Palm Desert, CA Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

Chapter 8.24 of the Palm Desert Municipal Code is the city's littering and dumping chapter. Section 8.24.010 reaches both the person who throws refuse and the person who permits it to be deposited or to remain on a lot or premises, so a property holder who lets waste sit is covered along with whoever left it. The only exception is for authorized public or private receptacles provided for the general public in commercial districts.

The rest of the chapter closes the common loopholes. Section 8.24.020 bars putting refuse into a private receptacle without prior written approval of the person in charge of it. Section 8.24.030 requires litter placed in receptacles to be secured so the elements cannot carry it onto a street, sidewalk, alley or private property. Section 8.24.040 prohibits blowing, hosing or sweeping litter into a gutter or street, and it makes anyone who owns, leases, occupies or has charge of a property or place of business responsible for keeping the sidewalk and parkway in front of the premises free of litter.

Section 8.24.050 applies to drivers and passengers alike, and Section 8.24.070 covers parks: where no public receptacles are provided, all litter must be carried out by the person responsible for it.

What counts as waste is defined in Section 8.70.300, which lists rubbish, garbage, palm fronds, rubble, asphalt, concrete, plaster, tile, rocks, bricks, soil, building materials, furniture, scrap metal, inoperative vehicles and unapproved fill dirt. That section also requires every person in charge of a residence to arrange for refuse removal not less than once a week. Separately, Section 24.20.050 treats a nonstormwater discharge to the storm drain system as a violation of the stormwater chapter.