Dana Point — Hazardous Waste Facilities

District-by-District Siting Categories

Industrial zones

Industrial zones are the only local siting category identified for specified hazardous waste facility projects and hazardous waste storage and disposal facilities. § 9.41.020 The chapter’s purpose is to control facility location, design, and maintenance while protecting residents’ health, quality of life, and the environment. § 9.41.010

Typical Chapter 9.41 facility categories allowed to be considered here are specified hazardous waste facilities, hazardous waste storage facilities, and hazardous waste disposal facilities—but only through the required discretionary approvals. § 9.41.020 The source materials do not identify Dana Point industrial-zone code abbreviations, district boundaries, permitted accessory uses, or dimensional standards; Verify with the jurisdiction.

No Chapter 9.41 setback, height, lot-coverage, FAR, landscaping, screening, or parking number is stated for industrial zones. For separate site-design controls, see Dana Point Landscaping and Screening; applicability is Not found in source materials for Chapter 9.41.

Business park

A business park zone is one of only two local siting categories for hazardous waste facility projects that are neither specified hazardous waste facility projects nor hazardous waste storage and disposal facilities. § 9.41.020 This is a category-specific siting authorization, not an automatic entitlement.

The relevant typical use category is an “other” hazardous waste facility project subject to a Conditional Use Permit and, where independently triggered, a Coastal Development Permit. § 9.41.020 The chapter does not list particular facility operations, business-park district code abbreviations, or dimensions such as setbacks, building height, site coverage, or FAR; Not found in source materials.

A parcel may also be affected by mapped Dana Point Overlay Districts, but Chapter 9.41 does not identify any overlay by name or establish overlay standards. Verify with the jurisdiction.

Community commercial zones

Community commercial zones are the other local siting category for hazardous waste facility projects other than specified hazardous waste facility projects and hazardous waste storage and disposal facilities. § 9.41.020 This category does not authorize a storage or disposal facility in a community commercial zone; those facility types are restricted to industrial zones. § 9.41.020

An eligible “other” hazardous waste facility project remains subject to a Conditional Use Permit and to a Coastal Development Permit when otherwise required for the site. § 9.41.020 Chapter 9.41 supplies no community-commercial dimensional standards, storefront standards, signage rules, or parking requirements; Not found in source materials.

Application Materials and Public Process

Every application for a specified hazardous waste facility project must follow the procedures identified in applicable state statutes as well as Chapter 9.41. § 9.41.030 The local application must include a public education/participation program mutually agreeable to the project proponent and the Director of Community Development. § 9.41.030

The applicant must fund an independent property-value impact study, while the City selects and controls the consultant; the completed study must be filed with the application. § 9.41.030 The project proponent must also pay the City in advance for its costs to conduct and review an independent employment-impact study, which the City controls and which must be completed before Local Assessment Committee action. § 9.41.030

The preparer of California Environmental Quality Act documents cannot be the same person or entity serving as consultant to the Local Assessment Committee. § 9.41.030 The Local Assessment Committee comments on the draft environmental impact report or proposed negative declaration, as appropriate. § 9.41.030

Locational and Operating Standards

A residuals repository or hazardous waste storage facility is prohibited in areas subject to 100-year flood inundation and may not be located in areas subject to flash floods or debris flows. § 9.41.090 Other facilities must avoid floodplains and flash-flood or debris-flow areas unless designed, constructed, operated, and maintained to prevent hazardous-waste migration during inundation. § 9.41.090

Residuals repositories may not be located on or near land classified as containing significant mineral deposits. § 9.41.270 Other facilities must avoid those lands if the project would restrict or prevent use or preservation of the deposit. § 9.41.270

Facilities should be located where best suited to serve Dana Point hazardous-waste generators. A facility primarily serving generators outside Dana Point must demonstrate why it cannot be located closer to the generation points it would serve. § 9.41.280

A facility cannot be sited to manage a volume or type of waste exceeding what Dana Point generates and is not already managed locally unless the City receives satisfactory compensation or a joint powers agreement provides otherwise. § 9.41.370 No specified hazardous waste facility project may be approved if it significantly undercuts incentives for waste minimization. § 9.41.430

