Article 6.5. Transporters Of Inedible Kitchen Grease of California Food And Agricultural Code >> Division 9. >> Part 3. >> Chapter 5. >> Article 6.5.

(a) It is unlawful for any person or entity to engage in the transportation of inedible kitchen grease without being registered with the department and without being in possession of a valid registration certificate issued by the department.
  (b) Each registration shall expire on December 31st each year.
  (c) (1) The department shall require, as a condition of registration, that the applicant demonstrate the ability to respond to damages resulting from the transportation of inedible kitchen grease.
  (2) The damages to be covered include public liability, which shall include, but not be limited to, liability for personal injury and property damage.
  (3) The ability to respond to damages shall be demonstrated by providing proof of a policy of insurance or surety bond for that purpose in an amount not less than two million dollars ($2,000,000), except that the required amount shall be not less that one million dollars ($1,000,000) if the applicant operates only one vehicle and the vehicle has a gross vehicle weight rating of not more than 10,000 pounds.
  (4) This subdivision shall not preempt a local ordinance or rule that is more stringent than the provisions of this section.

It is unlawful for any person who is not a registered transporter of inedible kitchen grease to transport that product from any place within this state to any place outside the borders of this state.

Any person registered as a transporter of inedible kitchen grease may deliver any inedible kitchen grease to a licensed renderer or collection center for processing or recycling into usable products. As used in this section, "usable products" includes, but is not limited to, biofuels, lubricants, and animal feed, provided the uses for animal feed are permitted by the rules and regulations adopted by the United States Food and Drug Administration.

Any renderer who operates vehicles for the purpose of collecting inedible kitchen grease shall register as a transporter of inedible kitchen grease and otherwise comply with this article.

(a) Registration shall be made with the department and shall include all of the following:
  (1) The applicant's name and address.
  (2) A description of the operations to be performed by the applicant.
  (3) The vehicles to be used in the transportation.
  (4) A registration fee of one hundred dollars ($100).
  (5) A list of the names of the drivers employed by the transporter who transport inedible kitchen grease subject to this article and their drivers' license numbers.
  (6) Any other information that may be required by the department.
  (b) Any renderer or collection center that registers pursuant to this article is not required to pay the fee prescribed in this section.
  (c) The department may refuse to issue an original or renewal registration certificate to an applicant for either of the following reasons:
  (1) The existence of the grounds specified in subdivisions (a) to (e), inclusive, of Section 19314.
  (2) A failure to pay, in full by the established due date, any penalty levied by the department for a previous violation of this article or Article 6 (commencing with Section 19300).
  (d) (1) The applicant may appeal the decision of the department to refuse to register the applicant.
  (2) The department shall establish procedures for the appeals process, to include a noticed hearing.
  (3) The department may reverse a decision to refuse to register the applicant, upon a finding of good cause to do so.
  (e) The department shall adopt regulations that specify the maximum time period for which a refusal of registrations may be imposed, based on the severity or the number of violations that are the basis of the department's action. The time period for the refusal of registration shall not exceed three years from the date the refusal of registration is imposed.

Every vehicle used in the transportation of inedible kitchen grease shall conspicuously display the name of the owner of the vehicle in letters not less than two inches high.

In addition to any other records required to be kept pursuant to this chapter, every transporter of inedible kitchen grease shall record and maintain for two years all of the following:
  (a) The name and address of each location from which the transporter obtained the inedible kitchen grease.
  (b) The quantity of material received from each location.
  (c) The date on which the inedible kitchen grease was obtained from each location.

It is unlawful for any person to steal, misappropriate, contaminate, or damage inedible kitchen grease, or containers thereof.

A registered transporter or any other person shall not take possession of inedible kitchen grease from an unregistered transporter, an unlicensed collection center, or an unlicensed renderer, or knowingly take possession of stolen inedible kitchen grease.

