Environmental Health

Alameda County Environmental Health protects public health through food and recreational safety programs, hazardous materials oversight, waste regulation, land and water protection, and vector control. This article explains which program handles common concerns, how to submit complaints and request records, what businesses should know about permits and payments, and how residents can locate disposal and pest-control services. It also identifies office contacts so you can direct your question to the program responsible for it.

Alameda County Environmental Health Services

The Alameda County Environmental Health Department is part of Alameda County Health. It enforces environmental health codes to reduce exposure to toxins and diseases and protect the quality of food, water, air, and the surrounding environment. Its staff includes food and recreation facility inspectors, hazardous materials and waste specialists, land and water regulators, recreational water quality technicians, and vector control biologists.

The appropriate program depends on the activity or condition involved. Restaurant sanitation and public swimming pool concerns fall under Environmental Protection. Hazardous materials business plans and underground storage tank regulation belong to the Hazardous Materials Division. Onsite wastewater systems and contaminated-site cleanup are handled through Land and Water Protection. Solid waste facilities, medical waste generators, and body art operations have a separate program.

Billing staff handle permit processing, invoices, fee receipts, accounting, and billing problems. Questions about an operation’s program requirements should go to the responsible division. Keeping those functions separate helps a business owner address both the payment issue and the underlying permit question without confusing one for the other.

Food Safety and Recreational Facilities

The Environmental Protection Division provides information about food safety and safe recreational swimming. Its services include permitting, inspections, complaint investigations, inspection-result searches, and information about obtaining a permit to operate. The division monitors retail food facilities throughout its service area to support a safe and wholesome food supply.

Alameda County Environmental Protection services do not apply to the City of Berkeley. This limitation matters when identifying the agency responsible for a restaurant, market, or recreational facility. Do not assume that every Environmental Health program has the same service boundaries; vector control has a separate arrangement for Berkeley residents.

Food Operations That Require Attention

The division’s programs cover several types of food businesses and events. Certified farmers’ markets are retail food facilities and require an Environmental Health permit to operate. Community event sponsors and temporary food facilities also must obtain a department permit under the California Health and Safety Code.

Mobile food facilities are inspected and permitted for compliance with health and safety codes. Home-based and cottage food businesses have their own support and regulatory program. A home-based business, mobile operation, or event food booth should therefore look for the program matching its operating model instead of treating every food activity as a conventional restaurant.

The department also distinguishes caterer or host operations from other food services. A caterer or host operation prepares food at a permitted facility for offsite events, excluding takeout and community event participation. Temporary Food Service Operations allow people without a retail food facility to gain experience and test production of menu items. Limited Service Charitable Feeding Operations provide small-scale or limited food preparation and serving specifically to feed people in need.

Construction and Swimming Safety

Plan Check reviews proposed new construction or remodeling of food and recreational facilities in Alameda County for minimum health and safety standards. If your question concerns a proposed facility layout or remodel, the Plan Review program is the relevant service rather than the general complaint form.

Recreational safety services include inspections of public pools, spas, beaches, and other water sports contact areas for compliance with Health and Safety Code standards. The division’s recreational swimming information and complaint services help residents distinguish a facility safety concern from a business permit or construction-review question.

Restaurant and Pool Complaints

The department’s general complaint form accepts reports about food facilities such as restaurants and markets. Examples include poor sanitation, unsafe food handling, and vermin such as flies, rodents, or cockroaches. An Environmental Health Specialist assigned to the district investigates these complaints.

The same form accepts complaints about public swimming pools and spas involving poor sanitation or safety hazards. Environmental Protection also provides a separate foodborne illness complaint option. Select the complaint process that matches what you are reporting: a general sanitation or facility hazard and a foodborne illness report are distinct options on the division’s website.

Information Required by the Form

The general complaint form requires JavaScript. Before opening it, prepare your contact information, the facility’s name and address, and a concise description of the concern. The displayed fields have these limits:

Your name: 50 characters.
Email address: 50 characters.
Phone number: 20 characters.
Facility name: 100 characters.
Facility address: 200 characters.
Description of complaint: 250 characters.

The short description field makes specific wording useful. Identify the condition you observed and the facility involved without using the available space for unrelated background. A precise facility address helps distinguish businesses with similar names or multiple locations.

Complaints are handled anonymously, and the department states that your identity is not revealed to the food facility operator. The form nevertheless requests your name, email address, and phone number. Confidential handling of your identity does not mean the submission form omits contact fields.

Environmental Health Public Record Requests

The Environmental Health public record request form is used to request a file review. It is separate from the complaint form: a complaint reports a condition for investigation, while a file-review request seeks access to department records.

Prepare the Assessor Parcel Number, property address number, street, city, your full name, your email address, and the reason for your request. The form requires JavaScript. Its field limits include 50 characters for the parcel number, 10 for the property address number, and 100 each for the street, city, contact name, and contact email. The reason-for-request field allows up to 1,000 characters.

