The Industrial Waste (IW) Unit of Public Works regulates industrial waste discharges into over 3,000 miles of local sewers within the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County and 36 contract cities. The Unit also regulates industrial wastewater that is collected, hauled, disposed, or discharged into the ground (where permissible).

Any business which generates, handles, or disposes of industrial wastewater must obtain an industrial waste disposal permit (Los Angeles County Code, Chapter 20.36 or contract city municipal code) from the Unit. The Unit reviews plans to determine if facilities have adequate pretreatment systems. The business must obtain clearance and an IW Disposal Permit (IWDP) for the discharge of wastewater to sanitary sewers, private disposal systems, or offsite disposal. They must comply with applicable Federal, State, local domestic and industrial waste regulations to be verified by the Unit. The Unit’s goal is to ensure that facilities are designed so as to not create a nuisance, menace the public peace, health or safety, or impact the public sewer system, soil, underground or surface waters.

If you received a referral from Building & Safety or need to obtain clearance from our office, here is useful information and common forms you will need. When you are ready to submit your package for approval, or if you have any questions, you may contact us at our public counter, via mail or phone.

Any business which generates, handles, or disposes of industrial wastewater must obtain an industrial waste disposal permit (Los Angeles County Code, Chapter 20.36) from the Unit. The Unit reviews plans to determine if facilities have adequate pretreatment systems. The business must obtain clearance and an IW Disposal Permit (IWDP) for the discharge of wastewater to sanitary sewers, private disposal systems, or offsite disposal. They must comply with applicable Federal, State, local domestic and industrial waste regulations to be verified by the Unit. The Unit’s goal is to ensure that facilities are designed so as to not create a nuisance, menace the public peace, health or safety, or impact the public sewer system, soil, underground or surface waters.

If you received a referral from Building & Safety or need to obtain clearance from our office, here is useful information and common forms you will need. When you are ready to submit your package for approval, or if you have any questions, you may contact us at our public counter, via mail or phone.

Jurisdictions

The Industrial Waste Unit of Public Works has jurisdiction over all unincorporated areas (PDF, 52 KB) of the County of Los Angeles in addition to the following contract cities:

Agoura Hills Gardena Rancho Palos Verdes
Artesia Hawaiian Gardens Rolling Hills Estates
Bell Gardens Irwindale Rosemead
Bellflower La Canada Flintridge San Dimas
Beverly Hills La Mirada San Fernando
Calabasas La Puente Santa Clarita
Carson La Verne Temple City
Cerritos Lakewood Walnut
Commerce Lawndale West Hollywood
Cudahy Lomita Westlake Village
Culver City* Norwalk
Diamond Bar Paramount
Duarte Pico Rivera

* All processing fees for Culver City is paid directly to the city. Reviews are conducted by Public Works.

Note: The list above refers to the actual facility location which is not necessarily the same as the site’s mailing address.

Instructions for Obtaining Clearance

Pretreatment means the reduction of the amounts of pollutants, the elimination of pollutants, or the alteration of the nature of pollutant properties in wastewater to a less harmful state prior to or in lieu of discharging or otherwise introducing such pollutants into a Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTW) or other disposal facility. The reduction or alteration can be obtained by physical, chemical, or biological processes or process changes by use of an industrial waste treatment facility or other means, except as prohibited by 40 CFR Section 403.6(d) (LACC, Division 2, Section 20.20.264). The most commonly used County Standard pretreatment drawings are available below:

Restaurants and other food service facilities may significantly impact the public sewer line causing blockages. Grease pretreatment devices are required for most of these installations.

Fats, oils and grease (FOG) can build up in the sewer lines and causes restriction in flow, resulting in blockages in the sewer lines, which ultimately results in increased in maintenance costs.

Public Works has FOG program in place to prevent sewage overflows into the environment, as well as to reduce the discharge of FOG to the sewer system. Please see below for our FOG Guidelines.

The Public Works Industrial Waste Unit issues the following types of approvals:

Industrial Waste Approval: Industrial wastes include all waste substances, liquid or solid, except domestic sewage, from any manufacturing, processing, institutional, commercial, or agricultural operation. An industrial waste approval may also require the installation of stormwater treatment devices. This approval requires four to six sets of plans. The number of plans required is determined by the type of operation and the location of the facility. For further information, browse the Obtaining Clearance section or contact this office.
Low Impact Development (LID): LID is a design strategy using naturalistic, on-site Best Management Practices to lessen the impacts of development on stormwater quality and quantity. The LID Manual can be viewed at Public Works’ Stormwater Quality Website. All submittals shall be initiated through the Building Official.
In accordance with EPA regulation 40 CFR Part 441, all dental offices that place or remove amalgam must operate and maintain an amalgam separator and must not discharge scrap amalgam or use certain kinds of oxidizing and/or acidic cleaners.
The County regulates industrial wastewater discharges from dental offices and clinics into the County’s sewer system and obtaining industrial waste discharge permit is required. One component of this permit is submitting the One Time Compliance Report.
For more information follow this link to EPA website:
Domestic Waste Clearance: Domestic wastes include any sanitary waste derived from ordinary living processes without special treatment into the public sewer or private disposal system. Domestic wastes include wastes originating from restrooms, lavatories, drinking fountains, hand sinks, etc. This approval requires two sets of plans. An operating permit will not be issued for this type of approval.

There are two types of industrial waste permit application forms. Permit applications must be completely filled out and signed by the person responsible for the waste discharge. Since this is an operating permit application, the signature of the consultant is not acceptable.

