As used in this chapter, the following terms have the following meanings:
"Environmental health service fee"
means the fee paid upon application and annually thereafter for permit, service, and inspection fees to operate or engage in the activities defined in this chapter, or a one-time fee paid by any person for a plan-check, filing, and/or construction inspections for new construction, expansion, replacement, or modification of any activity as defined in and/or regulated by this chapter.
"Organized camp facility"
means a site with program and facilities established for the primary purposes of providing an outdoor group living experience with social, spiritual, educational, or recreational objectives, for five days or more during one or more seasons of the year.
"Permit"
means the public health permit required to operate or engage in any activity as defined in or regulated by this chapter.
"Person"
means any natural person, firm, partnership, corporation, association, club, organization, or political subdivision.
(Ord. 1173 § 5, 2012; Ord. 1186 § 4, 2013)
Except as provided elsewhere in this code or state law, it is unlawful for any person to operate any of the following facilities or equipment, or engage in the following activities as defined in this chapter, unless that person has first applied for and obtained the appropriate permit from the Inyo County department of environmental health services and paid the appropriate permit, inspection, or service fees, unless such fees are waived in accordance with this chapter:
A. 
Retail food and cottage food facilities;
B. 
Septic system installation/repair/abandonment/pumping vehicles;
C. 
Small water systems;
D. 
Well construction/abandonment;
E. 
Integrated waste disposal/transfer facility;
F. 
Commercial or public swimming pool, spa, or hot bath;
G. 
Hazardous materials;
H. 
Body art;
I. 
Organized camp facility.
(Ord. 1173 § 5, 2012; Ord. 1186 § 5, 2013)
A. 
Fee Schedule. Pursuant to Health and Safety Code Sections 101325 and 101280 and other statutory authority set forth in this chapter, there is established the following schedule of fees to be charged and paid for the various services performed and permits issued by the Inyo County department of environmental health services. The schedule shall be known as the "environmental health services fee schedule" and shall be administered in accordance with this chapter, other relevant provisions of the Inyo County code, and state law; it shall be adjusted annually in accordance with subsection B of this section.
B. 
Annual Adjustments to the Fee Schedule. Commencing on February 1, 2013, and every January 1st thereafter, the director of environmental health services shall prepare and publish an adjusted environmental health services fee schedule, to be effective upon adoption by the board of supervisors. This fee schedule will reflect an annual cost of living adjustment (COLA) increase based on the All California Fiscal Year Averages CPI-U, which increases shall take effect each January 1st after the issuance of the CPI-U rate. All adjusted fees shall be rounded off, either up or down, to the nearest whole dollar. Every five years, the director of environmental health will consult with the board of supervisors in order to determine whether the existing fee schedule is adequate or whether it needs to be revised and/or replaced by adopting a new ordinance establishing a new baseline of fees set forth in this chapter. The fees set forth below are effective as of February 1, 2013 and are subject to annual (COLA) increases.
C. 
Waiver. Payment of fees set forth in the environmental services fee schedule may be waived as authorized and set forth in a resolution adopted by the board of supervisors.
(Ord. 1173 § 5, 2012)
A. 
Pursuant to Health and Safety Code Section 113700 et seq. (the California Retail Food Code) every holder of a permit required by the California Retail Food Code or Chapter 7.48 of this code entitled Food Handling Establishments, shall pay the fee set forth below, as adjusted in accordance with Section 7.52.030(B) before obtaining or renewing any such permit respectively.
B. 
Annual Operating Permit.
1. 
Restaurants:
a. 
Zero to twenty-four seats—$179.00
b. 
Twenty-five to fifty seats—$216.00
c. 
Fifty-one to one hundred seats—$261.00
d. 
More than one hundred seats—$290.00
2. 
Bar only, no prepared food—$175.00
3. 
Markets w/food prepared on-site, i.e., meat market, bakery and/or deli:
a. 
One to three thousand square feet—$232.00
b. 
Three thousand one to ten thousand square feet—$290.00
c. 
Ten thousand one to twenty-five thousand square feet—$406.00
d. 
More than twenty-five thousand square feet—$579.00
4. 
Markets w/no food prepared on-site:
a. 
One to five hundred square feet—$115.00
b. 
Five hundred one to three thousand square feet—$175.00
c. 
Three thousand one to ten thousand square feet—$232.00
d. 
Greater than ten thousand square feet—$290.00
5. 
Produce stand—$73.00
6. 
Bakery—$162.00
7. 
Bed and breakfast—$175.00
8. 
Other food related activities:
a. 