Enter the property number and street in their respective fields rather than placing the entire address into one field. Keep the parcel number and property address associated with the property whose file you want reviewed. Use the reason field to explain the scope of your request so it is clear which property records you are seeking.

Permit Billing and Fee Payments

The department’s billing, fees, and permits page explains payment options and billing support. The billing office provides permit processing, billing, receipt of fee payments, accounting, and resolution of billing issues. Its hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., except county holidays.

Online, In-Person, and Mail Payments

Online Environmental Health payments are made through GovTeller, reached from the department’s billing page. Accepted online payment methods are Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and debit cards. American Express is not accepted, and a service fee is added.

The online instructions require you to select a category type based on the total amount due on your invoice. The billing page provides a category-selection reference. Have the invoice available when choosing the category and entering the information required to complete the payment.

For an in-person payment, bring your invoice or permit application to the billing office. The in-person restrictions differ from the online options: American Express and Discover are not accepted in person. The department also accepts payments by mail through its Finance Office mailing address.

Deadlines and Annual Permit Restrictions

Payment must be received no later than 30 days after the invoice date to avoid penalties. A 25% penalty is assessed after 30 days, and another 25% is assessed after 60 days, for penalties of up to 50%. Because the notice uses the date payment is received, mailing a payment and having it received are separate events when planning around the deadline.

Annual permit fees are nonrefundable and cannot be transferred to new owners or new locations. Annual fees are not prorated. A change in ownership or location therefore should not be treated as a transfer of an existing annual fee.

The department directs businesses to email dehwebbilling@acgov.org when there is a change of ownership, closure, relocation, or change of mailing address. That email also provides a way to bring those changes to billing staff’s attention rather than leaving the account associated with outdated business information.

Program Questions and Collection Payments

For business questions, the billing page identifies separate program contacts. Food and beverage establishments, pools, spas, food vehicles, temporary events, water systems, and sewage systems share one program contact. Hazardous waste generators, hazardous materials business plans, underground storage tanks, and Certified Unified Program Agency fees use the Hazardous Materials contact. Medical waste generators, solid waste, and tattoo or body art registration use another contact.

Alameda County Central Collections has a separate payment process. Its instructions provide for in-person payments, mailed checks or money orders payable to Central Collections, credit-card payments by phone, and an online payment system. Telephone credit-card payments accept cards with the Mastercard or Visa logo. Collection payment instructions should be distinguished from the regular Environmental Health GovTeller payment instructions.

Hazardous Materials Business Programs

The Hazardous Materials Division coordinates and enforces local, state, and federal hazardous materials management and environmental protection programs. As the Certified Unified Program Agency, commonly called CUPA, it implements the Hazardous Materials Business Plan, Hazardous Waste Generator, Underground Storage Tank, Aboveground Petroleum Storage Act, and California Accidental Release Prevention programs.

The division also administers Clean Water and Waste Tire programs. These regulatory functions are different from resident household hazardous waste disposal services. A business question about a hazardous materials plan, generator regulation, or tank program belongs with the Hazardous Materials Division.

The county CUPA identifies its jurisdiction as Alameda, Albany, Castro Valley, Dublin, Emeryville, Newark, Oakland, Piedmont, San Lorenzo, and Sunol; unincorporated areas of Fremont, Hayward, Livermore, Pleasanton, and San Leandro; and parts of Byron, Mountain House, and Tracy. The distinction between named communities, unincorporated areas, and partial service areas matters when determining the responsible regulator for a business location.

Household Hazardous Waste Disposal

The Household Hazardous Waste program allows residents to deliver hazardous waste generated through home care and maintenance. Examples include paints, electronics, lamps, batteries, garden products, cleaning products, and products used to maintain a vehicle. Resident services are offered at four permanent facilities and at annual community events.

The program separates resident services from business waste services. Some businesses, organizations, and agencies may qualify based on the amount and type of waste generated and applicable requirements. Generating waste in Alameda County does not by itself establish eligibility for the business service.

A business that generates small amounts of hazardous waste, or only needs to dispose of universal waste batteries, lamps, aerosol cans, or latex paint, may qualify for the Business Waste Service. Business services operate on different dates and times from resident services and may require preapproval and an appointment. Review the applicable resident or business service information before planning a delivery.

Wastewater, Drinking Water, and Cleanup

The Land and Water Protection Division oversees onsite wastewater systems, State Small Water Systems, and contaminated-site cleanup through Local Oversight Programs. These programs address property wastewater disposal, specified small drinking water systems, and hazardous materials releases.

Onsite Wastewater System Oversight

The Onsite Wastewater System program regulates systems on properties in Alameda County that are not connected to public sewers. Its purpose is to prevent public health hazards and nuisance conditions and protect surface water and groundwater. The department emphasizes proper design, operation, and maintenance to support safe wastewater treatment and disposal.

