Tiered Permitting

Part of the Hazardous Waste inspection and oversight is the Tiered Permitting Program. Tiered Permitting is a State of California authorized hazardous waste treatment and storage program that matches each permitted tier with the degree of risk associated with the waste generators treatment or storage activities.

Five Tiers of Tiered Permitting:

Full Permit Tier: The full permit allows treatment and storage of Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and Non-RCRA (California only) hazardous waste. Examples would include incinerators and hazardous waste landfills. The Full Permit includes all facilities requiring a RCRA permit, plus selected non-RCRA activities pursuant to the Title 22 California Code of Regulations (22 CCR), Chapter 14, section 66264.1 et. seq. The Full Permit involves considerable document preparation and review, substantial fees, and various other requirements.
Standardized Permit Tier: The Standardized Permit allows offsite treatment and storage of Non-RCRA and RCRA exempt hazardous wastes. Examples would include recyclers, oil transfer stations, and precious metals recyclers.
Permit By Rule (PBR) Tier: The Permit By Rule (PBR) tier allows onsite treatment of Non-RCRA and RCRA exempt hazardous wastes. This tier is for treating waste streams that exhibit more than one hazardous characteristic and higher volume waste streams.
Conditionally Authorized (CA) Tier: The Conditionally Authorized (CA) tier allows onsite treatment of Non-RCRA and RCRA exempt hazardous wastes. This tier is generally for single hazard waste streams and has some treatment volume limits.
Conditionally Exempt (CE) Tier: The Conditionally Exempt (CE) tier allows onsite treatment of Non-RCRA and RCRA exempt hazardous wastes. This tier is for less risky hazardous waste treatment or treatment in smaller volumes.

The State of California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) has regulatory oversight for Full Permit and Standardized Permit facilities.

The 3 lower tiers - Permit by Rule (PBR), Conditional Authorization (CA), and Conditionally Exempt (CE) - are regulated by the local administering agency. In Sacramento County the local administering agency is the Environmental Management Department (EMD) Environmental Protection Division.

Program Overview

EMD provides regulatory oversight of the Tiered Permitting Program, including:

Permitting of all authorized waste treatment activities.
Triennial inspection for all tiered permitting waste treatment activities.
Oversight of all waste treatment unit closures.

Program Assistance

Have Questions?

For more program information, please contact:

Sacramento County Environmental Management Department
Environmental Protection Division
11080 White Rock Rd., Suite 200
Rancho Cordova, CA 95670

916-875-8550
916-875-8513 (fax)
emdinfo@saccounty.gov

Environmental Management