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Committee forwards health‑code changes requiring electronic hazardous‑materials registration
Summary
The Rules Committee advanced an ordinance to update Article 21 of the health code so businesses register hazardous materials and underground storage tanks electronically via the state's reporting system (SIRS), remove a local hazardous‑material reduction‑plan requirement, and add a fee‑adjustment form; the item was forwarded to the full Board with no objections.
Supervisor Norman Yee chaired the Rules Committee on Feb. 20 as staff presented an ordinance to amend the San Francisco Health Code to require electronic registration of hazardous materials and underground storage tanks.
Cindy Commerford, who identified herself as manager of Planning and Fiscal Policy in the Environmental Health Branch of the San Francisco Department of Public Health, told the committee the proposal contains three changes to Article 21. The first aligns local law with state law (citing Cal. Health & Safety Code §25404 and AB 2286) and requires all facilities to submit registration applications through the California Environmental Reporting System—identified in the transcript as “SIRS”—so regulated businesses can file electronically and the state agencies can share the data. "The regulated business community will now be able to submit their data directly through SIRS," Commerford said.
The second change removes the local requirement that businesses include a hazardous‑material reduction plan in their health‑code submissions. Commerford said this requirement dates to the early 1980s and that most facilities have already reduced stored hazardous materials to minimal levels; the department now encourages reduction through consultation and voluntary programs rather than a local regulatory plan. The third amendment adds a fee‑adjustment process so facilities whose activities have changed since their last inspection can submit corrected information and adjust their invoice.
Commerford told the committee environmental‑health staff inspect more than 2,500 regulated business facilities on a three‑year cycle and said the department has provided technical support and training to help businesses use the electronic reporting system.
Chair Yee closed public comment after seeing none and asked for a motion. The committee moved the ordinance forward to the full Board for consideration on the March 4 supervisors' agenda; the motion passed with no objection.
The full Board will receive the ordinance for further consideration and any additional amendments. The department framed the changes as conforming local rules to state law and easing compliance for businesses by moving to a paperless, single submittal system.
