LA County Board

16. Combatting Illegal Dumping and Unregulated Mulching\nRevised recommendation as submitted by Supervisor Barger: Instruct County\nCounsel, in coordination with the Fire Chief, and the Directors of Public Health,\nPublic Works, and Regional Planning, to develop local ordinances to regulate\nland application of mulch and other compostable material to include local\npermitting requirements including, but not limited to, the following:\nRequirements for appropriate zoning, maximum duration of storage prior\nto land application, maximum height of storage piles, frequency and\ndepth of application, and specific requirements for heavy metal\nconcentration, physical contamination (non-organic material), and\npathogen density;\nRequirements of property owners to include, in their agreement with\nmulch suppliers, a provision that would require the supplier to be\nresponsible for taking back any load that does not meet the land\napplication requirements, such as physical contamination, heavy metal\nconcentration, and pathogen density;\nRequirements for property owners or mulch applicators to maintain a Fire\nPlan that would include measures to prevent spontaneous combustion,\nsuch as routine temperature checks of stockpiled mulch and minimum\nspacing requirements between mulch stockpiles;\nAmendments to the County Code, Title 32 - Fire Code, to do the\nfollowing:\nIncrease fines in the Code to provide greater flexibility in\nenforcement of illegal dumping violations and to recover cleanup\ncosts related to illegal dumping and illegal land application\nactivities;\nDevelop a "Contaminated Mulch Ordinance" to prohibit any\nconstruction and debris or any other non-organic material to be\nmixed with mulch and deposited on land; and\nExpand the existing Fire Code Section 326.15 (Illegal Dumping in\nHazardous Wildfire Areas) to include new subsections as follows:\nSection 326.15.1 (Mulch Permit) to require a permit for mulch\npiles greater than 12 inches in height, including fire prevention\nrequirements and stipulations for fire suppression cost\nresponsibilities; and Section 326.15.2 (Unpermitted Mulch Fires)\nto hold property owners financially responsible for fire suppression\ncosts if a fire occurs on a parcel without a mulch permit, with pile\ndepths greater than 12 inches;\nRequest the Sheriff to report back to the Board in writing in 21 days with a\nproposed procurement and deployment plan for technological solutions\nincluding, but not limited to, mobile cameras and license plate readers, to\nconcentrate enforcement resources on known hot spots for illegal dumping and\nimproper land application of mulch and other organic waste, including cost\nestimates, schedules, and other pertinent information; and\nInstruct the Director of Director of Public Works, in coordination with the\nDirector of Regional Planning, to report back to the Board in writing in 21 days\nwith strategies to employ technological solutions for the enforcement of illegal\ndumping including, but not limited to, the use of aerial mapping to identify\npotential sites of illegal dumping in remote and rural communities, as well as the\nuse of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, including cost estimates, schedules, and\nother pertinent information. (24-4371)