San Diego County Municipal Code Ch. 9 Certified Unified Program Agency

*Note--Chapter 9, HAZARDOUS WASTE FACILITIES, Sections 68.901--68.909, added by Ord. No. 6376 (N.S.), effective 7-15-82; repealed and new Chapter 9, Sections 68.901--68.911 added by Ord. No. 6469 (N.S.), effective 12-16-82; title amended by Ord. 9293 (N.S.), effective 1-12-01; Chapter 9 amended by Ord. No. 10927 (N.S.), effective 1-10-25.

Cross reference(s)--Hazardous and medical wastes, § 68.505; underground storage of hazardous substances, § 68.1001 et seq.; hazardous materials inventory and response plans, § 68.1101 et seq.; medical wastes, § 68.1201 et seq.

Publisher’s Note: This Section has been AMENDED by new legislation (Ord. 10709, adopted 12-09-2020). The text of the amendment will be incorporated below when the ordinance is codified.

Editor’s Note--The above Publisher’s Note is included as it appears in Ord. No. 10927 (N.S.). However, the referenced Ord. No. 10709 has already been codified.

It is the intent of the Board of Supervisors that the Department of Environmental Health and Quality (Department) is designated as the Certified Unified Program Agency. It is further the intent of the Board of Supervisors that the Director of the Department (Director) provide health care information and other appropriate technical assistance on a 24-hour basis to emergency responders in the event of a hazardous waste incident involving community exposure.

(Amended by Ord. No. 7428 (N.S.), effective 2-4-88; amended by Ord. No. 8477 (N.S.), adopted 11-8-94, operative 1-1-95; amended by Ord. No. 9293 (N.S.), effective 1-12-01; amended by Ord. No. 10927 (N.S.), effective 1-10-25)

(a) The Director, in addition to their other duties, is hereby designated as the Officer to implement and enforce the Unified Program as certified by the California Secretary for Environmental Protection and specified in the California Health and Safety Code, Chapter 6.11 (commencing with Section 25404).

(b) The Department may designate categories of facilities as "Low Risk Unified Program Facilities." Each category of facilities designated shall be defined by such conditions as the Department finds are necessary to ensure that associated risks are low. Designations shall be disclosed on the appropriate Department website.

(c) Any Low-Risk Unified Program Facilities designation to which an objection is made by the Director of the California Department of Toxic Substances Control shall be rescinded.

(d) The Director may streamline the permitting and reporting process for Low-Risk Unified Program Facilities.

(e) Low-Risk Unified Program Facilities designations:

(1) Silver-Only Waste Generator facilities subject to the Unified Program solely because they recycle photochemical wastes to recover silver pursuant to HSC §25143.13 including Small Quantity Medical Waste Generators meeting the criteria in HSC §25143.13.

(2) Unstaffed Remote Location facilities meeting the criteria specified in HSC §25507.02.

(Amended by Ord. No. 7428 (N.S.), effective 2-4-88; amended by Ord. No. 8477 (N.S.), adopted 11-8-94, operative 1-1-95; amended by Ord. No. 9293 (N.S.), effective 1-12-01; amended by Ord. No. 10379 (N.S.), effective 4-17-15; amended by Ord. No. 10680 (N.S.), effective 9-4-20; amended by Ord. No. 10709 (N.S.), effective 1-15-21; amended by Ord. No. 10927 (N.S.), effective 1-10-25; amended by Ord. No. 10945 (N.S.), effective 6-20-25)

It shall be the duty of the Director to make periodic inspections of all unified program facilities as defined in Chapter 6.11 (commencing with Section 25404 of the California Health and Safety Code).

(Amended by Ord. No. 7428 (N.S.), effective 2-4-88; amended by Ord. No. 8477 (N.S.), adopted 11-8-94, operative 1-1-95; amended by Ord. No. 9293 (N.S.), effective 1-12-01; amended by Ord. No. 10709 (N.S.), effective 1-15-21; amended by Ord. No. 10927 (N.S.), effective 1-10-25)

No business, person, owner or operator shall have a unified program facility as defined in Section 68.904.5 without obtaining a unified program facility permit with the applicable permit elements from the Director. Unified program facility permits are not transferable to a different business, person, owner or operator pursuant to Section 65.106 unless approved by the Director. Any business, person, owner or operator who has a unified program facility without obtaining a unified program facility permit from the Director shall cease unified program activities and shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a $1,000 fine or 6 months in prison or both. The County may also impose civil penalties against the business, person, owner or operator in the amount of $1,000 per violation and may seek injunctive relief if the business, person, owner or operator refuses to cease unified program activities.

(Amended by Ord. No. 7300 (N.S.), effective 6-11-87; amended by Ord. No. 7428 (N.S.), effective 2-4-88; amended by Ord. No. 8477 (N.S.), adopted 11-8-94, operative 1-1-95; amended by Ord. No. 9293 (N.S.), effective 1-12-01; amended by Ord. No. 9859 (N.S.), effective 6-15-07, operative 7-1-07; amended by Ord. No. 10379 (N.S.), effective 4-17-15; amended by Ord. No. 10680 (N.S.), effective 9-4-20; amended by Ord. No. 10709 (N.S.), effective 1-15-21; amended by Ord. No. 10927 (N.S.), effective 1-10-25)

Every applicant for a unified program facility permit required by this division shall submit the information required to obtain said permit through CERS or by submitting a completed application to the Department. Any required update to such information (including but not limited to information on changes in ownership) shall be submitted in the same manner.