Facilities with air emissions in non-attainment areas that exceed established limits require pre-construction new-source review and permits to construct and operate from the South Coast Air Quality Management District. § 9.41.210 Chapter 9.41 also prohibits discharge of hazardous wastes into storm drains and requires strict compliance with pretreatment rules before sewer discharge. § 9.41.010

Conditions, Monitoring, and Changes

The City may impose additional conditions and standards needed to fulfill Chapter 9.41 purposes or protect public health, safety, or general welfare. § 9.41.360 That authority is in addition to the chapter’s stated standards and conditions.

With reasonable notice, City officials or designees may enter a site where a hazardous waste facility permit has been sought or granted to ensure compliance with enforceable standards, conditions, and requirements. § 9.41.350 Owners or operators must submit quarterly reports to the Community Development Department identifying the amount, type, and disposition of processed wastes, supported by manifests and a map locating materials stored, disposed of, or placed in repositories on-site. § 9.41.350

Owners or operators must immediately provide the Director of Community Development with facility-operation complaints and inspection reports from other local, state, or federal agencies. § 9.41.350 The emergency response plan must be updated annually, signed by all management personnel, and distributed to local emergency-response agencies and the Director. §§ 9.41.050, 9.41.350

Any change in the waste types or quantities that was not included in the approved land-use application requires City approval through a Conditional Use Permit amendment and, if applicable, a Coastal Development Permit amendment before the change occurs. § 9.41.380 Storage, treatment, disposal, or transportation of extremely hazardous waste must be reported to the Director at least 48 hours in advance. § 9.41.470

Checklist

• Identify whether the proposal is a specified hazardous waste facility project, a storage or disposal facility, or another hazardous waste facility project. § 9.41.020
• Confirm that the site is in the applicable industrial, business park, or community commercial siting category. § 9.41.020
• Obtain a Conditional Use Permit and determine whether a Coastal Development Permit is otherwise required. § 9.41.020
• For a specified facility project, submit a mutually acceptable public education/participation program. § 9.41.030
• For a specified facility project, fund and file the independent property-value impact study. § 9.41.030
• Pay the City’s advance fee for the independent employment-impact study before Local Assessment Committee action. § 9.41.030
• Address flood, flash-flood, debris-flow, mineral-deposit, service-area, volume, and waste-minimization criteria. §§ 9.41.090, 9.41.270, 9.41.280, 9.41.370, 9.41.430
• Provide an emergency response plan with the required procedures, service-impact analysis, contacts, and release-reporting information. § 9.41.050
• Demonstrate the written findings needed for a favorable land-use decision. § 9.41.500
• Establish quarterly reporting, complaint/inspection-report transmittal, and annual emergency-plan updates. § 9.41.350
• Obtain amendments before changing approved waste types or quantities. § 9.41.380

Risks & Ambiguities

Plain-English Summary

Dana Point treats hazardous-waste facilities as heavily controlled land uses. The location category matters first—industrial zones for specified, storage, and disposal facilities, and only business park or community commercial zones for other hazardous-waste facility projects—then the applicant must clear discretionary review, technical siting standards, public-process requirements, and ongoing monitoring obligations. §§ 9.41.020, 9.41.030, 9.41.350

Source References

• Dana Point Municipal Code § 9.41.010 — purpose, waste-management priorities, transportation, sewer pretreatment, and storm-drain prohibition.
• Dana Point Municipal Code § 9.41.020 — permits, siting categories, and criteria-relaxation authority.
• Dana Point Municipal Code § 9.41.030 — specified-facility application procedures, studies, and Local Assessment Committee comments.
• Dana Point Municipal Code §§ 9.41.050, 9.41.060, 9.41.090, 9.41.210, 9.41.270, 9.41.280 — emergency planning and locational criteria.
• Dana Point Municipal Code §§ 9.41.350, 9.41.360, 9.41.370, 9.41.380, 9.41.430, 9.41.470, 9.41.500 — monitoring, conditions, volume, modifications, minimization, notice, and findings.