Yakima County, WA Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)
Key Facts
- Covered
- Any dumping on land not a legal dump site
- Waterway dumping
- Also bans debris, rock, felled trees in channels
- Cost recovery
- Billed within 15 days, unpaid becomes a lien
- Interference penalty
- Up to 90 days jail, $1,000 fine
- Enforcer
- Yakima County Public Services code enforcement division
Summary
Yakima County's Property Maintenance Code makes illegal dumping a nuisance violation: dumping of any kind on public or private property not designated as a legal dump site, or dumping garbage, debris, rock or felled trees into a river bank, channel or watercourse, triggers the same abatement and cost-recovery process used for every other nuisance in the county code.
(x) Illegal dumping including, but not limited to, dumping of any type by any person on public or private property not designated as a legal dump site; and (xi) Dumping in waterways including, but not limited to, dumping, depositing, placing or leaving of any garbage, ashes, debris, gravel, earth, rock, stone or other material upon the banks, channels, beds or bars of any navigable water, or the felling of any tree or trees, so that the same shall in whole or in part project within the high water bank of any navigable watercourse, or the casting, placing, depositing or leaving of any logs, roots, snags, stumps or brush upon the banks or in the bed or channel of any navigable watercourse, unless otherwise approved by the appropriate governmental agency.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: rev 4871853; v6 updated 2026-04-21; through 04-21-2026).
Full Breakdown
Section 302's 'Nuisance, Violation' definition names illegal dumping at subsection (x): dumping of any type, by any person, on public or private property not designated as a legal dump site. Subsection (xi) separately reaches dumping in waterways, covering garbage, ashes, debris, gravel, earth, rock, stone, felled trees, logs, roots, snags, stumps or brush placed on the banks, channels, beds or bars of a navigable watercourse, unless a governmental agency has approved the work. Because both are nuisance violations rather than building-code defects, enforcement runs through Section 109.
3, offering a voluntary correction agreement with a compliance deadline and, if the county chooses to include one, a stated per-day penalty for missing it. 2. 6. Yakima County's Public Services Department code enforcement division investigates and issues these notices, and cases that end up in court proceed as strict liability offenses.
Violations & Fines
Illegal dumping is billed back dollar for dollar: the county recovers hauling, disposal, administrative and attorney's fees from the responsible party within 15 days of billing under Section 109.7.4, and unpaid amounts become a lien against the property. Anyone who hinders a county employee sent to abate a dumping site commits a misdemeanor under Section 109.7.5, punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is dumping trash on someone else's land in unincorporated Yakima County a code violation?
Does dumping debris in a creek count as illegal dumping here?
Who pays to clean up an illegal dump site the county abates?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Yakima County
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