CODE OF VIRGINIA

REGULATION OF GARBAGE AND REFUSE PICKUP AND DISPOSAL SERVICES; CONTRACTING FOR
SUCH SERVICES (§ 15.2-930)

A. Any locality may by ordinance impose license taxes upon and otherwise
regulate the services rendered by any business engaged in the pickup and
disposal of garbage, trash or refuse, wherein service will be provided to the
residents of any such locality. Such regulation may include the delineation of
service areas, the limitation of the number of persons engaged in such service
in any such service area, including the creation of one or more exclusive
service areas, and the regulation of rates of charge for any such service.Such
locality is authorized to contract with any person, whether profit or nonprofit,
for garbage and refuse pickup and disposal services in its respective
jurisdiction.

B. Prior to enacting an ordinance pursuant to subsection A which displaces a
private company engaged in the provision of pickup and disposal of garbage,
trash or refuse in service areas, the governing body shall: (i) hold at least
one public hearing seeking comment on the advisability of such ordinance; (ii)
provide at least forty-five days’ written notice of the hearing, delivered
by first class mail to all private companies which provide the service in the
locality and which the locality is able to identify through local government
records; and (iii) provide public notice of the hearing. Following the final
public hearing held pursuant to the preceding sentence, but in no event longer
than one year after the hearing, a governing body may enact an ordinance
pursuant to subsection A which displaces a private company engaged in the
provision of pickup and disposal of garbage, trash or refuse in a service area
if the ordinance provides that private companies will not be displaced until
five years after its passage. As an alternative to delaying displacement five
years, a governing body may pay a company an amount equal to the company’s
preceding twelve months’ gross receipts for the displaced service in the
displacement area. Such five-year period shall lapse as to any private company
being displaced when such company ceases to provide service within the
displacement area.For purposes of this section, “displace” or
“displacement” means an ordinance prohibiting a private company from
providing the service it is providing at the time a decision to displace is
made. Displace or displacement does not mean: (i) competition between the public
sector and private companies for individual contracts; (ii) situations where a
locality or combination of localities, at the end of a contract with a private
company, does not renew the contract and either awards the contract to another
private company or, following a competitive process conducted in accordance with
the Virginia Public Procurement Act, decides for any reason to contract with a
public service authority established pursuant to the Virginia Water and Waste
Authorities Act, or, following such competitive process, decides for any reason
to provide such pickup and disposal service itself; (iii) situations where
action is taken against a company because the company has acted in a manner
threatening to the health and safety of the locality’s citizens or
resulting in a substantial public nuisance; (iv) situations where action is
taken against a private company because the company has materially breached its
contract with the locality or combination of localities; (v) situations where a
private company refuses to continue operations under the terms and conditions of
its existing agreement during the five-year period; (vi) entering into a
contract with a private company to provide pickup and disposal of garbage, trash
or refuse in a service area so long as such contract is not entered into
pursuant to an ordinance which displaces or authorizes the displacement of
another private company providing pickup and disposal of garbage, trash or
refuse in such service area; or (vii) situations where at least fifty-five
percent of the property owners in the displacement area petition the governing
body to take over such collection service.

C. Any county with a population in excess of 800,000 may by ordinance provide
civil penalties not exceeding $ 500 per offense for persons willfully
contracting with a solid waste collector or collectors not licensed or permitted
to perform refuse collection services within the county. For purposes of this
section, evidence of a willful violation is the voluntary contracting by a
person with a solid waste collector after having received written notice from
the county that the solid waste collector is not licensed or permitted to
operate within that county. Written notice may be provided by certified mail or
by any appropriate method specified in Article 4 (§ 8.01-296 et seq.) of
Chapter 8 of Title 8.01.

D. Fairfax County may by ordinance authorize the local police department to
serve a summons to appear in court on solid waste collectors operating within
that county without a license or permit. Each day the solid waste collector
operates within the county without a license or permit is a separate offense,
punishable by a fine of up to $ 500.

HISTORY: 1968, c. 419, § 15.1-28.1; 1970, c. 219; 1978, c. 251; 1984, c. 763;
1994, c. 458; 1995, c. 660; 1997, c. 587; 2007, c. 813.