Welcome to the California Environmental Reporting System (CERS)
CUPA GIS
CalEPA has started a project to create a digital map of jurisdictional boundaries for Certified Unified Program Agencies (CUPAs) and their associated Participating Agencies (PAs). The project will be completed in two phases. The first phase is focused on validating the boundaries for CUPAs whose jurisdiction matches county and/or city lines. The second phase will focus on CUPAs that require additional boundary edits. CalEPA will implement a CUPA GIS Portal to allow CUPA managers with no GIS expertise to review, validate, and modify their jurisdictional boundary. To keep stakeholders up to date please see the new project website here: CUPA GIS
New CERS Feature: EPA ID Validation Tool
Effective August 29th 2022, CalEPA will be implementing an EPA ID validation tool. Lack of validation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ID number is a documented pain point of the system. EPA ID number inaccuracy has limited the ability of CalEPA to pass compliance, monitoring, and enforcement data (CME data) to other systems, including but not limited to US EPA.
Historically, a facility has been required to manually enter their EPA ID number into CERS. This project will change that process and instead an EPA ID number will be provided to the user for selection and confirmation. A facility that reports activities pertaining to hazardous waste in CERS requiring an EPA ID will be triggered to validate their EPA ID number.
The validation tool will compare the CERS facility name and address against the official state record the Hazardous Waste Tracking System. Failure to successfully validate the EPA ID will result in a warning message but will not prevent submittal of any section of CERS.
Supporting Documentation:
Unified Program Violation Library Update – 2022
Effective July 1, 2022, the Unified Program Violation Library in CERS has been updated. Inspections that occur on or after July 1, 2022, will be associated with the revised version of the violation.
New CERS Feature: Hazardous Materials Business Plan (HMBP) Annual Certification
Assembly Bill 1429 went into effect January 1, 2020 and may change Hazardous Materials Business Plan (HMBP) reporting timeframes for your facility.
In collaboration with the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) and the California CUPA Forum Board, CalEPA deployed a new feature in the California Environmental Reporting System (CERS) on September 18, 2020, allowing a business owner/operator to easily certify Hazardous Material Business Plan (HMBP) information in CERS as complete, accurate and, if applicable, meeting EPCRA reporting requirements.
For further information and guidance, please reference CalEPA’s
Unified Program Violation Library Update
Effective August 2, 2021, the Unified Program Violation Library in CERS has been updated. Unified Program elements with revised citations are: Underground Storage Tank Program, California Accidental Release Prevention Program, and the Aboveground Petroleum Storage Act Program. Inspections that occur on or after August 2, 2021, will be associated with the revised version of the violation. Violations affiliated with the Hazardous Waste Generator Improvement Rule regulations are not currently included.
To obtain APSA Program documents previously made available on the OSFM APSA Program website, please contact OSFM at cupa@fire.ca.gov
To comply with state accessibility requirements per Assembly Bill 434, CAL FIRE – Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM) has removed documents from the OSFM APSA Program website until each is revised to meet accessibility requirements. Once the documents are revised to meet accessibility requirements, each will be made available on the OSFM APSA Program website. In the interim, links to the OSFM APSA Program website within the CERS APSA submittal element have been replaced with OSFM’s contact email, cupa@fire.ca.gov. Please send an email to OSFM staff at cupa@fire.ca.gov to request APSA Program documents, such as the following: Tank Facility Statement, Tier II Qualified Facility SPCC Plan template, Farm Fact Sheet, and Guide on Tanks In Underground Areas (TIUGAs). For assistance with CERS, please contact cers@calepa.ca.gov.
Chemical Inventory Reporting of the Annual 2018 Hazardous Materials Business Plan (HMBP) Submittals Must Reference the 24 New Federal Hazard Categories
Effective December 28, 2017, CalEPA will be replacing the existing five (5) federal hazard categories available in CERS used for the completion of chemical inventories as part of the annual hazardous materials business plan submittal with twenty-four (24) new federal hazard categories adopted by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) as a result of changes to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Hazard Communication Standard (HCS).
Supporting documentation:
Background (PDF, 3 pp, 599 KB)
Business Guidance (PDF, 3 pp, 967 KB)
For questions concerning submittal information and reporting requirements, please contact your local regulating Certified Unified Program Agency: https://cersapps.calepa.ca.gov/Public/Directory
For questions concerning the deployment of CERS 3 or for assistance in accessing the CERS Testing, Training, or Staging environments, please contact: CERS@calepa.ca.gov