Mobile food facilities (potentially hazardous food) —$115.00
b. 
Mobile food facilities (non-potentially hazardous food)—$73.00
c. 
Community event organizer application fee:
i. 
Community event, one day—$100.00
ii. 
Community event, multiple consecutive days—$232.00
d. 
Temporary food facilities—$50.00
i. 
Annual temporary food permit—$150.00
ii. 
Annual temporary food permit for sale by Class A or B permitted cottage food facility at certified farmers markets—No Charge
e. 
Caterers—$175.00
f. 
Cottage food facility:
i. 
Class A operation—Direct sales only—$50.00
ii. 
Class B operation—Direct and indirect sales—$146.00
C. 
As used in this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
"Community event"
means an event that is of civic, political, public, or educational nature, including state and county fairs, city festivals, circuses, and other public gathering events approved by the environmental health services department, as described by Health and Safety Code Section 113755.
"Food facility"
includes permanent and nonpermanent food facilities including, but not limited to: public and private school cafeterias; restricted food service facilities; supervised care facilities; commissaries; mobile food facilities; mobile support units; temporary food facilities; vending machines; certified farmers' markets, cottage food facilities and as otherwise described in Health and Safety Code Section 113789.
"Cottage food operation"
means an enterprise that has not more than the amount in gross sales as permitted by Health and Safety Code Section 113758(a), is operated by a cottage food operator with no more than one full-time equivalent non-family member employee within the registered or permitted area of a home where the cottage food operator resides and where cottage food products are prepared or packaged for direct, indirect or direct and indirect sales to consumers and as otherwise described in Health and Safety Code Section 113758.
"Food preparation"
means packaging, processing, assembling, portioning, or any operation that changes the form, flavor, or constancy of food, but does not include trimming of produce or as otherwise defined by Health and Safety Code Section 113791.
"Market"
means a permanent food facility which sells food for retail which may include prepared or non-prepared food.
"Mobile food facility"
means a vehicle used in conjunction with a commissary or other permanent food facility upon which food is sold or distributed at retail. "Mobile food facility" does not include a "transporter" used to transport packaged food from a food facility or other approved source to the consumer as defined by Health and Safety Code Section 113831.
"Temporary food facility"
means a food facility that operates at an approved community event, or is open for business for specific events on a nonregular basis.
"Restaurant"
means a permanent food facility operating in a permanently constructed structure, including any room, building, place, or portion thereof, maintained, used, or operated for the purpose of storing, preparing, servicing, manufacturing, packaging, or otherwise handling food at the retail level as defined by Health and Safety Code Section 113849.
"Bed and breakfast"
means a restricted food service facility that serves food only to its registered guests, that serves only a breakfast or similar early morning meal and no other meals, and that includes the price of food in the price of the overnight transient occupancy accommodation or as otherwise described by Health and Safety Code Section 113893.
"Produce stand"
means any permanent or nonpermanent food facility that sells or offers for sale produce or as otherwise described by Health and Safety Code Section 113879.
"Potentially hazardous food"
means a food that is natural or synthetic and that requires temperature control because it is in a form capable of supporting the rapid and progressive growth of infectious or oxygenic micro-organisms, the growth and toxin production of clostridium botulinum, or, in the raw shell eggs, the growth of Salmonella enteritidis or otherwise described by Health and Safety Code Section 11387. "Potentially hazardous food" includes a food of animal origin that is raw or heat-treated, a food of plant origin that is heat-treated or consists of raw seed sprouts, cut melons, and garlic-in-oil mixtures that are not acidified or otherwise modified at a food processing plant in a way that results in mixtures that do not support growth as specified herein.
"Retail"
means the storing, preparing, serving, manufacturing, packaging, transporting, salvaging, or otherwise handling food for dispensing or sale directly to the consumer or as otherwise defined by Health and Safety Code Section 113895.
(Ord. 1173 § 5, 2012; Ord. 1186 § 6, 2013; Ord. 1309, 9/3/2024)
A. 
Pursuant to Health and Safety Code Sections 101325 and 101280, every applicant for and any holder of a permit to operate a public or commercial swimming pool, spa, or hot bath shall pay the fee set forth below, as adjusted in accordance with Section 7.52.030(B) before obtaining or renewing said permit, respectively:
1. 
Public/commercial swimming pools and spas—$215.00
2. 
Hot baths—$108.00
3. 
Secondary facilities:
a. 
Second and successive pool or spa—$85.00
b. 
Second and successive hot bath—$30.00
B. 
