Environmental Health
Santa Clara County Environmental Health handles permits, inspections, and complaints involving food facilities, water wells, onsite wastewater systems, hazardous materials, and other environmental health concerns. This article explains which program to use, how to begin an application or report, what information to have ready, and how to pay an Environmental Health invoice.
What Environmental Health Handles
Environmental Health is a division of the County of Santa Clara Public Health Department. Its work includes retail food safety, swimming pools, small drinking water systems, onsite wastewater treatment systems, storage tanks and cleanup, and medical and hazardous materials and waste. It also serves as the County’s Solid Waste Local Enforcement Agency. The division includes Consumer Protection, Land Use, Solid Waste, and Hazardous Materials programs.
The Environmental Health homepage provides entry points for applications, payments, and reports. For a broader view of available programs, the Environmental Health services directory lets visitors filter services by topics such as community concerns, health, property owners, and businesses. Choosing the service that matches the activity matters: a food truck, a restaurant, a temporary event, and a catering operation appear under different permit categories.
Food Facility Permits and Reviews
Environmental Health oversees several types of retail food operations. The retail food operations page groups the County’s information for fixed facilities, mobile food facilities, temporary events, cottage food operations, microenterprise home kitchens, catering, host facilities, farmers’ markets, and charitable feeding. It also points to food safety certification and other food safety information.
Restaurants and Grocery Stores
A restaurant, grocery store, or other fixed food facility has distinct construction and operating steps. The County says the layout of a food facility must be approved before an operating permit is obtained. Its plan review service covers restaurants, grocery stores, and other retail food storefronts. The application categories also distinguish new construction, remodeling, or equipment changes from a permit to operate when starting or buying a fixed food business.
Before selecting an application, identify whether the proposed work concerns the facility’s layout or construction, its operation, or both. A person buying an existing restaurant should use the fixed food facility operating permit information rather than assuming the previous operator’s permit covers a new operation. A person building or renovating a storefront should review the plan review category instead of treating an operating permit application as the construction review.
Mobile Food and Temporary Events
Food trucks, carts, and other mobile food facilities have their own permit category. The County’s services directory also includes an annual renewal period for mobile food facilities, with a request for inspection and permit renewal. Select the mobile food facility information when the operation moves from place to place rather than operating as a fixed restaurant or grocery store.
A temporary food facility permit applies to serving food at a public or special event. The County describes this service as covering food that is sold or given away at an event. The fact that food is free does not, by itself, place the activity outside the temporary event category. Organizers and food providers should identify the event setting and the type of food operation before choosing an application.
Other Food Business Categories
The County provides separate information for microenterprise home kitchen operations, cottage food operations, catering operations, and host facilities. A catering operation and a host facility also have distinct application categories. Certified farmers’ markets and charitable feeding appear separately on the retail food operations page; the services directory identifies registration for a limited service charitable feeding operation.
These labels describe different activities. Choose the category that reflects where food is prepared, how it is served, and the setting in which it is offered. The County’s Environmental Health application page organizes the permit and review options in one place, including fixed food construction, fixed facility operation, temporary events, catering and host facilities, and mobile food facilities.
Wells and Wastewater Systems
The Land Use program addresses the relationship between wastewater and drinking water. It evaluates new and existing development and enforces requirements concerning maintenance of Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems, commonly called OWTS, and small drinking water systems served by wells. The Land Use program page separates onsite wastewater permits, drinking water and well construction, and reports about OWTS or water well systems.
Septic and OWTS Projects
Environmental Health lists an OWTS permit category for new construction, remodeling, or repair. Its services directory separately identifies an application for upgrades or modifications to a septic tank or OWTS and a septic or OWTS clearance application for new development. These are different project descriptions, so a property owner should identify the proposed work before selecting a service.
For a new development, determine whether the project calls for septic or OWTS clearance. For work on an existing system, distinguish an upgrade or modification from a repair or remodeling project when reviewing the available application categories. Environmental Health also accepts reports concerning onsite wastewater treatment systems. A complaint about a system should go through the reporting route rather than a construction or modification application.
New Wells and Water Concerns
The County lists a new water well permit for people planning to install a well. Its homepage also describes a new well construction or water system clearance service involving Environmental Health approval of the well location and water quality results. Those services concern proposed well or water system work. A concern about an existing water well system or drinking water can instead be directed to the relevant reporting topic.
When reviewing these options, keep the purpose of the request clear. An application for a new well, a water system clearance, and a drinking water complaint are separate matters. Selecting the category that matches the work or concern helps direct it to the appropriate Environmental Health process.
Hazardous Materials and Other Permits
Environmental Health’s Hazardous Materials work includes programs concerning storage and handling facilities, aboveground petroleum storage, and California Accidental Release Prevention. The County provides a plan review application for new construction, remodeling, or equipment changes at hazardous materials handling facilities. It also lists construction, closure, permit, and compliance information for aboveground tanks and hazardous materials storage and handling facilities.
A business planning a facility change should distinguish plan review for proposed construction or equipment work from information about ongoing program compliance. The services directory includes program pages explaining who the Aboveground Petroleum Storage Act and California Accidental Release Prevention programs apply to. The application page is the entry point for hazardous materials construction and plan check.
