Contra Costa County Supervisor Diane Burgis urged the board to support a reduced hazardous material fees for local farmers on Tuesday.
At Tuesdays Contra Costa County Board of Supervisor Meeting, Burgis brought attention to agriculture getting hit with a fee increase from $12k to $45k. Prior to the meeting, county staff agreed arbitrarily to drop the cost back down to $15k–but Burgis advocated for more work to be done to reduce fees while still maintaining safety noting Sonoma County fee for the same inspection was $841.
The farmers were lumped into the Hazardous Materials Fee inspection program due to their use of Ammonia to help cool produce, which triggers the inspection–however, Contra Costa County cost to farmers was much higher when compared to other counties due to the staff classifications used for inspections.
According to the agenda item, the Hazardous Materials Programs Division of the Health Department administers the Contra Costa County Certified Unified Program Agency (“CUPA”). The CUPA operates the Hazardous Materials Business Plan (HMBP) Program, Hazardous Waste Generator (HWG) Program, Underground Storage Tank (UST) Program, California Accidental Release Prevention (CalARP) Program and Aboveground Petroleum Storage Act (APSA) Program. As directed by the Board in the early 1990s, all of the activities of the CUPA are funded through fees. (see presentation)
“I am proud of the work Contra Costa does to keep people safe and to protect our environment,” said Burgis who noted Contra Costa is a very industrialized county. “As such there are requirements and responsibilities and a commitment to keep things safe.”
She called attention to Cal Accidental Release Program (Program 2) which showed a list of 3 farmers.
“Those three farmers have a specific crop that needs to be refrigerated in a certain way and so they use Ammonia and it’s only for a certain time during the summer when that crop harvests,” said Burgis. “Unfortunately, the number for that particular program is just under $15,000.”
Burgis said she look at other programs in other counties and questioned the cost difference as Contra Costa County was much higher.
“My first reaction was this does not reflect what I have seen from our county indicating a support of agriculture,” stated Burgis who said the number proposed was an increase to $45,000—but now has been brought back down. “Its my understanding that number is only being brought down in a temporary way.
She then provided examples of hazardous materials fee costs in other county’s:
- Alameda County – $585
- Fresno County – $1,070
- San Mateo County – similar to Sacramento
- Sacramento County – $2,338
- Sonoma County – $841
- Santa Clara County – $4,444
“I feel like there is a way we can work on this and I would like we request ways we can approach this that communicates that we support our agricultural community while maintaining safety,” stated Burgis. “We have a responsibility to balance it by keeping it safe, not trying to undermine or cut corners, but I do believe we can do something that brings that number down. The number we have been at the last 12-years is higher than other counties… I think it should be lower. I would like to see what we can do to make that number lower.”
Supervisor Federal Glover asked if there was something that made Contra Costa County unique compared to other counties.
Staff replied that Contra Costa County uses dedicated group of engineers who perform the inspections to confirm compliance—causing a higher rate for salary for technical expertise. Staff also said they have longer inspections than other counties due to on-site work is looking through documentation and conducting interviews.
Burgis said the county could come up with a less expensive way to perform this task.
Supervisor John Gioia said they could look at third-party vendors to assist the county to bring down costs while asking if farmers could use alternatives that would not trigger an inspection.
Burgis shared they use ammonia because it gets colder faster and more efficient.
Staff shared they would work with the local farmers but also see what the safety trade offs would be.
“I think we should find a way to lower it, not keep it the same,” said Burgis.
Supervisor Candance Andersen was in favor of supporting agriculture in Contra Costa County. She was in favor of finding alternatives or third-parties or bring on lower-level staff than an engineer who is out doing the inspections.
Supervisor Ken Carlson asked if it was feasible to have a different employee doing the inspection as opposed to keeping it within a workgroup.
Staff said they needed to speak with the experts to understand the level of expertise and what they see in the field and then come back with potential options versus guessing. But were committed to bringing down the costs.
Carlson wanted to find a path forward for the agricultural community.
Ultimately, the Board of Supervisors approved the fees, but would come back within 90-days to revisit the Hazardous Materials Fee. The motion passed in a 5-0 vote.
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