Ontario, CA Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

206, adopted by Ordinance 3187 effective January 1, 2022, makes it unlawful to dump, place or deposit upon, or bury in any lot, land, street, alley, water or waterway within the City, any solid waste or substance condemned by the San Bernardino County Health Department, or any other deleterious or offensive substance. The prohibition applies citywide, on public and private property alike, and reaches beyond household trash to any condemned or offensive substance, not only what the chapter defines as solid waste. The single carve-out in the section protects land used as a properly-permitted landfill, transfer station, materials-recovery facility, organic waste-processing facility or similar use, so a permitted facility receiving waste under state and local permits is not violating this rule.

Enforcement flows through the same Integrated Waste and Code Enforcement process the chapter uses for other dumping violations: staff who observe a likely violation notify Code Enforcement, which investigates and tags the property or container with a notice of violation once a violation is confirmed. 01 rather than a section-specific fine, so the City can charge either an infraction or a misdemeanor depending on the circumstances and the prosecuting attorney's judgment. 207 on scavenging, separately allows the City to seek a civil penalty of up to $1,000 per unauthorized removal of recyclables placed for collection, showing how seriously the chapter treats interference with the solid waste stream in both directions.