Backyard composting is allowed and encouraged in unincorporated San Bernardino County. Under California's SB 1383, residents in the mandatory-collection area must subscribe to organic-waste collection that separates food scraps and yard waste, though some mountain Rim communities qualify for low-population or high-elevation waivers.
Composting in unincorporated San Bernardino County is shaped mainly by California's Short-Lived Climate Pollutants law, SB 1383, implemented through CalRecycle and administered locally by County Public Works' Solid Waste Management Division. SB 1383, effective for residents on January 1, 2022, requires jurisdictions to provide organic-waste collection so that food scraps, yard trimmings, food-soiled paper, and similar organics are diverted from landfills rather than landfilled. The County materials identify organic waste as food waste (raw and cooked, including meats and dairy), garden waste (grass clippings, branches, leaves), food-soiled paper, clean paper products, and untreated wood. In the unincorporated mandatory-collection service area, residents are required to subscribe to collection services that comply with SB 1383. However, residents of certain unincorporated mountain Rim communities, such as Crestline, Lake Arrowhead, and Running Springs, have been treated as exempt from the food-waste separation requirement because they qualify for a Low Population Waiver and/or a High Elevation Waiver. Backyard (home) composting is fully allowed and encouraged statewide as a way to handle some organic waste on site, and the County and CalRecycle promote it; however, home composting is generally treated as a supplement, not a complete substitute for required collection service in the mandatory-collection area. There is no County prohibition on a properly maintained home compost bin, but owners should keep it free of vector attraction and odor nuisances.
SB 1383 enforcement falls on the jurisdiction; residents in the mandatory area who fail to subscribe to or properly use compliant collection service can face enforcement, and the County must report and monitor compliance. A home compost pile that creates a vector, odor, or rodent nuisance could be addressed under the County's nuisance and code-enforcement provisions.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Ontario, CA
Ontario Municipal Code section 5-29.14 prohibits operating any motor vehicle in a condition that creates excessive, impulsive or intrusive noise, including e...
Ontario, CA
Outdoor music is regulated under OMC Title 5 Chapter 29 and the special-event permit process. Venues and events with amplified sound need a city permit; resi...
Ontario, CA
No Ontario-specific ordinance directly regulates aircraft noise; the City's noise chapter exempts activities preempted by state or federal law (OMC 5-29.06(h...
Ontario, CA
Ontario prohibits razor wire on any wall or fence citywide, and bans barbed wire and electrified fences in residential, commercial, and residential mixed-use...
Ontario, CA
Every wall, fence, and gate in Ontario is subject to Planning Director design review regardless of whether a building permit is needed. A building permit is ...
Ontario, CA
Ontario fence requirements include zoning-based heights, setbacks, sight triangles, buffer walls on industrial edges, and CBC structural standards. Pool, ret...
See how Ontario's composting rules stack up against other locations.
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.