Imperial County, CA Property Maintenance: Trash Bin Storage (2026)

Until 2026, unincorporated Imperial County relied on residents self-hauling waste to county disposal sites, so there was no county-issued cart system and no detailed cart-storage chapter. Container conditions were instead policed through Title 9: §90501.20 prohibits accumulating trash, cans, bottles, and refuse that can support vermin, and Division 13 lets overflowing or scattered refuse be abated as a public nuisance. That changed with the county's Solid Waste Franchise Zone program. Under the program adopted by the Board of Supervisors and effective July 1, 2026, residents in franchised unincorporated zones receive three color-coded 96-gallon carts: black for household trash, blue for recycling, and green for organic waste. CR&R Environmental Services and Republic Services are the two franchised haulers, each assigned to specific neighborhoods that residents look up on the county's GIS map. Cart sizes, set-out, and pickup are administered by the assigned hauler under the franchise agreement rather than by a numeric county storage ordinance. The county describes the rollout as phased, beginning with areas closer to cities and expanding to more remote desert areas. Where a parcel is not yet in a franchised zone, the older self-haul and nuisance framework still controls how refuse must be contained.