affidavit filed with the city or required to be maintained pursuant to this article shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not more than two thousand dollars ($2,000.00).
(Ord. No. 2010-11-04-0955, § 1(Att. I), 11-4-10; Ord. No. 2013-01-31-0079, § 1, 1-31-13)