Who Regulates What in Santa Clara County Page Updated on 7/11/2011

Santa Clara County has four CUPAs (Certified Unified Program Agencies) and four Participating Agencies that administer the various hazardous materials, hazardous waste and underground storage tank programs within their respective jurisdictions. To see which agency administers which programs, refer to the table below. Clicking on the agency name will take you to a complete description of that agency's program and contact information.

CUPAs:

• Santa Clara County Department of Environmental Health (DEH)
• Gilroy Building, Life and Environmental Safety (Gilroy BLES)
• Santa Clara City Fire Department (SC FD)
• Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety (SV DPS)
  

Participating Agencies operate under a Memorandum of Understanding with Santa Clara County DEH:

• Milpitas Fire Department (Milpitas FD)
• Mountain View Fire Department (MVFD)
• Palo Alto Fire Department (PA FD)
• Santa Clara County Fire Department (SCC FD)

Note: Santa Clara County Office of the Fire Marshal (County FM) is responsible for plan check review for fire code compliance for new construction in San Martin, Stanford and the unincorporated areas. They are not a Unified Program Agency (see paragraph below). As of July 1, 2011, San Jose Fire Department is no longer a UPA, but they are still responsible for plan check review for fire code compliance for new construction in the City of San Jose. *

There are six programs administered locally under the State's Unified Program:

• Hazardous Materials Business Plans (California Health and Safety Code Chapter 6.95)
• Hazardous Waste Generator Program (California Health and Safety Code Chapter 6.5)
• Hazardous Waste Tiered Permitting (California Health and Safety Code Chapter 6.5)
• Underground Storage Tanks (California Health and Safety Code Chapter 6.7)
• Aboveground Petroleum Storage Act (APSA) (California Health and Safety Code Chapter 6.67)
• California Accidental Release Prevention Program - Cal ARP (California Health and Safety Code Chapter 6.95)

In addition, the Santa Clara County agencies administer the following programs under local authority:

• California Fire Code
• Hazardous Materials Storage Ordinance (Local Ordinance)
• Toxic Gas Ordinance (Local Ordinance)

*Effective 7/1/2011, responsibility for the Hazardous Materials Business Plan Program and Underground Storage Tank Program transferred from San Jose Fire Department to Santa Clara County DEH.