Marin County, CA Landscaping Rules: Composting (2026)

Chapter 7.04 generally requires anyone dumping, burying or otherwise disposing of garbage, rubbish or refuse to do so only at an authorized dump that holds a permit under § 7.04.020. Section 7.04.050 carves out two narrow exceptions to that permit requirement. First, it exempts brickbats, cement, plaster, stones, gravel and similar building materials 'commonly disposed of at building sites.' Second, and more relevant to home gardeners, it says the chapter 'shall not apply to the accumulation by any person upon his own property of garden, tree, shrub and lawn trimmings for garden compost purposes.' In plain terms, a Marin County property owner can pile grass clippings, leaves, branches and other yard trimmings on their own land to make compost without needing the dump permit that would otherwise apply to disposing of that material.

The same sentence also exempts burying or burning garbage by a householder or tenant on their own property, but only 'so long as this disposal practice does not create a public health problem or create a public or private nuisance,' which ties the compost exemption to the general nuisance and sanitation standards found elsewhere in Title 7, including the rodent-control rules of Chapter 7.08. The exemption dates to Ordinance 692, adopted in 1954, and has not been narrowed by the county's newer 2022 organics-collection chapter, which separately lets residents manage organic waste on-site or through community composting under § 7.00.060(G).