Brief

The Mayor and Board of Fire Commissioners have proposed creating an additional re-inspection fee for facilities regulated under California's Certified Unified Program Agency (CUPA) framework, which consolidates hazardous-materials permitting and inspection oversight. The fee would apply to businesses requiring re-inspections beyond routine compliance checks. The Public Safety Committee approved the item on September 15, 2026. The proposal is now pending in the Budget and Finance Committee for fiscal review.

Full summary

The Los Angeles Fire Department serves as the city's state-designated Certified Unified Program Agency, responsible for inspecting facilities that handle hazardous waste, operate underground or aboveground storage tanks, or store hazardous materials. Under state law, those facilities are inspected on an annual or triennial basis, and any facility found in violation is subject to re-inspection until it comes into compliance. Current permit fees cover the cost of routine inspections and one re-inspection — but nothing beyond that. When a facility repeatedly fails to correct violations and requires multiple additional re-inspections, the LAFD absorbs those costs without reimbursement. In FY 2024-2025, inspectors logged 122.75 hours on second-or-greater re-inspections that went uncompensated. Fire Chief Jaime E. Moore proposed creating a new fee to recover the full cost of these additional re-inspections. The fee would be calculated at the inspector's hourly rate at the time of adoption, billed per hour or fraction thereof with a one-hour minimum. Based on FY 2024-2025 workload, the department projects the fee would generate approximately $46,890.50 in its first full year. Proponents argue the fee is consistent with the city's full-cost-recovery policy for special services and with Section 25404.5 of the California Health and Safety Code, which requires that CUPA permit fees cover program costs. They also contend the fee will encourage faster compliance by making repeated non-compliance more costly for regulated facilities. The Board of Fire Commissioners approved the report and its recommendations on August 4, 2026, and transmitted it to Mayor Karen Bass, who forwarded it to the City Council on August 28. The Public Safety Committee reviewed and approved the item on September 15, 2026. The file now awaits action by the Budget and Finance Committee before it can proceed to a full Council vote. No opposition has been documented in the record to date.

Activity (3)

• 2026-09-15 Public Safety Committee approved item(s) .
• 2026-08-31 Mayor; Board of Fire Commissioners document(s) referred to Budget and Finance Committee; Public Safety Committee.
• 2026-08-28 Document submitted by the Mayor, Board of Fire Commissioners report dated August 6, 2026.

Documents (2)

• 2026-09-15 Speaker Card(s) · speaker_card
• 2026-08-06 Report from Board of Fire Commissioners · report