Article 10.8 - Household Hazardous Waste and Small Quantity Generator Waste

California Health and Safety Code — §§ 25218-25218.14

Sections (7)

Amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 153, Sec. 8. (AB 698) Effective January 1, 2022.

The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the following:

(a)Residential households that generate household hazardous waste and very small quantity generators that generate small amounts of hazardous waste in the state need an appropriate and economic means of disposing of the hazardous waste they generate.

(b)(1) Counties and cities provide for the collection of household hazardous waste and very small quantity generator waste as a community service to ensure proper handling and disposal of the material and to prevent the potential contamination of solid waste landfills.

(2)To the

extent available, cities and counties should consider using public service television to provide public safety awareness and training on packaging and transporting household hazardous waste to collection centers.

(c)To facilitate and increase the collection of household hazardous waste and very small quantity generator waste, it is the responsibility of the state to provide for an expedited and streamlined permitting and regulatory structure for household hazardous waste and very small quantity generator waste collection and handling. Overburdensome regulations defeat the objectives of providing convenient and accessible collection facilities and the protection of public health and safety.

(d)Abandonment or illegal disposal of household hazardous waste and hazardous waste from small businesses and the continued disposal of those wastes into the solid waste stream is a threat

to public health and safety and to the environment.

(e)It is the shared responsibility of citizens, very small quantity generators, disposal facility operators, hazardous waste processors, manufacturers, sellers, solid waste handlers, and state and local agencies to ensure the proper recycling and disposal of household hazardous waste and very small quantity generator waste.

§ 25218.1

Amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 153, Sec. 9. (AB 698) Effective January 1, 2022.

For purposes of this article, the following terms have the following meanings:

(a)“Curbside household hazardous waste collection program” means a collection service authorized by a public agency that is operated in accordance with Section 25163 and subdivision (d) of Section 25218.5 and that collects one or more of the following types of household hazardous waste:

(1)Latex paint.

(2)Used oil.

(3)Used oil filters.

(4)Household hazardous waste that is designated as a universal waste pursuant to this chapter or the regulations

adopted by the department.

(b)“Door-to-door household hazardous waste collection program” or “household hazardous waste residential pickup service” means a household hazardous waste service that meets all of the following requirements:

(1)The program or service is operated by a public agency or its contractor.

(2)The program or service is operated in accordance with subdivision (e) of Section 25218.5.

(3)The program or service collects household hazardous waste from individual residences and transports that waste in an inspected and certified hazardous waste transport vehicle operated by a registered hazardous waste transporter, to either of the following:

(A)An authorized household

hazardous waste collection facility.

(B)A hazardous waste facility, as defined in Section 66260.10 of Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations.

(c)“Household” means a single detached residence or a single unit of a multiple residence unit and all appurtenant structures.

(d)“Household hazardous waste” means hazardous waste generated incidental to owning or maintaining a place of residence. Household hazardous waste does not include waste generated in the course of operating a business concern at a residence.

(e)“Household hazardous waste collection facility” means a facility operated by a public agency, or its contractor, for the purpose of collecting, handling, treating, storing, recycling, or disposing of household hazardous waste. The

operation of a household hazardous waste collection facility may include accepting hazardous waste from very small quantity generators if that acceptance is authorized pursuant to Section 25218.3. Household hazardous waste collection facilities include permanent household hazardous waste collection facilities, temporary household hazardous waste collection facilities, recycle-only household hazardous waste collection facilities, curbside household hazardous waste collection programs, door-to-door household hazardous waste collection program or household hazardous waste residential pickup service, and mobile household hazardous waste collection facilities.

(f)“Materials exchange program” means a program conducted at a household hazardous waste collection facility that makes reusable household hazardous products or materials available to recipients.

(g)“Mobile household hazardous

waste collection facility” means a portable structure within which a household hazardous waste collection facility is operated and that meets all of the following conditions:

(1)The facility is operated not more than four times in any one calendar year at the same location.

(2)The facility is operated not more than three consecutive weeks within a two-month period at the same location.

(3)Upon the termination of operations, all equipment, materials, and waste are removed from the site within 144 hours.

