Pico Rivera, CA Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

Section 8.12.460 makes it unlawful to place, deposit, throw or dump any garbage, swill, cans, bottles, papers, ashes, dirt, sand, rock, cement, glass, metal, dead animal carcasses, offal, plant cuttings, trash, rubbish, or any nauseous or offensive matter on any public or private road, highway, street, alley, public way, or any public or private property of any kind. The prohibition is not limited to city-owned land: dumping on a neighbor's yard, a vacant commercial lot, or an alley behind a business is covered equally. Section 8.12.500 ties enforcement of this and the rest of Chapter 8.12 (Garbage and Rubbish) to the city's general penalty provision, Section 1.20.010.

Under that section, anyone convicted of a code misdemeanor, including illegal dumping, faces a fine of not more than one thousand dollars, imprisonment in the city or county jail for not more than six months, or both. The city's Community and Economic Development code enforcement staff, working with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Pico Rivera Station, cite offenders under this framework. Because the ordinance covers 'any public or private property of any kind whatsoever,' a property owner who allows dumped material to accumulate on their own lot can also be cited, in addition to whoever did the dumping, and the city can pursue abatement of the resulting nuisance separately from the criminal penalty.