Highland, CA Code Violation Reporting: How to Report (2026)

Section 8.13.130 of the Highland Municipal Code, Inspections and Investigations by the City, is the City of Highland's written-complaint provision for the organic waste program. Subsection (E) states that the city shall receive written complaints from persons regarding an entity that is potentially noncompliant with SB 1383 regulations, including receipt of anonymous complaints in accordance with 14 CCR Section 18995.3. The section prints no phone number, address or web form, so the route it describes is a written complaint to the city.

The entities a complaint can name are the ones Chapter 8.13 regulates: organic waste generators, commercial businesses including multifamily residential dwellings, property owners, commercial edible food generators, haulers, self-haulers, food recovery services and food recovery organizations. Subsection (A) lets city representatives and their designees inspect, at random or otherwise, any collection container, collection vehicle load, or transfer, processing or disposal facility. For commercial businesses the city can inspect containers using remote monitoring for prohibited container contaminants. The section does not allow entry into the interior of a private residential property.

Subsection (B) requires a regulated entity to provide or arrange access during inspections and to cooperate. Failing to provide access to premises, to allow installation and operation of remote monitoring equipment, or to provide access to records is itself a violation of the chapter. Under subsection (C), records the city obtains are subject to the Public Records Act and its disclosure exemptions.

After a complaint, the enforcement official, defined in Section 8.13.010 as the city manager or the city's authorized designee, decides on enforcement under Section 8.13.140. For violations on or after January 1, 2024 that means a notice of violation and an administrative citation under Chapter 2.56 HMC.