As used in this section the following terms have the following meanings:
"Public swimming pool"
means a pool that is routinely opened to the general public, such as a municipal or city pool.
"Commercial pool"
means a pool typically found in a motel, hotel, apartment, or condominium complex that is open to the patrons and guests of such facilities.
"Spa"
means typically a small sized pool having water elevated in temperature but not exceeding one hundred four degrees Fahrenheit and containing jets for velocity air injection below the water level.
"Hot bath"
means a spa without jets or other artificial air injection, which may include naturally occurring hot mineral water that flows through the bath and is not recirculated.
"Secondary facilities"
means second and subsequent pool, spa, hot bath in any combination at a single common site.
(Ord. 1173 § 5, 2012)
A. 
Pursuant to Health and Safety Code Sections 101325 and 101280, every applicant for a permit relating to waste water disposal systems as described below shall pay the permitting fee, service, and inspection fees described below, as adjusted in accordance with Section 7.52.030(B) before obtaining any such permit and/or performing any work thereunder.
B. 
Permits for On-Site Septic. (These services include, but are not limited to, plan checks, site visit, soils morphology, percolation evaluation, incremental and final inspection.)
1. 
New conventional septic system—$358.00
2. 
New alternative design system—$502.00
3. 
Existing system-leachline repair/replacement—$261.00
4. 
Septic tank repair/replacement—$73.00
5. 
Septic tank abandonment—$73.00
6. 
Sewage pumping vehicle, annual permit per vehicle—$144.00
C. 
As used in this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
"Conventional sewage disposal system"
means the most common type of system utilized when significant adverse environmental conditions are not present; typically a septic tank and leach field system.
"Septic tanks"
means a two compartment tank designed to separate the solids from household waste water allowing only a clarified liquid to be discharged to the leach field.
"Leach field"
means a series of one or more gravel filled trenches designed to receive waste water from a septic tank and disperse it for subsurface soil absorption.
"Alternative design system"
means a more technically complex system designed to provide a higher level of treatment under adverse environmental conditions that would likely result in pollution were a conventional system installed.
"Sewage pumping vehicle"
means a truck, collection tank and vacuum pumping system designed to remove the contents of septic tanks, grease traps, holding vaults, RV dump stations, chemical toilets, and the like for transport to an approved disposal location.
(Ord. 1173 § 5, 2012)
A. 
Pursuant to Health and Safety Code Sections 101325 and 101280, every applicant for a permit relating to construct, repair, modify, improve, abandon, or destroy any well shall pay the following fees described below, as adjusted in accordance with Section 7.52.030(B) before obtaining any such permit and/or performing any work thereunder.
B. 
Permits Fees. (Includes a plan check, site visit, permit conditions, incremental and final inspection.)
1. 
Public water system well—$431.00
2. 
Monitoring wells—$144.00
3. 
All other wells (domestic, agricultural, cathodic)—$358.00
4. 
Well modification, repairs, improvements or destruction—$73.00
C. 
As used in this section the following terms have the following meanings:
"Domestic well"
means a non-public well intended to provide a water source for human consumption.
"Agricultural well"
means a well designed and intended solely for the irrigation of crops or the watering of livestock.
"Public well"
means a well serving a public water system, or a state small water system, as defined by the California Safe Drinking Water Act.
"Monitoring well"
means a well constructed for the purpose of observing or monitoring groundwater condition.
The repair and/or replacement of well pumps and related electrical appurtenances, the cleaning, flushing and surveillance of wells, and any other work to a well that does not impact the fundamental nature of the well casing or the well itself, does not require a permit from this department.
(Ord. 1173 § 5, 2012)
A. 
Pursuant to Health and Safety Code Sections 101325 and 116525 et seq., persons requesting or requiring the following services of the environmental health services department shall pay the following fees as adjusted in accordance with Section 7.52.030(B) in order to receive such services.
B. 
Water-Related Testing Fees:
1. 
Colilert P/A—$32.00
a. 
Annual payment for 12 monthly routine samples—$345.00
2. 
Colilert 10 tube—$48.00
3. 
Colilert 15 tube—$52.00
4. 
Colilert Quantitray—$40.00
5. 
Colilert Quantitray 2000—$43.00
6. 
MTF, 10 Tube—$65.00
7. 
MTF, 15 Tube—$87.00
8. 
HPC—$104.00
9. 
Hach brom cresol P/A—$30.00
a. 
Hach + EC/BC Transfer to Confirm—$10.00
10. 
Non-emergency after hour lab services—$73.00/hr (After hour services will include a minimum of two-hour charge per day above the regular costs of the analysis to cover overtime staff expenses.)
