Fremont, CA Landscaping Rules: Composting (2026)

40, Article IV, "Disposal and Composting") splits composting into two tracks. Backyard home composting is expressly protected: Sec. " A single-family generator who composts on site and discards a gallon or less of organics per week can also apply under Sec. 120 to keep an existing exemption from the organics portion of the integrated waste management rate, though the city stopped accepting new applications for that exemption as of the ordinance's effective date. Above the backyard scale, Sec. 410 governs "community composting," defined in Sec.

040 as composting green material, agricultural material, food material and vegetative food material where feedstock and finished compost on site never exceed 100 cubic yards and 750 square feet, per California Code of Regulations Title 14, Section 17855(a)(4). Any site at or above that scale must hold every applicable federal, state, county and city permit before operating, and must actively manage air quality, water quality, odor, and traffic impacts. Mulch supplied to the city under the SB 1383 organic-waste procurement program has its own standard: Sec.

420 requires it meet the physical contamination, metal concentration and pathogen density limits in 14 CCR Sec. 5)(A)(1)-(3) and come from a permitted compostable material handling, transfer/processing, or landfill facility.