Under California SB 1383, property owners within Madera County's designated SB 1383 compliance area must comply starting July 1, 2025. Residents in the area must subscribe to organics collection, self-haul source-separated food waste, or manage organics on-site. Residential owners cannot get a waiver; only some commercial generators qualify for de minimis or physical-space waivers.
SB 1383 is California's 2016 short-lived-climate-pollutant law requiring organic waste recycling to cut landfilled organics by 75% and boost edible food recovery by 20% by 2025. Madera County implements it within a defined compliance area based on census tracts; the county's official guidance states that 'All property owners within the Madera County SB 1383 compliance area are required to comply starting July 1, 2025.' Owners check whether their parcel is in the compliance area using the county's Solid Waste Lookup Tool (a GIS mapping app). If covered, owners have three compliance options: (1) subscribe to organic collection through the franchise haulers Red Rock or Emadco; (2) self-haul source-separated food waste to the North Fork Transfer Station (33699 Road 274, North Fork) or the Fairmead Landfill (21739 Road 19, Chowchilla) - free for residential and commercial up to a 64-gallon limit per visit; or (3) manage organics on-site through backyard composting, animal feed, or edible-food-recovery programs. Because Madera County's population (~156,000) is above the small/rural-jurisdiction threshold, there is no blanket countywide rural exemption, though CalRecycle low-population/low-density census-tract waivers can exclude specific foothill tracts - which is why the lookup tool matters. Commercial businesses may apply for de minimis or physical-space waivers through Public Works; residential property owners do not qualify for those waivers.
SB 1383 is enforced by the county and CalRecycle. Covered owners who fail to subscribe, self-haul, or self-manage organics can be subject to enforcement after applicable notice and education periods, including administrative penalties under the state regulations. The county directs compliance questions to Public Works at (559) 675-7811 or SolidWaste@maderacounty.com, and provides waiver applications for eligible commercial generators only.
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