(h)“Permanent household hazardous waste collection facility” means a permanent or semipermanent structure at a fixed location that meets both of the following conditions:

(1)The

facility is operated at the same location on a continuous, regular schedule.

(2)The hazardous waste stored at the facility is removed within one year after collection.

(i)“Person authorized by the public agency” means an employee of a public agency or a person from whom services are contracted by the public agency.

(j)“Public agency” means a state or federal agency, county, city, or district.

(k)“Quality assurance plan” means a written protocol prepared by a public agency, or its contractor, that is designed to ensure that reusable household hazardous products or materials that are collected by a household hazardous waste collection facility are evaluated to verify that the products or materials can be made available through a materials exchange

program operated by that household hazardous waste collection facility.

(l)“Recipient” means a person, as defined in Section 25118, including, but not limited to, a commercial entity, that accepts a reusable household hazardous product or material from a public agency, or its contractor, operating a materials exchange program pursuant to this article and that intends to use the product or material for its originally intended purpose or has a known market or disposition for the product or material.

(m)“Recyclable household hazardous waste material” means any of the following:

(1)Latex paint.

(2)Used oil.

(3)Used oil filters.

(4)Antifreeze.

(5)Spent lead-acid batteries.

(6)Household hazardous waste that is designated as a universal waste pursuant to this chapter or the regulations adopted by the department, except a universal waste for which the department determines, by regulation, that there is no readily available authorized recycling facility capable of accepting and recycling that waste.

(n)“Recycle-only household hazardous waste collection facility” means a household hazardous waste collection facility that is operated in accordance with Section 25218.8 and accepts for recycling only recyclable household hazardous waste materials.

(o)“Reusable household hazardous product or material” means a container of household hazardous product, or a container of

household hazardous material received at a household hazardous waste collection facility that is determined, in accordance with a quality assurance plan, to be suitable and acceptable for distribution in a materials exchange program at a household hazardous waste collection facility operating pursuant to this article.

(p)“Temporary household hazardous waste collection facility” means a household hazardous waste collection facility that meets both of the following conditions:

(1)The facility is operated not more than once for a period of not more than two days in any one month at the same location.

(2)Upon termination of operations, all equipment, materials, and waste are removed from the site within 144 hours.

(q)“Very small quantity generator” or

“VSQG” means a generator that meets the criteria specified in Section 262.13 of Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

§ 25218.10

Added by Stats. 1993, Ch. 913, Sec. 13. Effective January 1, 1994.

The department and the California Integrated Waste Management Board shall jointly develop and maintain a data base of all household hazardous waste collection events, facilities, and programs within the state. The department and the California Integrated Waste Management Board shall both maintain that information, as a cooperative effort, and shall make information from the data base available to the public upon request. However, the department and the California Integrated Waste Management Board shall implement this section only to the extent that funds are

appropriated therefor by the Legislature.

§ 25218.11

Amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 153, Sec. 13. (AB 698) Effective January 1, 2022.

(a)On or before March 31, 1996, the department shall develop a separate and distinct regulatory structure for the permitting of permanent household hazardous waste facilities that conduct the activities specified in subdivision (b). The regulations shall simplify the permitting of facilities and encourage the collection of material and shall be not more burdensome than is necessary to protect the public health and safety. The regulations adopted to implement this section shall balance public safety considerations of household hazardous waste collection with the safety and environmental considerations of illegal disposal.

(b)The regulations adopted pursuant to subdivision (a) shall apply only to household hazardous

waste collection activities that are operated by a public agency, or its contractor, and that accept only household hazardous waste or hazardous waste collected from very small quantity generators. The regulations shall require that, before the commencement of the activities specified in this subdivision, the activities shall be authorized by the department.

§ 25218.12

Amended by Stats. 2019, Ch. 485, Sec. 6. (SB 726) Effective January 1, 2020.

(a)A public agency, or its contractor, may conduct a materials exchange program as a part of its household hazardous waste collection program if the public agency, or its contractor, does all of the following:

(1)Determines which reusable household hazardous products or materials are suitable and acceptable for distribution to a recipient in accordance with a quality assurance plan prepared by the public agency, or its contractor.