The department may suspend or revoke a registration certificate, at any time, if it finds any of the following has occurred:
  (a) The registrant has sold or offered for sale to an unlicensed person, any inedible kitchen grease.
  (b) The registrant has stolen, misappropriated, contaminated, or damaged inedible kitchen grease or containers of inedible kitchen grease.
  (c) The registrant has violated this article or any regulations adopted to implement this article.
  (d) The registrant has taken possession of inedible kitchen grease from an unregistered transporter or has knowingly taken possession of inedible kitchen grease that has been stolen.
  (e) The registrant has been found to have engaged in, or aided and abetted another person or entity in the commission of, any violation of a statute, regulation, or order relating to the transportation or disposal of inedible kitchen grease, including a violation of the federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. Sec. 1251 et seq.), the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act (Division 7 (commencing with Section 13000) of the Water Code), Section 5650 of the Fish and Game Code, commercial vehicle weight limits, or commercial vehicle hours of service.
  (f) For purposes of this section, "registrant" includes any business entity, trustee, officer, director, partner, person, or other entity holding more than 5 percent equity, ownership, or debt liability in the registered entity engaged in the transportation of inedible kitchen grease.
  (g) (1) The registrant may appeal the suspension or revocation decision of the department.
  (2) The department shall establish procedures for the appeals process, to include a noticed hearing.
  (3) The department may reverse a suspension or revocation upon a finding of good cause to do so.
  (h) The department shall adopt regulations that specify the maximum time period during which a suspension or revocation of a registration certificate may be imposed, based on the severity or the number of violations that are the basis of the department's action. The time period for the suspension or revocation of the registration certificate shall not exceed three years from the date the suspension or revocation of the registration certificate is imposed.

(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), in addition to the registration fee required by Section 19312, the department may charge a fee necessary to cover the costs of administering this article. Any additional fee charged pursuant to this section shall not exceed three hundred dollars ($300) per year per vehicle that is operated to transport kitchen grease, and shall not exceed three thousand dollars ($3,000) per year per registered transporter.
  (b) An individual registered pursuant to this article who transports inedible kitchen grease for his or her own personal, noncommercial use as an alternative fuel is exempt from 75 percent of the fee charged pursuant to subdivision (a), and shall meet all of the following requirements:
  (1) The individual shall meet all other requirements of this article.
  (2) The individual shall not transport more than 55 gallons of inedible kitchen grease per load for that purpose, and shall have no more than 165 gallons of inedible kitchen grease in his or her possession or control at any time.
  (3) The individual shall not take any inedible kitchen grease from a container owned by another registered transporter of inedible kitchen grease or from an inedible kitchen grease provider under contract with a registered transporter of inedible kitchen grease or from a container owned by a renderer or collection center.
  (4) The individual shall have a document in his or her possession while transporting inedible kitchen grease signed by the responsible party providing the inedible kitchen grease to the individual at the source of the inedible kitchen grease that provides permission for the inedible kitchen grease to be removed from that site.
  (5) The individual shall specify where the inedible kitchen grease is stored and processed as an alternative fuel, if that address is different from the address included on the registration form for that individual pursuant to Section 19312.
  (6) The individual shall not sell, barter, or trade any inedible kitchen grease.
  (c) The secretary shall fix the annual fee established pursuant to this section and may fix different fees for transporters of inedible kitchen grease and collection centers, and for transporters of interceptor grease. The secretary shall also fix the date the fee is due and the method of collecting the fee. If an additional fee is imposed on licensed renderers pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 19227 and an additional fee is imposed on registered transporters pursuant to subdivision (a), only one additional fee may be imposed on a person or firm that is both licensed as a renderer pursuant to Article 6 (commencing with Section 19300) and registered as a transporter of inedible kitchen grease pursuant to this article, which fee shall be the higher of the two fees.
  (d) If the fee established pursuant to this section is not paid within one calendar month of the date it is due, a penalty shall be imposed in the amount of 10 percent per annum on the amount of the unpaid fee.
  (e) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2020, and, as of January 1, 2021, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, which becomes effective on or before January 1, 2021, deletes or extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.
  (f) For the purposes of this section, "interceptor grease" means inedible kitchen grease that is principally derived from food preparation, processing, or waste, and that is removed from a grease trap or grease interceptor.

It is the purpose of this article to prevent the sale and transfer of illegally obtained inedible kitchen grease, to protect the environment, to reduce blockages of public sewer systems, and to prevent the improper and illegal transportation and disposal of inedible kitchen grease.

The department is authorized to establish a system for documenting and tracking the transportation of inedible kitchen grease in order to ensure the proper disposal or recycling of that material.

A registered transporter of inedible kitchen grease shall, whenever any contract for the transportation of inedible kitchen grease under which that transporter provides transportation services is terminated or expires, notify the county health officer for the county in which the inedible kitchen grease was collected of the termination or expiration of the contract and that the registered transporter is no longer transporting inedible kitchen grease pursuant to that contract.