San Bernardino County Fire Hazmat Universal Waste

forms and desk

San Bernardino County Fire Department
Hazardous Materials Division
620 South "E" Street
San Bernardino, CA 92415-0153
Phone: 909.386.8401
Fax: 909.386.8460

On February 9, 2006 small businesses and households will now be subject to the California Universal Waste Rule. What this means for most is that certain “universally” generated hazardous wastes can no longer be disposed of into the municipal solid waste landfills in California. Disposal of a Universal Waste will be considered disposal of a hazardous waste and carry all of the consequences that the unlawful disposal of a hazardous waste carries in the State of California. The most common universal wastes are non-automotive batteries, fluorescent tubes, cathode ray tube (CRT) materials, consumer electronic devices, non-empty aerosol cans, and mercury switches.

As the local enforcement agency for San Bernardino County (except for the incorporated City of Victorville), the San Bernardino County CUPA is working toward the goal of educating our currently permitted businesses that are now responsible for handling their Universal Wastes, as well as reach out to those businesses that are now required to follow the handling standards set forth through the California Universal Waste Rule. Note that while all generators and handlers of Universal Wastes must abide by the applicable management requirements, additional permits as a Universal Waste Handler in San Bernardino County will be required only for those that are not Conditionally Exempt Small Quantity Generators. Current permit holders will notice that San Bernardino County is collecting Universal Waste information on the Locally Collected Inventory Information page of the Business/Emergency Contingency Plan in order to determine applicable regulatory categories and permits.

In July 2005, The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors approved the introduction of new permit fees for Universal Waste Handlers under the San Bernardino County CUPA jurisdiction. Again, these additional Universal Waste permits do NOT apply to Conditionally Exempt Small Quantity Universal Waste Generators. To determine what type of Universal Waste generator or handler a facility is and what the basic requirements are, a good place to start is the Summary of Universal Waste Handling Requirements.

Resources for businesses:

Sunset of exemptions for households and small generators (pdf)

Summary of Universal Waste Management requirements (pdf)

Small business Universal Waste handling guidelines (word)

Universal Waste Rule in San Bernardino County (ppt)

Universal Waste definitions (word)

Other Web Resources:

San Bernardino County CUPA Forms and Guidelines

CIWMB Registered Electronics Recyclers:

DTSC Universal Waste Page

For Homeowners:

Homeowners Tips on handling Universal Waste (word)

The San Bernardino County Fire Household Hazardous Waste Program