Free Compliance Tool
California CUPA Lookup
Find the local agency that permits and inspects hazardous waste and hazardous materials at your facility, for every county and city CUPA in California.
What is a CUPA?
A CUPA, short for Certified Unified Program Agency, is the local agency CalEPA certifies to enforce California's hazardous waste and hazardous materials rules at your facility. There are 81 CUPAs covering all 58 counties, usually the county environmental health department, but in some counties a city fire department or health agency runs its own program for facilities inside city limits. If you store chemicals, generate hazardous waste, or file a Hazardous Materials Business Plan in CERS, your CUPA is the agency that issues your permits, collects your fees, and walks through your facility on inspection day.
CUPAs consolidate six state environmental programs into one local permit and inspection:
Hazardous waste generator requirements. EPA ID numbers, container labeling, accumulation time limits, and manifest recordkeeping under the California Hazardous Waste Control Law.
Hazardous waste onsite treatment. Tiered permitting for facilities that treat their own hazardous waste on site instead of shipping it out.
Hazardous Materials Business Plans (HMBP). Chemical inventories, site maps, and emergency response plans filed electronically in CERS and verified during inspection.
Underground storage tanks (UST). Permitting, leak monitoring, and closure requirements for tanks storing petroleum or other hazardous substances underground.
Aboveground petroleum storage (APSA). Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) plans for facilities storing 1,320 gallons or more of petroleum above ground.
California Accidental Release Prevention (CalARP). Risk management plans for facilities handling regulated substances above threshold quantities.
Note for healthcare facilities: your CUPA covers the hazardous waste side of the house, things like xylene, formalin, and RCRA-listed pharmaceutical waste. Biohazardous and sharps waste is regulated separately by CDPH and your county Local Enforcement Agency under the Medical Waste Management Act, so many clinics answer to both.
Find Your CUPA
Pick your county. If it has city-level CUPAs, tell us where the facility sits and we'll show the right agency.
Covers all 58 California counties, including the city-level CUPAs inside Alameda, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Placer, Santa Clara, Sonoma, and Ventura counties.
Source: CalEPA Unified Program Regulator Directory, retrieved June 2026. Confirm details with the agency before you rely on them.
Facing a CUPA Inspection? We Do This Every Day
BayArea Compliance manages CUPA-regulated waste streams and gets California facilities inspection-ready, from one-time cleanouts to full compliance programs.
CUPA-regulated waste, hauled compliantly
BayArea Compliance is a DTSC-registered hazardous waste transporter and CDPH-permitted medical waste transporter. We handle the hazardous waste streams your CUPA inspects, from spent solvents and formalin to RCRA pharmaceutical waste, with manifests done right.
Hazardous waste disposal servicesInspection prep before the CUPA shows up
We get your labeling, accumulation areas, storage time tracking, training records, and manifest files audit-ready, so a routine CUPA inspection stays routine instead of turning into a violation list.
Get a compliance quoteKnow the rules your CUPA enforces
Our California hazardous waste guide walks through generator categories, DTSC rules versus federal RCRA, manifesting, and what inspectors look for, in plain language.
Read the hazardous waste guideGet Ahead of Your Next CUPA Inspection
One partner for hazardous waste disposal, documentation, and inspection prep across California, led by the 2025 NRC Recycler of the Year.