Solid Waste Dump Truck Rules
SWDT Exemption Explanation & Form
Direction to Avoid Adverse Enforcement of
Solid Waste Collection Vehicle Rule
Pursuant to enforcement policies agreed upon by CCTA and the California Air Resources Board (ARB), the following documents should be kept in each vehicle and presented to an ARB enforcement officer should it be necessary.
- A completed ‘Affirmation of Inapplicability of Solid Waste Collection Vehicle Rule’
- ARB Advisory Number 368
These documents clarify that the Solid Waste Collection Vehicle rule is not applicable to the listed
vehicle.
Please contact CCTA if you have any questions concerning this issue or you experience any further ARB enforcement problems with the Solid Waste Collection Vehicle rule.
(Read Direction and Form) – Members Only Information
SWCV Rules & Applicability
Number 368 – August, 2007
Solid Waste Collection Vehicle
Rule Vehicle Applicability
The California Air Resources Board’s (ARB) Solid Waste Collection Vehicle rule was adopted in September of 2003 and is now in effect. The purpose of this advisory is to clarify the application of this rule to vehicles not specifically designed to collect residential and commercial solid waste for a fee and not used primarily for that purpose.
As of December 31, 2004, every owner of one or more collection vehicles is required to maintain specified records concerning collection vehicles at each terminal, to maintain labels with specified information on each collection vehicle, and apply ARB-verified Best Available Control Technology (BACT) to each vehicle subject to the regulation based on a schedule. For more information regarding regulation requirements, please see Advisory Number 331.
A Solid Waste Collection Vehicle is defined as “… an on-road heavy-duty vehicle with a manufacturer’s gross weight rating of greater than 14,000 pounds used for the purpose of collecting residential and commercial solid waste for a fee, including roll off vehicles” (Title 13 California Code of Regulations 2021(b)). It is important to note that it is not the type of vehicle that determines whether it is subject to the regulation. Applicability depends on the type of work the vehicle does. A “solid waste collection vehicle,” as defined above, shall include both vehicles specifically-designed to collect residential and commercial solid waste for a fee, as well as those vehicles not specifically-designed to do so, if the vehicle is used to pick up residential and commercial solid waste for a fee.
“Residential and commercial solid waste” includes all putrescible (rotting) and nonputrescible (nonrotting) solid, and semisolid wastes, including garbage, trash, refuse, rubbish, ashes, yard waste, recyclable materials, industrial wastes, demolition and construction wastes, abandoned vehicles and parts thereof, discarded home and industrial appliances, manure, vegetable or animal solid and semisolid wastes, and other discarded solid and semisolid wastes originating from single-family or multiple family dwellings, stores, offices, and other commercial sources, and construction and demolition projects in residential and commercial zones, not including hazardous, radioactive, or medical waste (Title 13 California Code of Regulations Section 2021 (b)).
For purposes of this rule, solid waste does not include solid waste not picked up for a fee, “products” such as scrap metal picked up for free or purchased, dirt or other similar material when used as alternative daily cover at a solid waste landfill, and re-processable road materials, such as asphalt grindings, concrete, and aggregate when delivered to an appropriate road material recycling center for reuse rather than burial. Such an appropriate road material recycling center may be located at a solid waste landfill.
Vehicles such as a dump truck used primarily for hauling construction materials such as rock, sand and gravel and used only incidentally for hauling solid waste is not a solid waste collection vehicle for the purposes of this rule. “Incidental” is defined as no more than 10 percent of its operational days, up to 30 days, per year. Vehicle owners shall maintain documentation, on a per vehicle basis, of such incidental use.
View the rule at: http://www.arb.ca.gov/regact/dieselswcv/dieselswcv.htm
Additional information for complying with the regulation, including fact sheets and Frequently Asked Questions, and for staff contact information to discuss the solid waste collection vehicle rule is available at http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/swcv/swcv.htm
If you have additional general questions about ARB’s programs, please contact ARB’s Public Information Office at 1-800-END-SMOG.
