Unified Program

CalEPA oversees California’s Unified Program. The program protects Californians from hazardous waste and hazardous materials by ensuring local regulatory agencies consistently apply statewide standards when they issue permits, conduct inspections and engage in enforcement activities. The Unified Program is a consolidation of multiple environmental and emergency management programs Read more about the Unified Program

Electronic Reporting

Effective January 1, 2009, all regulated businesses and local Unified Program Agencies (UPAs) are required to submit Unified Program information electronically, either to the local regulatory agency or to the California Environmental Reporting System (CERS). CERS supports electronic data exchange among businesses, UPAs, state agencies, and U.S. EPA. Read more about Electronic Reporting.

CUPA Performance Evaluations

A periodic performance evaluation of each CUPA is conducted to ensure adequate and effective implementation of the Unified Program by the local agency. Read more about the CUPA performance evaluation process, evaluation schedule, and evaluation results.

Unified Program News

Unified Program State Surcharge Adjustment

The Secretary for the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) proposes to adjust the Unified Program state surcharge.

The State Surcharge adjustment will be publicly noticed in the California Regulatory Notice Register (Z-Register) on July 11, 2025. Following a 30-day comment period, the Secretary will consider comments and prepare a response, along with the Secretary’s findings and the Secretary’s final fee decision(s). The Secretary will make responses available upon request and will publish the final surcharge in the California Regulatory Notice Register pursuant to Title 27, Section 15240.

Any questions can be directed to John Paine John.Paine@calepa.ca.gov.

30-Day Public Notice (PDF)

Resources:

• CalEPA Regulated Site Portal
  The CalEPA Regulated Site Portal is a website that combines data about environmentally regulated sites and facilities in California into a single, searchable database and interactive map. The portal was created to provide a more holistic view of regulated activities statewide. By combining data from a variety of state and federal databases, the portal provides an overview of regulated activities across the spectrum of environmental programs for any given location in California. These activities include hazardous materials and waste, state and federal cleanups, impacted ground and surface waters, and toxic materials. The portal combines information from the following databases:
• Cal/OSHA – Inspection and enforcement information reported to federal OSHA
• CERS – The California Environmental Reporting System
• CIWQS – The California Integrated Water Quality System
• EIS – U.S. EPA’s Air Emission Inventory System
• EnviroStor – Permitting, enforcement and cleanup activities at hazardous waste facilities and sites with known or suspected contamination
• GeoTracker – Impacted groundwater sites within the state, such as leaking underground storage tanks, cleanup sites, and permitted facilities such as landfills and operating underground storage tank facilities
• SMARTS – The Stormwater Multiple Application and Report Tracking System
• SWIS – The Solid Waste Information System
• TRI – The Toxics Release Inventory

Unified Program Listservs

• Unified Program (General)
• CERS Regulator Users