Kootenai County, ID Trash & Recycling: Dumpster Rules (2026)

Kootenai County Code 4-3-14 governs any person who collects, hauls or disposes of solid waste commercially, or who generates it from commercial or industrial activity, in the unincorporated county. Haulers must give the solid waste department the original signed rate sheet agreement for every commercial account within seven days of starting service, and they, not the county, are responsible for fees on any account established without that agreement filed on time; the requirement covers every account with a container, can or wheeled cart, commercial or not.

The chapter's core dumpster rule is direct: commercial containers cannot be undersized for the needs of the account, and must be sized to contain all of the waste generated so that garbage does not rest outside the container. If a customer generates more waste than their container holds, the hauler must report the overflow to the solid waste department rather than letting it pile up outside the bin. Haulers must also report collection amounts and frequency weekly, including special pickups, missed collections and irregular service, on forms the solid waste department accepts, and must report where every load of waste is ultimately disposed of, at least weekly.

The county can audit hauler records at any time, and haulers must cooperate with any accuracy check. An administrative fee of fifty dollars per occurrence applies once a hauler racks up more than thirty-six documented reporting errors in twelve months; if a customer disputes a bill over a documented error, the fee rises to two hundred dollars per occurrence. A hauler that keeps collecting from a customer after the county has flagged nonpayment faces a one hundred dollar fine for every collection made after that notice.