Managing Hazardous Waste

We protect the environment and communities by ensuring compliance with hazardous waste laws

Permitting of Facilities that Manage Hazardous Waste

The Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) Permitting Division strives to make permit decisions that are technically sound, legally defensible, and transparent to help protect Californians from hazardous waste.

Permit decisions are made by considering standards, protectiveness, and compliance. DTSC verifies compliance with regulatory requirements such as contingency plans, waste analyses plans, seismic studies, waste storage containers and containment systems, groundwater and air monitoring, and procedures to prevent hazards. DTSC assesses health risk to facility employees and the general public and how well the facility is able to mitigate the risk. This also includes the facility’s plans for clean-up once a facility is closed. DTSC performs a historical review of the facility to determine how compliant it has been with regulatory requirements. Poor historical compliance can result in permit denial.

Community Information

Find information regarding community engagement.

Permitting Regulations

Read the most commonly referenced permitting regulations.

Who Needs a Hazardous Waste Facility Permit?

Find more about permit applications and the permit application process.

EnviroStor

View the list of Permitted Hazardous Waste Facilities in California.

Maintaining Your Permit

Find more information for hazardous waste facility permittees.

Permitting Resources

Find resources to help better understand the permitting process.

Map of DTSC Permitted Hazardous Waste Management Facilities

The map shows operational and post-closure permitted hazardous waste management facilities, within California. It also shows the cumulative impacts in California communities by census tract. Cumulative impacts refers to the combined environmental and health effects of all sources of pollution in a community, including threats to air, water, and land. For more information about cumulative impact scores, please go to the CalEnviroScreen. In addition, this map shows the DTSC permitted facilities and their relationship to sea level rise datasets provided by the United States Geologic Survey (USGS) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). DTSC has inventoried its EnviroStor database to assess the number of facilities that could be affected by sea level rise. Permitting project managers will use this information while reviewing applications for permits or permit renewals. Clicking on a symbol will open a pop-up with more information about the site including links to EnviroStor. You can zoom in or out to any map scale.