Hazardous Materials & Waste

In 1996 the California Environmental Protection Agency designated the Santa Cruz County Environmental Health Division as the "Certified Unified Program Agency" (CUPA) within the geographic boundaries of the County (including all four Cities). As the CUPA, Environmental Health is responsible for enforcing State statutes and regulations as well as the local ordinance (Chapter 7.100) pertaining to the storage, use and disposal of hazardous materials and hazardous waste.

Environmental Health, as the CUPA, is responsible for oversight of the six unified hazardous materials. Compliance is verified through annual routine inspections of all regulated facilities, review and approval of required documentation submitted by the operators, and investigation of citizen-based complaints or inquiries regarding improper handling and/or disposal of hazardous materials or hazardous waste.

Businesses in Santa Cruz County with a unified program facility permit are required to maintain their permit and submit their business information electronically using the California Environmental Reporting System (CERS). CERS is a statewide web-based system to support CUPAs in electronically collecting and reporting various hazardous material-related data as mandated by Section 25404(e)(2-5) of the California Health and Safety Code and 2008 Legislation (AB 2286). Click here for more information on CERS.

Need to update the owner or account information for a HazMat facility? This should be completed through CERS. Click here to get started.

Public Notices

Important information and public notices regarding Environmental Health and our regulatory programs are posted here and updated periodically.