§ 14-1. Definitions.

As used in this chapter:

City health officer. The city health officer of the city, or his authorized agent.

Commission. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and its successor agencies.

Current utility bill. A bill issued by the city's water utility business office that includes a charge for curbside collection of garbage, which is not more than sixty (60) days old.

Debris. Large waste materials, such as ashes, roofing materials, dirt, automobile frames, tires, or other bulky heavy materials.

Director of solid waste shall mean the director of solid waste of the city or a designated representative.

Dumpster. A container which holds more than one (1) cubic yard, used to store solid waste until it is collected for disposal. The term also includes roll-on/roll-off containers that are used to transport solid waste on a vehicle chassis.

Garbage. All putrescible wastes, except sewage and body waste, including all meat, vegetable and fruit refuse, and carcasses of small dead animals and dead fowl from any premises within the city limits.

Health director. The health director of the city or a designated representative.

Heavy brush. Tree and shrub limbs and trimmings which are greater than three (3) inches in diameter and more than five (5) feet in length, tree trunks, root balls, and other large plants.

Industrial solid waste. Solid waste resulting from or incidental to a process of industry or manufacturing or mining or agricultural operations.

Institutional facility. Facilities with high-density populations i.e., hotels, motels, inns, rooming houses, boarding houses, jails, or schools whether private, public or quasi-public.

Medical waste. Waste generated by health-care-related facilities and associated health-care activities, including veterinary services.

Multifamily dwelling. Any building or structure or portion thereof which contains three (3) or more dwelling units and, for the purpose of this Code, includes residential condominiums.

Municipal solid waste. Solid waste resulting from or incidental to municipal, community, commercial, institutional, or recreational activities, and includes garbage, rubbish, ashes, street cleanings, dead animals, abandoned automobiles, and other solid waste other than industrial waste.

Municipal solid waste facility. All contiguous land, structures, other appurtenances, and improvements on the land used for processing, storing, or disposing of solid waste. The facility must be publicly owned and may consist of several processing, storage, or disposal units.

Non-recyclables. Material that is not capable of being recycled in the city's material recovery facility. This includes Styrofoam, electronics, glass, paint, ceramics, food, light bulbs, motor oil, plastic bags, toxic or hazardous substances, medical waste, and all other wastes.

Owner. Any person having or claiming to have any legal or equitable ownership interest in the property.

Premises. Business houses, boarding houses, offices, theaters, hotels, restaurants, cafes, eating houses, tourist camps, apartments, sanitariums, rooming houses, schools, private residences, vacant lots and other places within the city limits where refuse, either garbage or rubbish, accumulates.

Private franchised hauler. A person or company that has the nonexclusive right and privilege to collect, convey, or transport solid waste within the city.

Private property. That which is acquired or held for the special benefit of individual control, that which is owned by an individual or individuals, family estate or a corporation.

Public property. That which is governmental where it is for the use and benefit of the general public.

Public ways. All alleys, sidewalks, streets and highways.

Putrescible waste shall be interpreted to mean organic wastes, such as garbage, wastewater treatment plant sludge, and grease trap waste, that is capable of being decomposed by microorganisms with sufficient rapidity as to cause odors or gases or is capable of providing food for or attracting birds, animals and disease vectors.

Recyclables. Material capable of being recycled in the city's material recovery facility and sold as a commodity. This consists of clean plastic, paper, cardboard and metals. (Examples include plastic bottles, plastic jugs, detergent containers, aluminum cans, steel cans, tin cans, newspaper, office paper, cardboard boxes, phone books, magazines catalogs and junk mail.)

Refuse. All solid wastes, including garbage and rubbish.

Rubbish. Nonputrescible solid waste, excluding ashes, that consists of:

(a)

Combustible waste materials, including paper, rags, cartons, wood, excelsior, furniture, rubber, plastics, yard trimmings, leaves, and similar materials; or

(b)

Noncombustible waste materials, including glass, crockery, tin cans, aluminum cans, metal furniture, and similar materials that do not burn at ordinary incinerator temperatures (one thousand six hundred (1,600) degrees Fahrenheit to one thousand eight hundred (1,800) degrees Fahrenheit).

(c)

Construction-demolition waste resulting from construction or demolition projects including, but not limited to, brick, concrete, concrete rubble, gypsum board, lumber, sheetrock, roofing materials, fixtures (such as bath tubs, shower stalls, sinks, and toilets,) and remodeling debris (such as cabinets, ceramic tile, Formica, and similar items).

Solid waste. Garbage, rubbish, yard waste, heavy brush, debris, and construction-demolition materials.

Special waste. Any solid waste or combination of solid wastes that because of its quantity, concentration, physical, or chemical characteristics, or biological properties requires special handling and disposal to protect the human health or environment and as further defined in 30 TAC 330—Municipal Solid Waste Regulations.

Transfer station. A fixed facility used for transferring solid waste from collection vehicles to long-haul vehicles.

Vector shall mean an agent such as an insect, snake, rodent, bird or animal capable of mechanically or biologically transferring a pathogen from one organism to another.

Vehicle. Any type cart, wagon, trailer, automobile or track, propelled in any manner.

Yard waste. Grass clippings, weeds, leaves, mulch, small trees and shrub limbs, which are three (3) inches or less in diameter and five (5) feet in length or less, that results from landscaping maintenance. The term does not include stumps, roots, or shrubs with intact root balls.

(Ord. No. 98-263, § 1, 10-5-98; Ord. No. 2001-O-195, § 1, 11-19-01; Ord. No. 2004-O-074, § 1, 4-5-04; Ord. No. 2005-O-046, § 1, 3-7-05; Ord. No. 2013-O-137, § 1, 10-21-13)