§ 8-79. Revocation of permit

(a) In the event that any person or solid waste enterprise holding a permit to collect solid waste, hazardous waste, or infectious waste upon or along any public highway within the city from any commercial, industrial, or multifamily residential unit(s), or residential unit(s) violates any of the conditions of such permit, the requirements of section 8-87, the provisions of this article, or any other ordinance, statute, or regulation relating to the collection, storage, or disposal of solid waste, hazardous waste, or infectious waste, or collects such solid waste in an unlawful, improper, or unsanitary manner, the director of public services may revoke such permit issued to such person or enterprise as provided by this section.

(b) The director of public services may revoke a permit by issuing a written order to the permittee and the order shall state the grounds for such revocation, and that if proof of compliance is not provided to the director of public services within thirty (30) calendar days from the date of the written order, the permit will be revoked forty-five (45) calendar days from the date the written order was mailed. The order shall be mailed by certified mail to the permittee. The written order shall be subject to an appeal to the city council pursuant to Chapter IX of Title 2 of this Code. Upon revocation of a permit, the permittee shall cease all services subject to the permit within seventy-five (75) calendar days from the date the order is mailed. The director may adopt regulations to implement the provisions of this section.

(c) Regarding the failure of a permittee to comply with the requirements of section 8-84, including, but not limited to, the maintenance of the fifty (50) per cent diversion mandate, as required in its source reduction and recycling plan, the following procedure will be followed:

(1) The director will determine whether the permitee has made a good faith effort to comply with the conditions of the permit and the requirements of this article. The director will consider evidence submitted by the permitee concerning this matter and the permitee has the burden of establishing that it has made reasonable and feasible good faith efforts to achieve compliance. Evidence to be considered on this issue includes, but is not limited to, how close to compliance the particular deficiency is, the efforts the permitee has taken to meet the requirement, the expense required to provide the permitee with the means for compliance, the results of similar permitees in meeting the requirement, the availability of new technologies which the permitee could utilize to satisfy the requirement, the plans submitted by the permitee showing what steps it plans to take to enable it to fully comply with the requirement and the time that will take, whether permitee has already taken reasonable steps to alter its operations in time to meet the requirement, and what impact the permitee's failure has on the city's overall compliance with the state requirements for solid waste reduction and diversion. The permittee's good faith efforts must conform to any guidelines established by the city and/or the state in this regard.

(2) The provisions of this subsection authorizing the director to consider the good faith efforts of a permittee shall only be applicable so long as the state authorizes and grants a comparable good faith exception concerning the city's responsibilities under state law.

(3) If the director determines that a good faith effort has been made by the permitee, the director may decide not to revoke the permit. If the permit is not revoked, the director may impose new conditions to the permit, such as: (i) the permitee must prepare a full compliance plan to show how it intends to meet the diversion requirement, (ii) the plan must be submitted within 30 days and approved by the director, (iii) the permitee must comply with that plan, or (iv) any other conditions that the director concludes are appropriate and will help meet the requirements of state law and the city ordinance.

(4) If a permit is not revoked because the director determines that a good faith effort had been made, the permit revocation process may be commenced again at any time the director determines new grounds therefor exists, including, but not limited to, noncompliance with any new conditions placed upon the permit at the time the good faith determination was made.

(d) If a permit is revoked, no permit shall be thereafter granted to such person to collect solid waste, hazardous waste or infectious waste in the city until such time as the permittee can prove the ability to comply with this article.

(Ord. No. 92-31, § 2, 1-18-93; Ord. No. 99-1, § 1, 2-16-99; Ord. No. 99-12, § 1, 7-19-99; Ord. No. 04-12, § 1(D), (E), 11-15-04 )