The plans shall include the following information:

Plans for Domestic Waste Clearance, plans for Public Works Industrial Waste and SUSMP/LID Clearances as well as plans for LACSD Joint Permits need to be in PDF format* and text searchable.

  • Name and address of the facility discharging the wastewater need to be shown on the lower right-hand corner of each plan sheet.
  • Site plan drawn to scale showing acreage, adjacent cross streets, north arrow, and location of pretreatment system(s). Site plan needs to show the location of the pretreatment device and its connection to the street.
  • Site utility plan.
  • Site drainage plan.
  • Architectural floor plan identifying each area in the building by its use (i.e., food preparation, car wash, plating, laboratory, storage, office, restrooms, etc.).
  • Plumbing plan(s) showing all drains including floor drains, floor sinks, trench drains, service sinks, and supply/waste lines and facilities handling industrial wastewater from the point of origin to the connection to the point of disposal (i.e., public sewer, private disposal system, and/or holding facility for offsite disposal). All equipment or facilities generating industrial wastewater must be identified on the plans. The equipment schedule for the kitchen layout must be included as well.
  • Detailed drawings of all pretreatment systems with dimensions and manufacturer’s specifications.
  • All aboveground storage tanks/drums with proper spill containment details. Provision for spill containment is required where chemicals and/or waste materials may potentially enter the sewer system, storm drain, or contaminate soil. Spill containment should be designed for the volume of the largest tank or ten percent of the drum total, whichever is greater, plus six inches of rainfall over the containment area if outdoors.
  • All outside wastewater producing and storage areas shall have a permanent cover. If a roof is not feasible, a rainwater diversion system may be proposed.

* Submittals by email are preferred. However, the applicant my submit hard copies at our public counter or by mail (PDF copies are still required).

A person owning or operating premises containing industrial waste treatment or disposal facilities operated under a valid permit issued under the provisions of LACC, Title 20, Division 2, must submit a closure application form (PDF, 1015 KB) when the operations that generated wastewater have terminated, and the pretreatment facilities are to be permanently closed.

Closure authorizations may require soil samples and a closure report with a review fee depending on the site history and type of operation.

A permit processing fee and a plan check fee will be determined based on the type of industry and the facility location. Please contact this office for further information.

Submit a letter on site business letterhead, describing the overall operation, the operations which generate wastewater, and proposed wastewater pretreatment systems.

Pursuant to the LACC, Title 20, Division 2, Section 20.32.440, the allocable peak discharge rate to a public local sewer from a heavy industrial zoned property is calculated at 0.021 cubic feet per second (cfs) per acre, equivalent to 9.4 gallons per minute (gpm) per acre. Administratively, parcels smaller than or equal to 0.8 acres are allowed a peak maximum discharge rate of 7.5 gpm. Additional sewer capacity above the allotted amount will require a sewer capacity clearance from the local jurisdiction.

Industrial Waste Disposal Permits

Industrial Waste Disposal Permits (IWDPs) are subject to routine inspections and annual fees. If a violation notice is issued by one of our field inspectors, a full reply to the items requested must be submitted within the time allotted by the notice. If corrective action cannot be completed within the due date, the inspector who issued the notice must be contacted directly. Field inspectors are available for phone calls, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. A listing of our field office and headquarters facilities is included in our contact page.

An IWDP is terminated when the person owning or operating the premises has filed a written request, and a field inspection has confirmed that all industrial wastewater producing operations have ceased. All pretreatment facilities must been permanently removed or closed before a permit can be canceled. If the pretreatment facilities are to be maintained for future use, a non-use permit must be obtained.

Forms

The following forms and plans are down-loadable as Adobe PDF files.

You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed to open the Adobe PDF files (.pdf). To install it, download a free plug-in. A wet ink signature is required.

Online File Review

Online file review is now available. Review our office’s digitized files related to industrial waste, underground storage tanks, and stormwater certificates. Please Note: All documents have not been uploaded to the webpage. If additional information is needed, hard copy files may be available at our Public Counter.

Contact

Headquarters

LA County Public Works Headquarters
900 S. Fremont Avenue Alhambra, CA 91803

Los Angeles County Public Works
Environmental Programs Division
900 South Fremont Avenue
Annex Building, 3rd Floor
Alhambra, CA 91803

Public Counter: (626) 458-3517
Fax: (626) 458-3569
TDD: (626) 282-7829

The public counter is open Monday through Thursday 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. For general inquiries, please email  iw@pw.lacounty.gov or contact our public counter at (626) 458-3517.

Field Facilities

Inspectors are available from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., Monday through Friday, unless otherwise noted.

2535 Commerce Way
Commerce, CA 90040-1487
(323) 887-4456
Open Monday to Thursday

4801 E. 3rd Street
Los Angeles, CA 90022-1601
(323) 881-7031

24320 S. Narbonne Avenue
Lomita, CA 90717-1194
(310) 534-4862

125 S. Baldwin Avenue
Arcadia, CA 91007-2652
(626) 574-0962

23757 W. Valencia Boulevard
Santa Clarita, CA 91355-2192
(661) 222-2953

South Whittier
12440 Imperial Hwy Suite 110
Norwalk, CA 90650
(562) 906-8426

Report Fraud

If you suspect fraud or wrongdoing by a County employee, please report it to the County Fraud Hotline at 1-800-544-6861 or online. You may remain anonymous.