Elk Grove, CA Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

Section 30.10.040 of the City's solid waste title makes it unlawful for anyone to "throw, drop, leave, dump, bury, burn, place, keep, accumulate, or otherwise dispose of" waste on public property or on another person's private property, including dumping into someone else's cart or container, without the owner's permission. Section 30.10.060 separately bars burning or burying any waste anywhere in the City. Section 30.10.100 makes any failure to comply with the waste title unlawful and declares it a public nuisance, enforced through the procedures in EGMC Chapters 1.04, 1.08, 1.12 and 16.18, which cover criminal infractions, administrative citations, and nuisance abatement.

Under those general enforcement chapters, the City Manager or a designee administers and enforces the waste title under § 30.10.080, and a person aggrieved by a City decision under the title can file a written appeal with the City Clerk under § 30.10.090. The City separately bans dumping garbage, cans, ashes, dead animal carcasses, or similar refuse into any creek, stream or natural watercourse in the City under EGMC § 6.14.010, a distinct provision aimed at protecting the City's waterways rather than general dumping on land.