Local News in Brief : Countywide : Fees May Go Up for Hazardous Wastes

County health officials have recommended increasing a series of annual fees levied against 11,000 businesses that generate and store hazardous wastes.

The fee increases would be designed to offset the rising costs of monitoring and inspecting companies that handle, generate or store hazardous wastes in the county, except in the cities of Santa Ana and Orange, which have their own hazardous-waste management programs.

The Board of Supervisors will vote on the proposed fee increases after a public hearing on the issue at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday in the Hall of Administration in Santa Ana.

The county has two sets of hazardous-waste fees.

The first affects about 5,000 businesses that both produce and handle hazardous wastes. Now, those companies are charged fees ranging from $165 to $1,002 a year by the county, which, in the event of a spill or accident, cleans up toxic materials, said Robert Merryman, director of the county’s Division of Environmental Health.

Under the proposal before the supervisors, the hazardous-waste fee would be increased between 3.5% to 4% a year beginning April 1. A company with 50 to 100 employees now pays $392 a year.

Another 6,000 businesses that store toxic or hazardous wastes in underground tanks also pay county fees for inspection. Merryman said health officials are seeking to increase those fees by 9% beginning next month.

If approved, a company with three underground storage tanks, for example, would pay $483 a year, rather than the current rate of $441.