Unified Program

CalEPA oversees California’s Unified Program. The program protects Californians from hazardous waste and hazardous materials by ensuring local regulatory agencies consistently apply statewide standards when they issue permits, conduct inspections and engage in enforcement activities. The Unified Program is a consolidation of multiple environmental and emergency management programs Read more about the Unified Program

Los Angeles City Fire Department (LAFD) Certified Unified Program Agency (CUPA) Proposed Program Change

The LAFD’s (CUPA) has notified CalEPA of a proposed change to their Unified Program. LAFD CUPA is proposing to replace the Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACoFD) as administrator of the Hazardous Waste Generator and Onsite Hazardous Waste Treatment (Hazardous Waste Generator) program element in the City of Los Angeles.

Notice of Public Hearing and Administrative Documents
The Office of the Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) will hold a virtual public hearing pursuant to California Code of Regulations, title 27, Section 15300, subdivision (e)(1) to receive public comment on the proposed change. For more details on the public hearing and access to the administrative record, please use the following link to visit the LAFD CUPA Proposed Program Change webpage.

Electronic Reporting

Effective January 1, 2009, all regulated businesses and local Unified Program Agencies (UPAs) are required to submit Unified Program information electronically, either to the local regulatory agency or to the California Environmental Reporting System (CERS). CERS supports electronic data exchange among businesses, UPAs, state agencies, and U.S. EPA. Read more about Electronic Reporting.

CUPA Performance Evaluations

A periodic performance evaluation of each CUPA is conducted to ensure adequate and effective implementation of the Unified Program by the local agency. Read more about the CUPA performance evaluation process, evaluation schedule, and evaluation results.

State Surcharges

The State Surcharges, paid by all businesses regulated under applicable program elements of the Unified Program, are used to fund the reasonable costs for all State Agencies with Unified Program Responsibilities. CUPAs are responsible for billing and collecting the state surcharges from each regulated business or facility as part of the Single Fee System. State Surcharges for Unified Program elements are as follows:

Oversight: $84.00 per business/facility. The increase to the “Oversight” portion of the annual State Surcharge raised the fee from $49 to $84, with the increase allocated as follows:
- $27 for the California Environmental Reporting Systems (CERS) NextGen project
  - California is responsible for the implementation and overall maintenance of the CERS and has determined that the current CERS must be updated in order to continue providing an effective and stable service to all stakeholders. Therefore, CalEPA has, in collaboration with internal and external stakeholders, initiated the CERS NextGen project to plan and implement this crucial system update. It is estimated that the project will cost approximately 14.1 million dollars and is expected to be completed in Fiscal Year 2024/2025.
- $8 to address the structural deficit related to the State Certified Unified Program Account
  - Based on fiscal analysis performed by the CalEPA Deputy Secretary for Fiscal and Administrative Programs, Unified Program staff, and the California Air Resources Board accounting staff, it was determined that beginning in Fiscal Year 2021/2022, the budget appropriation for the State Certified Unified Program Account exceeds the projected revenues by over $1,000,000.
Underground Storage Tank Program: $20.00 per tank
California Accidental Release Prevention Program: $270.00 per regulated business
Aboveground Petroleum Storage Act Program: $26.00 per tank facility
Refinery Safety: Assessed to Refinery Facilities according to the daily barrel capacity (DBC)
- $45,000 – Tier 1 (equal to or greater than 200,000 DBC)
- $27,500 – Tier 2 (100,000 to 199,999 DBC)
- $13,750 – Tier 3 (50,000 to 99,999 DBC)
- $3,500 – Tier 4 (Less than 50,000 DBC)

For additional information regarding the state surcharge, please send requests to CUPA@calepa.ca.gov.

Unified Program News

California Code of Regulations, Title 27 – Unified Hazardous Waste and Hazardous Materials Management Regulatory Program Revisions

CalEPA is proposing changes to California Code of Regulations (CCR) title 27 (27 CCR), which affect the implementation and administration of the Unified Program. 27 CCR was last revised in 2017. It is necessary to revise, reorganize, and update 27 CCR to administer and accomplish the Unified Program’s objectives of coordination, consolidation, and consistency in the protection of human health, safety, and the environment. Updating the language of 27 CCR will advance statewide and cross-program coordination, enhance the clarity of, and further foster, the consistency of implementation of the Unified Program. Providing clear and consistent regulatory language ensures regulated businesses, Unified Program Agencies (UPA)s, and Unified Program state agency partners will be accomplishing the definitive goal of CalEPA in the administration and implementation of the Unified Program to reduce the impact of hazardous materials on public health and safety and the environment.