C. 
As used in this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
"Presence/absence (P/A)"
means a type of bacteriological test that is based upon the respiratory byproducts of coliform bacteria causing a pH change within the growth media of the sample bottle. This includes both Brom-cresol and Colilert P/A tests. This type of test provides a non-quantitative result.
"Multiple tube fermentation technique (MTF)"
means a method of testing water that involves adding portions of water sample to a varying number of ten milliliter tubes which contain a specific growth media.
(Ord. 1173 § 5, 2012)
A. 
Pursuant to Health and Safety Code Sections 101325 and 116340(c) every applicant for and every holder of an environmental health services department permit to operate a small water system in Inyo County shall, upon application and annually, respectively, pay the following fees, as adjusted in accordance with Section 7.52.030(B).
B. 
Permit to Operate.
1. 
Permit application fee, new community system—$896.00
2. 
Permit application fee, new non-community system—$538.00
3. 
Permit application fee, new state small system—$219.00
4. 
Existing water system, change of ownership—$269.00
5. 
Existing water system, permit modification—$447.00
6. 
Community water system, 15-24 service connections—$358.00
7. 
Community water system, 25-99 service connections—$574.00
8. 
Community water system, 100-199 service connections—$718.00
9. 
Non-community water system—$502.00
10. 
State small water system, 5-14 service connections—$215.00
C. 
As used in this section the following terms have the following meanings:
"Public water system"
means a system for the provision of piped water to the public for human consumption that has fifteen or more service connections or which regularly serves at least twenty-five individuals on a daily basis for at least sixty days out of the year.
"Community water system"
means a public water system that serves at least fifteen service connections and is used by permanent residents or which regularly serves at least twenty-five permanent residents.
"Non-community water system"
means a public water system that is not a community water system.
"State small system"
means a system for the provision of piped water to the public for human consumption and that serves at least five, but no more than fourteen service connections and does not regularly provide drinking water on a daily basis to any average of more than twenty-five individuals for more than sixty days out of the year.
(Ord. 1173 § 5, 2012)
A. 
Pursuant to Health and Safety Code Section 101325 and Public Resources Code Section 43213 every operator of a solid waste facility and every person engaged in solid waste handling in Inyo County shall pay the following fees, as adjusted in accordance with Section 7.52.030(B), before engaging in such operation or handling:
1. 
Landfills—$1,724.00/year
2. 
Transfer stations—$1,724.00/year
B. 
In addition, any person who owns land upon which a closed, illegal, inactive, or abandoned solid waste facility is situated or maintained shall reimburse the department of environmental health services for all time reasonably expended by it in enforcing any statute, regulation, clean-up order or remediation action with respect to the site at the rate of sixty-three dollars per hour.
C. 
As used in this section the following terms have the following meanings:
"Landfill/disposal site"
means a site designed and operated to receive residential, commercial, and/or municipal refuse and process the waste for on-site burial in accordance with the minimum standards of the state of California.
"Transfer station"
means a site designed and operated to receive residential, commercial, and/or municipal refuse for on-site storage in containers to be transported to an appropriate disposal site on a regular basis.
"A closed, illegal, or inactive site"
means a site formally used as a landfill or open dump site, but which is now closed and subject to monitoring for indiscriminate or illegal dumping. Also, a site where illegal dumping is occurring without permit or authorization, or a site which is not permanently closed but which is not active and which receives waste infrequently or not at all.
(Ord. 1173 § 5, 2012)
A. 
Pursuant to Health and Safety Code Sections 25287(e) and 25404.5 any person who operates a facility in Inyo County at which hazardous materials or wastes are stored, used, generated, or treated or which is otherwise subject to regulation by the local certified unified program agency (CUPA), shall pay the following fees which, except for the state surcharge fees to be paid under subsection A of this section, shall be annually adjusted in accordance with Section 7.52.030(B), for the CUPA's enforcement of the activities described in subsection (c) of Section 25404 of the California Health and Safety Code.
B. 
Department of Environmental Health Services (DEHS) Local Certified Unified Program Agency (CUPA) Regulatory Fees:
1. 
Annual Facility Operating Fees.
a. 
Base fee:
i. 
CUPA facility (no UST, large quantity generator, or treatment)—$110/facility/year
b. 
CUPA facility with UST(s)—$330.00/facility/year
c. 
CUPA facility large quantity generator—$202.00/facility/year
d. 
CUPA facility with treatment—$202.00/facility/year
e. 