Other Environmental Health application categories include pool construction, remodeling, equipment changes, and operating permits; medical waste management permits; and retail tobacco sales permits. The County also lists body art practitioner and body art facility permit applications for tattooing, body piercing, permanent cosmetics, and branding. These activities have different application paths, even though Environmental Health oversees them within the same division.
Reporting an Environmental Health Problem
Residents and businesses can report environmental health and safety concerns by mail, in person, or online through a complaint topic. The Environmental Health reporting page asks visitors to select the issue first so they can see what the division investigates. Every report is reviewed, but the time needed to respond or resolve a matter depends on the concern.
Reporting topics include food-related problems, garbage and trash, swimming pools and spas, onsite wastewater treatment systems, hazardous materials spills or mishandling, body art, drinking water, stormwater protection, psittacosis and animal complaints, and lead hazards. There are also topics for noise pollution and tobacco sales to consumers without a valid permit.
Limits on Noise and Tobacco Reports
The County states that Environmental Health investigates retail tobacco sales without permits and noise problems only within certain areas of the County. Before submitting either type of complaint, open its topic on the reporting page and review the stated scope. A general Environmental Health report should not be assumed to cover every noise issue or every concern involving tobacco.
Choose the Matching Complaint Topic
The complaint categories help distinguish a report from a permit request. A concern about food served at a business belongs under a food-related reporting topic; a proposal to open that business belongs under the applicable food facility permit category. Likewise, an existing OWTS problem is different from an application to construct or modify an OWTS. Selecting the matching topic allows the County’s instructions for that issue to guide the submission.
Describe the location and nature of the concern clearly when using the applicable reporting option. The County’s website feedback forms caution visitors against placing personal information, such as a home address, tax ID, or Social Security number, in general page feedback. Use the complaint route for an environmental health report rather than a page feedback form.
Paying Environmental Health Invoices
Environmental Health offers online, in-person, and mail payment options for invoices. Have the invoice ready: the County says a payment requires an account or invoice number. The Environmental Health payment page also provides its fee schedule and the payment instructions for each method. Review the schedule and the invoice for the charge associated with the particular permit, certification, or evaluation.
Online and In-Person Payments
The County accepts online payments by credit card, debit card, or electronic check and states that these online payment types have zero transaction fees. Accepted credit cards include Mastercard, Visa, Discover, and American Express. The payment page provides the online payment entry point.
In-person payments can be made by check, cash, or cashier’s check. The County lists in-person payment hours as 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except County holidays. Environmental Health’s general office hours are also 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on those weekdays. Bring the invoice so the payment can be associated with the correct account or invoice number.
Checks Sent by Mail
For mail payments, the County accepts checks only. Make the check payable to County of Santa Clara and write the invoice number on it. The payment page provides the Department of Environmental Health mailing instructions. Cash, cashier’s checks, and card information should not be substituted for the stated mail-in check procedure.
Choosing the Correct County Service
Many Environmental Health tasks begin with the same division but lead to different programs. For a food business, first identify the operating model—fixed facility, mobile unit, temporary event, catering operation, or another listed category—then determine whether the request concerns plan review, an operating permit, or renewal. For property work, identify whether the project involves an OWTS, a new well, or a water system clearance. For hazardous materials, distinguish proposed facility construction or equipment changes from program compliance information.
Use the services directory to identify the subject, the application page to locate the appropriate permit category, and the reporting page for a concern about an existing condition. An invoice belongs in the payment process, where its account or invoice number identifies the charge. Keeping these requests separate helps avoid submitting a complaint as an application, paying without the necessary invoice identifier, or choosing a permit category for a different type of operation.
Environmental Health Offices
Environmental Health — 1555 Berger Drive, Building #2, Suite 300, San Jose, CA 95112
Consumer Protection — (408) 918-3400
Environmental Health FAQs
Does renewing a food truck permit require an inspection?
Yes. Santa Clara County lists an annual renewal service for mobile food facilities that includes requesting an inspection and renewing the permit. If you already operate a permitted truck or cart, use the renewal service rather than the application for a new mobile food facility permit. Find the annual renewal listing in the County’s Environmental Health services directory.
Is a home kitchen permit the same as a cottage food permit?
No. The County lists microenterprise home kitchen operations and cottage food operations as separate permit categories. Before applying, review both entries on the retail food operations page and choose the one that describes your planned activity. A catering permit is another separate category, so do not select it solely because you prepare food away from the place where customers will receive it.
What if my catering business uses another facility?
Check the County’s catering and host facility information before applying. The County lists applications for a catering operation at a host facility and for the host facility itself. Identify your role in the arrangement and review the applicable instructions; a catering application should not be assumed to cover the facility that hosts the operation. Both categories appear on the County’s application page.
Where can I find the current Environmental Health fee schedule?
The County posts its fee schedule on the Environmental Health payment page. Check the schedule for the relevant permit, certification, or evaluation, then compare it with any invoice you received. An invoice payment requires an account or invoice number, so keep the invoice available when reviewing a charge or making a payment.