(Amended by Ord. No. 8477 (N.S.), adopted 11-8-94, operative 1-1-95; amended by Ord. No. 9293 (N.S.), effective 1-12-01; amended by Ord. No. 10065 (N.S.), effective 8-13-10; amended by Ord. No. 10379 (N.S.), effective 4-17-15; amended by Ord. No. 10680 (N.S.), effective 9-4-20; amended by Ord. No. 10709 (N.S.), effective 1-15-21; amended by Ord. No. 10927 (N.S.), effective 1-10-25)

A unified program facility permit issued pursuant to this division shall expire on the last day of the month of the one year anniversary month in which the unified program facility permit was issued and shall be renewed annually by paying to the Department the required annual fee, which fee is due and payable each year. The annual fee, if unpaid, is thirty days delinquent on the first day of the second month after the month in which the permit expires.

The imposition of, or payment of the fee imposed by this section, shall not prevent the imposition of any other penalty prescribed by this Code, or any ordinance, or prosecution for violation of this Code, or any ordinance.

(Amended by Ord. No. 7300 (N.S.), effective 6-11-87; amended by Ord. No. 8477 (N.S.), adopted 11-8-94, operative 1-1-95; amended by Ord. No. 9293 (N.S.), effective 1-12-01; amended by Ord. No. 10412 (N.S.), effective 2-26-16; amended by Ord. No. 10709 (N.S.), effective 1-15-21; amended by Ord. No. 10927 (N.S.), effective 1-10-25)

As required by Section 25404.5 of the California Health and Safety Code, each business, person, owner or operator who notifies the Director through CERS to obtain or update ownership for a permit to operate an underground storage tank or to obtain or renew a unified program facility permit shall pay a surcharge in addition to the local permit fee. The amount of the surcharge shall be determined by the State in the manner prescribed in State law. (The State surcharge is not a County fee and State surcharge revenues are not retained by the County.)

(Added by Ord. No. 9293 (N.S.), effective 1-12-01; amended by Ord. No. 10379 (N.S.), effective 4-17-15; amended by Ord. No. 10733 (N.S.), effective 7-1-21; amended by Ord. No. 10927 (N.S.), effective 1-10-25)

The Director or a designee of the Director may order that the unified program facility permit or permit element of an establishment be denied, suspended or revoked whenever it appears to him, by reason of either complaint or Department investigation, that the permit should not be granted pursuant to Section 68.908 or 68.908.1 or that permittee, their employee, servant or agent, or any person acting with their consent or under their authority, has or may have violated any provision of this division or any relevant requirement established or provided by law.

(Added by Ord. No. 9293 (N.S.), effective 1-12-01; amended by Ord. No. 10709 (N.S.), effective 1-15-21; amended by Ord. No. 10927 (N.S.), effective 1-10-25)

(a) A suspension or revocation of a Unified Program facility permit or permit element, and any administrative enforcement order issued pursuant to Section 25404.1 of the California Health and Safety Code, may be appealed as provided in applicable state laws and regulations.

(b) If applicable state laws and regulations do not specify appeals procedures for an action by the Director related to a Unified Program facility, appeals may be made as provided in Section 61.109 and of this code.

(Added by Ord. No. 9293 (N.S.), effective 1-12-01; amended by Ord. No. 9858 (N.S.), effective 5-25-07; amended by Ord. No. 10927 (N.S.), effective 1-10-25)

The suspension, expiration or forfeiture by operation of law of a unified program facility permit, or its suspension, forfeiture or cancellation by the Department or by order of a court, or its surrender or attempted or actual transfer without written consent of the Department shall not affect the authority of the Department to institute or continue a disciplinary proceeding against the holder of a unified program facility permit upon any ground, or otherwise taking an action against the holder of a unified program facility permit on these grounds.

(Added by Ord. No. 9293 (N.S.), effective 1-12-01; amended by Ord. No. 10709 (N.S.), effective 1-15-21; amended by Ord. No. 10927 (N.S.), effective 1-10-25)

(a) To the extent authorized by the State Department of Toxic Substances Control, the Department, in its capacity as a Certified Unified Program Agency, shall oversee site screening, site investigation and corrective measures required at sites in the County that are subject to the state Hazardous Waste Control Law and are within the regulatory jurisdiction of the County as a Certified Unified Program Agency.

(b) Definitions. For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:

"Corrective action" means those activities taken to evaluate, investigate, remove, remediate, prevent, minimize or mitigate a release or threatened release of hazardous waste or constituents, as necessary to protect the public health or the environment. The term "corrective action" includes site screening, site investigation and corrective measures.

"Site screening" means those activities that are performed to determine whether current or past hazardous waste management practices at the site have resulted in a release or threatened release of hazardous waste or constituents that poses a threat to the public health or the environment.

"Site investigation" means those activities that are performed to determine the nature and extent of releases of hazardous waste or constituents at the site, identify and assess the risks to the public health or the environment posed by the release, and gather all necessary data on possible corrective measures.

"Corrective measures" means those activities that are performed to remove, remediate, prevent, minimize or mitigate a release of hazardous waste or constituents at the site.

(c) Authority. The Department may require corrective action at a site whenever the Department determines that there is or may be a release of hazardous waste or constituents into the environment at or from a site.

(d) The responsible party or the person requesting oversight shall make deposits and reimburse the Department for its oversight costs as set out in Section 65.107(k)( 21) of this code.

(e) This section does not limit the Department's authority to oversee site investigations or remedial actions pursuant to Chapter 6.65 of Division 20 of the Health and Safety Code, Sections 33459 to 33459.8 of the Health and Safety Code, or Sections 101480 to 101490 of the Health and Safety Code, to the extent applicable.

(Added by Ord. No. 10317 (N.S.), effective 2-7-14; amended by Ord. No. 10473, effective 7-1-17; amended by Ord. No. 10709 (N.S.), effective 1-15-21; amended by Ord. No. 10927 (N.S.), effective 1-10-25)