State Small Water System Coverage

The State Small Water System program covers systems serving at least five and no more than 14 service connections that do not regularly provide drinking water to more than an average of 25 individuals daily for over 60 days per year. The connection count and population-use threshold both form part of the department’s description of this regulated category. The program oversees drinking water safety under state regulations.

Hazardous Materials Release Cleanup

The Hazardous Materials Releases program regulates investigation and cleanup through two primary programs. The Leaking Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Program addresses petroleum-related releases from underground tanks. The Cleanup Program addresses various hazardous substances released into the subsurface and supports redevelopment of sites affected by contamination from historical land uses.

Tank regulation and cleanup of a tank release are separate functions within Environmental Health. Questions about the underground storage tank regulatory program belong with Hazardous Materials, while the Land and Water Protection description identifies oversight of petroleum-release cleanup.

Solid Waste, Medical Waste, and Body Art

The Solid/Medical Waste and Body Art Programs handle permitting, registration, inspections, and complaint investigations for facilities and practitioners within their scope. Solid waste examples include landfills, transfer and processing facilities, compost operations, and construction and demolition sites.

Medical waste facilities include hospitals, clinics, biotechnology companies, and temporary events. Body art oversight includes establishments, practitioners, and temporary events. The program’s page also provides access to fee schedules for body art, medical waste, and solid waste. These functions are distinct from household waste delivery services and the resident drug and sharps collection program.

Unwanted Drugs and Used Sharps

The Safe Drug and Consumer-Generated Sharps Disposal program identifies 103 collection sites throughout Alameda County where residents can drop off unwanted prescription and over-the-counter drugs. Of those, 60 sites also accept used sharps.

Drug collection and sharps collection are not interchangeable at every location. When selecting a site through the program’s information, confirm that it handles the material you intend to deliver. A location’s participation in unwanted-drug collection alone does not establish that it also accepts used sharps.

Vector Control and Berkeley Services

The Alameda County Vector Control Services District is a division of Environmental Health. It works to prevent vector-borne disease, injury, and discomfort through education, integrated pest management, control of insects and rodents, and attention to environmental conditions contributing to vector problems.

Residents can use the district’s vector control service request system for assistance with concerns involving rodents, insects such as bedbugs, fleas, or cockroaches, and nuisance wildlife such as bats, raccoons, opossums, or skunks.

As of July 1, 2026, Berkeley no longer provides vector control services to its residents, property owners, or property managers. Those services have transitioned to the Alameda County Vector Control Services District. This arrangement differs from the Environmental Protection Division’s Berkeley exclusion, so the correct agency depends on the service being requested.

Department and Office Contacts

Alameda County Environmental Health
1131 Harbor Bay Parkway, Alameda, CA 94502-6577
Phone: (510) 567-6700

Alameda County Environmental Health Department Finance Office
Street address: 1131 Harbor Bay Parkway, Suite 111, 1st Floor, Alameda, CA 94502-6577
Mailing address: P.O. Box N, Alameda, CA 94501-0108
Phone: (510) 567-6858

Hazardous Materials Division (Certified Unified Program Agency)
Phone: (510) 567-6702

Land and Water Protection Division
Phone: (510) 567-6842

Solid/Medical Waste & Body Art
Phone: (510) 567-6790

Alameda County Vector Control Services District
Phone: (510) 567-6800

Alameda County Central Collections
Street address: 1221 Oak Street, Room 220, Oakland, CA 94612
Mailing address: P.O. Box 23884, Oakland, CA 94623-0884
Phone: (510) 208-9900

Environmental Health FAQs

Where can I find restaurant inspection results?

The county’s Environmental Protection page provides access to inspection-result searches. Use that option when you want to review a food facility’s inspection history before deciding where to eat. Have the restaurant’s name and location ready so you can identify the correct establishment, especially when a business has several branches. The supplied county information does not specify how quickly new results appear online, so it does not establish that a recent inspection will already be available.

Does Environmental Health inspect county jails?

Yes. Alameda County’s Detention Facilities Inspection Program investigates health and sanitary conditions in every county jail and other publicly operated detention facility in the county. This is a separate program listed under Environmental Protection. When looking for information about sanitation oversight in a detention facility, select the detention inspection program rather than assuming the restaurant inspection search includes those facilities.

Does body art oversight cover individual practitioners?

Yes. The county’s body art program information identifies both establishments and practitioners within its oversight, along with temporary events. If you plan to work inside an existing studio, check the practitioner requirements as well as the establishment requirements. The county lists practitioners separately, so a studio’s status alone should not be treated as confirmation that an individual has completed the applicable registration process.

Where are program-specific waste and body art fees listed?

The Solid/Medical Waste & Body Art page includes a “Fee Schedules” section for all three programs. Follow the schedule matching your activity: body art, medical waste, or solid waste. This is particularly useful when estimating registration or permitting costs before applying. The reference material does not provide individual fee amounts, so use the linked county schedule to identify the applicable charge rather than relying on an amount quoted for a different program.