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Commission approves fee increase for San Francisco Safe Drug Disposal stewardship program to recover department costs
Summary
The commission adopted a fee schedule to increase annual operating fees for San Francisco’s Safe Drug Disposal stewardship program, raising the department’s annual operating fee from $95,000 to $143,000 for FY25‑26 (and a smaller increase in FY26‑27) to recover SFE staff and oversight costs.
The San Francisco Commission on the Environment approved a revised fee schedule on Feb. 4 to increase fees paid by pharmaceutical stewardship program operators under the city’s Safe Drug Disposal Stewardship Ordinance. The change raises the department’s annual operating fee from $95,000 (current schedule) to $143,000 in fiscal year 2025–26 and includes a more modest increase for fiscal year 2026–27.
Pali O’Hare (listed in the meeting materials as program manager for Toxic Reduction and Healthy Communities) and Chris Lester, Special Waste Disposal Analyst, explained that the ordinance uses an extended‑producer‑responsibility model in which pharmaceutical producers — or their designated stewardship operators — fund local collection and disposal services. The department’s role is plan review, program oversight and technical assistance; SFE’s staff labor comprises the costs recovered by the fee.
Staff said the department has been under‑recovering its costs for several years under the 2020 fee schedule; absent an update, SFE projected recovery falling to roughly 67% by FY26‑27. The proposed increases were calculated to achieve about 99% cost recovery for the two fiscal years covered by the schedule, consistent with the ordinance’s instruction to recover, but not exceed, SFE costs.
The plan‑review hourly fee remains unchanged; the annual operating fee will be split equally among approved stewardship program operators as of July 1 of each fiscal year. A public comment received prior to the meeting asked that fees be allocated based on program performance rather than equally; staff noted that administrative fees are intended to recover SFE administrative and enforcement costs rather than to incentivize or penalize operators for performance and that the city has other enforcement tools.
Commissioner Vermejo moved and Commissioner Tompkins seconded the fee schedule; the motion passed on roll call (President Wong, Vice President Sullivan, Commissioner Bermejo, Commissioner Hunter and Commissioner Tompkins voting “Aye”; Commissioner Ahn and Commissioner Yuan were excused as noted in the roll calls). No public speakers addressed this item during the meeting.
The fee schedule will be incorporated into the department’s budget and is intended to ensure SFE can continue oversight of medicine‑takeback programs and related public education and reporting requirements.