CalEPA established a small workgroup of 31 members, with representatives from CalEPA, Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM), State Water Board (SWB), Certified Unified Program Agency (CUPA) Forum Board (CFB), and numerous CUPAs throughout the state to review 27 CCR. Beginning on April 1, 2021, this group met once every two weeks to review and make numerous substantive and non-substantive changes to the regulations.

Examples of non-substantive changes include:

Capitalizing words that needed to be capitalized.
Changing run-on sentences to make them easier to understand.
Changing the outline format.
Moving wording and information from one section to another for clarity.

Examples of Substantive changes include:

Changing the Hazardous Material Release Response Plan (HMRRP) and California Accidental Release Reporting (CalARP) program oversight agency from California Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) to CalEPA with the adoption of AB 148 (Chapter 115, Statutes of 2021).
Added the definition of Progressive Enforcement.
Complete rewrites of sections 15210 Single Fee System and 15220 Fee Accountability.
Streamlined the training and education requirements of section 15260 UPA Education and Training.
Making the education and training requirements of PAs equal to the education and training requirements of a CUPA.
Repeal section 15270 PA Education, Technical Expertise, and Training.
Changing the Quarterly Transmittal Report to include a CERS Nextgen surcharge section.

Please send all comments, recommendations, and questions to cupa@calepa.ca.gov with the subject line “27 CCR Changes”.

CalEPA Unified Program State Surcharge Increase for FY 2021/2022

CalEPA published a final notice in the California Regulatory Notice Register on June 25, 2021, upon which the increased Unified Program surcharge amounts became effective immediately.

The increase to the “Oversight” portion of the annual State Surcharge raised the fee from $49 to $84, with the increase allocated as follows:

$27 for the California Environmental Reporting System (CERS) NextGen project
- CalEPA is responsible for the implementation and overall maintenance of the CERS and has determined that the current CERS must be updated in order to continue providing an effective and stable service to all stakeholders. Therefore, CalEPA has, in collaboration with internal and external stakeholders, initiated the CERS NextGen project to plan and implement this crucial system update. It is estimated that the project will cost approximately 14.1 million dollars and is expected to be completed in Fiscal Year 2024/2025.
$8 to address the structural deficit related to the State Certified Unified Program Account
- Based on fiscal analysis performed by the CalEPA Deputy Secretary for Fiscal and Administrative Programs, Unified Program staff, and the California Air Resources Board accounting staff, it was determined that beginning in Fiscal Year 2021/2022, the budget appropriation for the State Certified Unified Program Account exceeds the projected revenues by over $1,000,000.

No later than sixty days after the effective date of the new surcharge, Certified Unified Program Agencies (CUPAs) are responsible for collecting the new surcharge amount as part of their single fee system. CalEPA has requested that all CUPAs begin assessing the new surcharge in fiscal year 2021/2022, including those CUPAs that bill prior to the effective date of the new surcharge increase.

CalEPA will assess the surcharge for the CERS NextGen project for four years, beginning Fiscal Year 2021/2022. In Fiscal Year 2024/2025, CalEPA will adjust the Oversight Surcharge to only cover costs for the ongoing maintenance and operations of CERS NextGen.

Resources:

CalEPA Regulated Site Portal
The CalEPA Regulated Site Portal is a website that combines data about environmentally regulated sites and facilities in California into a single, searchable database and interactive map. The portal was created to provide a more holistic view of regulated activities statewide. By combining data from a variety of state and federal databases, the portal provides an overview of regulated activities across the spectrum of environmental programs for any given location in California. These activities include hazardous materials and waste, state and federal cleanups, impacted ground and surface waters, and toxic materials. The portal combines information from the following databases:
Cal/OSHA – Inspection and enforcement information reported to federal OSHA
CERS – The California Environmental Reporting System
CIWQS – The California Integrated Water Quality System
EIS – U.S. EPA’s Air Emission Inventory System
EnviroStor – Permitting, enforcement and cleanup activities at hazardous waste facilities and sites with known or suspected contamination
GeoTracker – Impacted groundwater sites within the state, such as leaking underground storage tanks, cleanup sites, and permitted facilities such as landfills and operating underground storage tank facilities
SMARTS – The Stormwater Multiple Application and Report Tracking System
SWIS – The Solid Waste Information System
TRI – The Toxics Release Inventory