CUPA facility with a combination of any two of the following activities UST(s), large quantity generator, or treatment—$306.00/facility/year; with all three activities—$416.00/facility/year
f. 
CUPA facility with Cal ARP—$585.00/facility/year
C. 
As used in this section the following terms have the following meanings:
"CUPA"
means a "certified unified program agency," as described in Health and Safety Code Section 25404 consisting of an agency which, pursuant to a written agreement with the state of California, is required to implement or enforce one or more of the unified program elements described in paragraphs (4) (5) of subdivision (c) of Section 25405 of Health and Safety Code.
"Unified program facility"
means all public and private land and structures, other appurtenances, and improvements on said land which are subject to the requirements of subdivision (c) of Section 25404 of the California Health and Safety Code.
"Hazardous material"
means any material that, because of its quantity, concentration, or physical or chemical characteristics poses a significant present or potential hazard to human health and safety or to the environment and includes, but is not limited to, any hazardous substance, hazardous waste, or other material which a handler thereof or the CUPA agency has a reason for believing is or would be injurious to the health and safety of persons or harmful to the environment if released into the workplace or the environment.
"Hazardous waste"
means either the following:
a. 
Any waste or combination of wastes, which because of its quantity, concentration, or physical, chemical, or infectious characteristics may either: (i) cause or significantly contribute to an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible or reversible but incapacitating illness, or (ii) poses a substantial presence or potential hazard to human health or to the environment when improperly used, treated, stored, transported or disposed of, or otherwise managed; or
b. 
A waste which meets any of the criteria for identification of a hazardous waste adopted by the environmental health services department pursuant to Section 25141 of the California Health and Safety Code.
"Underground storage tank"
means a tank which stores hazardous materials as described in Chapter 6.7 of Division 20 of the California Health and Safety Code.
"Small quantity waste generator"
means a small business as defined in Section 14837 of the California Government Code, that generates more than one hundred kilograms but less than one thousand kilograms of hazardous waste per month.
"Large quantity waste generator"
means a business that generates one thousand or more kilograms of hazardous waste per month.
"State surcharge"
means an amount of money, determined by the Secretary of the Department of Health on an annual basis pursuant to Health and Safety Code Section 25404.5(b), to meet the necessary and reasonable costs of state agencies in carrying out their responsibilities under Chapter 6.7 of the Health and Safety Code.
"Treatment"
means any method, technique, or process which changes or is designed to change the physical, chemical or biological character or composition of any hazardous waste or material contained therein, and which removes or reduces its harmful properties or characteristics for any purpose.
"CalARP"
means the California Accidental Release Program as described in Article 2 of Chapter 6.95 of Division 20, commencing with Section 25531, of the California Health and Safety Code.
(Ord. 1173 § 5, 2012)
A. 
Pursuant to the California Safe Body Art Act, every applicant for and every holder of an environmental health services department permit to operate a body art facility in Inyo County shall, upon application and registration, annually pay the following fees, as adjusted in accordance with Section 7.52.030(B):
1. 
Registration fee—$25.00
2. 
Facility permit—$121.00
B. 
As used in this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
"Body art facility"
means any room, shop, space or vehicle where tattooing, permanent cosmetics, branding or body piercing is performed.
(Ord. 1173 § 5, 2012)
A. 
Pursuant to the California organized camp regulations, every applicant for and every holder of an environmental services department permit to operate an organized camp facility in Inyo County shall, upon application and registration, annually pay the following fees, as adjusted in accordance with Section 7.52.030(B):
1. 
Organized camp facilities—$296.00.
(Ord. 1186 § 7, 2013)
In addition to the permit fees set forth in this chapter, every applicant for and every holder of any permit described herein, plus any other persons requesting service, shall pay the following fees for the following services of the environmental health services department:
1. 
Plan check/construction review—$73.00/hour
2. 
Re-inspection time—$73.00/hour
3. 
Office hearing—$73.00/hour
4. 
Enforcement actions and activities—$73.00/hour
5. 
Extended time (such as requested inspections and additional services/consultations. This does not include routine office or telephone contact. For applications listed above, when base staff time is significantly exceeded, then extended time will be charged up to completion of mandatory review)—$73.00/hour.
(Ord. 1173 § 5, 2012)
A. 
Copies, up to three copies—free
B. 
Copies over three—$0.25 per copy
C. 
Late payment of fees (over 90 days)—50% of fee
D. 
Returned check fee—$30.00
E. 
Fee refund request processing fee—$35.00
F. 
Replacement permit—$30.00.
(Ord. 1173 § 5, 2012)