(2)Instructs a recipient to use the product or material in a manner consistent with the instructions on the label.

(b)If a recipient that is a commercial entity

intends to distribute a reusable household hazardous product or material to another recipient or end user, the public agency, or its contractor, shall do all of the following:

(1)Require the commercial entity to provide the following information, with a signed statement certifying the accuracy of the information under penalty of perjury:

(A)The commercial entity’s legal name, address, and telephone number.

(B)Documentation supporting that the commercial entity has a known market or markets, or disposition, for any products or materials received, and a detailed description of that known market or markets, or disposition.

(C)A declaration that the commercial entity intends to distribute the reusable household hazardous product or material for its

originally intended purpose.

(D)An explanation of how the commercial entity intends to dispose of any household hazardous products or materials it receives that remain unused.

(2)Require the commercial entity to provide the public agency with an annual report, by September 1 of each year, for the period between July 1 of the prior year and June 30 of the current year, that provides a detailed accounting for the products or materials it received. The detailed accounting shall include a list of recipients or end users to whom the commercial entity distributed a product or material, the amount and type of product or material distributed to the recipient or end user, the amount and type of product or material that is awaiting distribution, and the amount, type, and disposition of any product or material that the commercial entity was unable to sell or donate.

(3)Immediately discontinue providing reusable household hazardous products or materials to the commercial entity if the commercial entity cannot verify its compliance with paragraph (1) or (2).

(c)If the recipient of a reusable household hazardous product or material is a business or employer, the recipient shall be responsible for obtaining any written information necessary for compliance with the Hazardous Substances Information and Training Act (Chapter 2.5 (commencing with Section 6360) of Part 1 of Division 5 of the Labor Code).

(d)A recipient of a reusable household hazardous product or material shall do all of the following:

(1)Use the reusable household hazardous product or material in conformance with its label, and use appropriate personal

protection.

(2)Manage unused reusable household hazardous products or materials as hazardous waste, as required by applicable California law, or as required by any applicable law in the state in which the product or material is discarded.

(e)Transportation of a reusable household hazardous product or material by a public agency, or its contractor, or by a recipient, shall be in compliance with all applicable shipping requirements of the United States Department of Transportation.

§ 25218.13

Added by Stats. 2004, Ch. 157, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2005.

(a)A household hazardous waste collection facility that has a permit issued under Section 25218.8 may operate as a “home-generated sharps consolidation point,” as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 117904, if the facility is approved by the enforcement agency as a point of consolidation pursuant to Section 117904 and the facility complies with the provisions of that section.

(b)For the purposes of this section, “sharps waste” has the meaning defined in Section 40190.5 of

the Public Resources Code.

§ 25218.14

Added by Stats. 2016, Ch. 771, Sec. 1. (SB 423) Effective January 1, 2017.

(a)The department shall convene a Retail Waste Working Group comprised of representatives of large retailers, small retailers, district attorneys, certified unified program agencies, nongovernment organizations, local governments, other relevant state agencies as determined by the department, manufacturers, reverse distributors, and other stakeholders to consider and make findings and recommendations on the following:

(1)Regulatory and statutory requirements that may be considered confusing or may need clarification or specification when applied to the overall management by

manufacturer, distributor, supplier, vendor, retail, and reverse logistics facilities of surplus household consumer products, including products that can be considered hazardous waste or pharmaceutical waste once a waste determination is made.

(2)Statutory or regulatory recommendations to facilitate and increase the donation, liquidation, and sale of surplus household consumer products, and waste reduction opportunities for those products, and to clarify waste management

requirements to encourage the management of surplus household consumer products by manufacturer, distributor, supplier, vendor, retail, and reverse logistics facilities in a manner that is protective of public health and the environment.

(b)For purposes of this section, “surplus household consumer product” means a household consumer product that cannot or will not be sold to a consumer through that product’s primary market.

(c)By June 1, 2017, the Retail Waste Working Group shall report the findings and recommendations made pursuant to subdivision (a) to the Legislature.