Billings, MT Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

Sec. 21-219 of the Billings Municipal Code, titled Outdoor dumping of solid waste prohibited, sits in Article 21-200 (Collection and Disposal) of Chapter 21, Solid Waste. City Council re-enacted the whole article by Ord. No. 26-5935 on August 24, 2026, repealing the former Art. 21-200 and replacing it.

The section catches three kinds of conduct: a person who deposits solid waste, a person who causes it to be deposited, and a person who allows it to be deposited. The third verb matters. An owner or occupant who lets someone else leave waste on a lot is covered, not just the person holding the bag. Three locations are protected: a city right-of-way, city property, and the premises or property of another. The only defense written into the text is express permission or consent from the city, the owner, or the occupant, so a neighbor's silence does not count.

Solid waste is defined in Sec. 21-201 as non-hazardous discarded materials from residential, commercial, institutional, or agricultural activities, including garbage, recyclable materials, organic waste, and yard waste. Hazardous waste and infectious waste are carved out of that definition and handled under their own rules. The same section defines an unsecured load as any load not tied down, covered, or fully enclosed in a way that prevents material from being spilled, blown, dropped, or otherwise escaping from the vehicle. Sec. 21-219 treats that escape as dumping inside city limits.

Cleanup duties sit next to the ban. Sec. 21-202 makes the owner or occupant responsible for keeping the premises, half of the adjoining alley, and the gutter in front clean. Before a complaint is filed under that duty, the person gets written notice and ten days to fix the problem. After that, public works can correct the violation and bill the reasonable costs, including administrative costs, labor, equipment, disposal, and contractor costs. When waste on a street, alley, sidewalk, or storm drainage facility creates a traffic hazard, blocks the right-of-way, threatens public health or safety, or risks reaching state waters, public works can clean up with no prior notice and bill the owner or occupant if the condition came from a violation of the article.

Sec. 1-110(c) sends any offense designated a municipal infraction to the civil penalties in section 18-1304, and Sec. 21-223 repeats that designation for every violation of Article 21-200.