Harford County, MD Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

Section 109-3F, added by Bill No. 91-16, states the rule in two short lines: no person shall operate an open dump, and no property owner may permit, allow or acquiesce in one operating on their land. Chapter 109's definitions section spells out what counts: an OPEN DUMP is any land disposal site where solid waste is deposited that isn't a sanitary landfill permitted by the Maryland Department of the Environment, with narrow carve-outs for sanitary composting operations, approved coal-ash pozzolan sites, clean fill from construction excavation with an erosion-control permit, on-farm equipment storage, and erosion-control brush or straw piles that don't harm wetlands.

Everything else deposited on land outside a permitted facility is illegal dumping. This section sits inside the broader Section 109-3 refuse-storage article, which also makes it unlawful to place refuse on your own property outside a proper container, so a pile of trash and an unpermitted dump can both draw enforcement even though they're written as separate violations. The Harford County Health Department or the Department of Public Works can open a case under Section 109-16 by issuing a written notice of violation identifying the section violated and the facts supporting it, and can follow up with a corrective order that takes effect immediately once served, regardless of any hearing request.