Diversion effort: City implements free self-hauler permit program
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula News
Published: August 22, 2008
In an effort to boost its state mandated solid waste diversion numbers, the City of Santa Paula will be cracking down on self-haulers.
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula Times
In an effort to boost its state mandated solid waste diversion numbers, the City of Santa Paula will be cracking down on self-haulers. But all the city wants is for those who transport trash, waste and recyclable materials to the dump to get a free - as in no cost at all - annual permit.
The new program takes effect September 1, according to Interim Public Works Director Jon Turner, who noted the new program would help the city document and accurately track the amount of solid waste generated within the city. The materials brought by self-haulers to the Toland Road Landfill in the past were estimated: “There was always this line item called cash customer... and with that line there was no accountability” of where the refuse originated.
Now Toland Road personnel have been working with city staff to distribute the self-haulers application, and effective September 1, “They’re going to start issuing a temporary one-time form.... We’ll get a copy of them so we can contact the hauler directly” and work with them to sign up for the no-cost permit.
The permit requires the self-hauler to submit a quarterly report on the type, weight and destination of solid waste collected in the city and transported from the city, as well as present gage tickets or receipts to substantiate the disposal reports.
Although Turner envisions the program “being a huge success,” when the city initially created the program application “I know some, mainly business owners, thought the one-page application was too Draconian, so we made a lot of accommodations” to simplify the form. The city also ensured that self-haulers had two months notice of the new permit program.
Turner stressed the new requirement is “a free annual permit for tracking purposes only, and one of the main reasons for implementing it is that Santa Paula is not meeting it’s diversion goals. The state has said ‘We’re going to fine you if that 50 percent diversion is not met,’ and although the city is doing a great job - we are at 50 percent - we have to count those self-haulers.”
Turner noted that the application is available at the Public Works Office, 113 N. Mill St., on the city website www.ci.santa-paula.ca.us, or “If you call we’ll be happy to fax or mail one to you, whatever it takes. People can call” Gail Cullins at 933-4212 ext. 308 for more information.
“We want people to get the forms,” which the city has also sent to gardeners licensed to do business in the city. In addition, “We want gardeners to bring their green waste to us... we’ll haul it to recycling instead of the landfill” and, Turner noted, “it saves them a trip.”
The city does charge for the service, “a small fee,” said Turner, “but most likely cheaper than them doing it themselves when you factor in the gas and the time. It’s comparable or less” to what gardeners would pay if self-hauling.
Ventura Regional Sanitation District, which owns and operates the Toland Road Landfill, has, added Turner, “been very helpful on their level” in assisting the city in implementing the new program.
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