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PERSONNEL / ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH - Director of Environmental Health Tia Branton
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Requested Action(s)
recommendation
a) Request approval of a new classification specification of Hazardous Materials Specialist I/II/III within the Joint Council Bargaining Unit, effective 6/24/25
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Financial Impact:
The proposed salary placement of the Hazardous Materials Specialist I is five percent (5%) below the currently budgeted Environmental Health Specialist I. Therefore, the requested action would result in an annual minimum cost savings to the General Fund of approximately $3,384.05 - $4,092.34.
Background Information:
The Environmental Health Department is requesting to add a new classification of Hazardous Materials Specialist I/II/III within the Joint Council Bargaining Unit.
The Department has enforcement inspection requirements for many different state mandated programs. These programs include Food, Recreational Health, Medical Waste, Public Water, OWTS, Domestic Water, Solid Waste and Medical Waste, etc. The state requires these inspections to be conducted by a Registered Environmental Health Specialist (REHS). The only programs that do not require a REHS are in the California Unified Program Agency (CUPA) program. This includes inspections in Hazardous Materials, Above Ground Storage Tanks, Underground Storage Tanks and Hazardous Materials Business Plan sites.
The requirements to become a REHS are outlined in the California Health and Safety Code and cannot be modified. Due to the strict minimum qualifications and process to become a REHS, the Department has struggled to fill vacant REHS allocations, which has in turn, left the Department short-staffed. The difficulty in finding qualified REHS candidates is a statewide problem. However, because the state does allow non-REHS to conduct CUPA functions. Many other Counties in California have made a similar designation between CUPA inspectors and REHS. The majority of our comparator Counties (S...
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