Read Article: advs368 – Members Only Information
Understanding Solid Waste Collection Rules
RE: CARB Solid Waste Collection
Vehicle Rule (For Advisory #368)
Enforcement of this rule began in January 2005. At no time during the entirety of this process were dump trucks ever considered to be solid waste collection vehicles covered by this rule.
Rather, all outreach, research and communication from ARB spoke of application to municipal garbage fleets and private refuse haulers like BFI, and ultimately included roll-offs as well. In fact, as many of you may remember, ARB Branch Chief of Heavy-duty Diesel In-Use Strategies Annette Hebert spoke at our May 2006 CCTA Board Meeting to discuss the sole application of the forthcoming On-Road Diesel Vehicle regulation to the dump truck industry, and the nonapplication of the Solid Waste Collection Vehicle rule.
That is how everything stood until recently when several CCTA members were cited for Solid Waste Collection Vehicle rule violations while at a solid waste landfill. ARB then issued a revised enforcement Advisory 331 in May 2007, in which they asserted that “dump trucks that haul waste for a fee are subject to [the Solid Waste Collection Vehicle] regulation.” Upon a request for clarification, a member was told by ARB staff that if you haul even one trip to a landfill then you are covered by the rule.
ARB staff’s position is that on its face the rule is applicable to dump trucks dropping off materials at a landfill because they are a “collection vehicle”. CCTA completely disagrees with this interpretation of the rule and our position was and is that the Solid Waste Collection Vehicle Rule was never intended to, nor does it encompass the operations of dump trucks primarily involved in construction rather than solid waste collection activities.
A series of subsequent meetings transpired between ARB officials and our staff and legal team at Ellison Wilson to hopefully resolve this issue. Through our discussions, it became clear that ARB wanted to accommodate our industry while preserving the facial applicability of the rule to dump trucks that hauled nothing but solid waste.
They emphasized we were not their focus and that an agreeable solution was possible. Without either side conceding its position, nor CCTA its right to go to court if necessary to overturn the rule, we were able to agree on a new advisory (Advisory 368) that removes many of our concerns. In addition, ARB indicated that it had no interest in citing trucks primarily used in construction based on occasional or incidental hauls to landfills. We came away from these meetings satisfied that it is unlikely that any CCTA members will be cited for violation of the solid waste rule between now and the implementation of the on-road diesel rule which will apply to us.
The new Advisory 368 makes it clear that the solid waste rule is inapplicable and unenforceable against trucks hauling: “‘products’ such as scrap metal picked up for free or purchased, dirt or other similar material when used as alternative daily cover at a solid waste landfill, and reprocessable road materials, such as asphalt grindings, concrete, and aggregate when delivered to an appropriate road material recycling center for reuse rather than burial.”
These materials are not to be considered “solid waste,” thus, much of our industry’s work is not waste hauling under this rule.
For materials which may still be classified as “solid waste” (see Advisory 368), ARB recognized that incidental solid waste hauling by dump trucks used primarily for hauling non-solid waste materials was not the focus of the rule. After considerable discussion and education of ARB staff on industry practice, we agreed upon a definition for “incidental” as “no more than 10 percent of [the vehicle’s] operational days, up to 30 days, per year.”
To assist them in that effort, we agreed that individual dump truck owners and drivers would carry with them in the truck for presentation at a landfill, if necessary, an affidavit entitled: “Affirmation of Inapplicability of Solid Waste Collection Vehicle Rule”. This affidavit, signed under penalty of perjury by the particular vehicle’s registered owner, will confirm that the vehicle is not primarily used for hauling solid waste but may do so only on an incidental basis (no more than 30 days per year). A blank affidavit and specific directions to comply with rule requirements are being made available to CCTA members.
Advisory 368 reflects our resolution of this issue with ARB. Our expectation is that this solution will resolve this issue during the interim period before the On-Road Diesel Vehicle regulations that will apply to us, are adopted and enforced.
Please contact me if you have any questions concerning this issue or if you experience any further ARB enforcement problems with the Solid Waste Collection Vehicle rule.
Respectfully,
Lee Brown
Executive Director
CCTA
Read Letter for: Advisory 368 – Members Only Information
