goals			top
1. To minimize risks to human health and the environment by striving to eliminate hazardous materials and hazardous waste. 2. To prioritize hazardous material and hazardous waste minimization and remediation efforts toward those issues with the highest risk of danger to human and environmental health. 3. To ensure that the impact of hazardous materials and wastes is not felt disproportionately by any one community or segment of population. 4. To ensure that all decisions on hazardous material and hazardous waste issues include all communities and segments of the population. 5. To educate and inform the entire community, public and private sectors, about hazardous materials.
	long-term objectives
	A. Housing and workplaces are designed and maintained to eliminate health hazards to occupants. B. The amount of hazardous material sold, used and stored in San Francisco has been reduced by no less than 75%. C. The use and storage of acutely/extremely hazardous materials has been banned, with an exception for the use of those which provide a net benefit that supports and sustains the City. D. All previously contaminated sites have been restored to a level of safety appropriate for the desired use. E. Residents and businesses understand and utilize alternatives to hazardous materials in their homes and workplaces. F. A system has been established by which the City’s resources are used to address high priority hazardous material and waste problems. G. Links between hazardous materials and wastes and their impact on human health and the environment have been identified. H. A wide variety of groups and individuals participate in making decisions on hazardous materials issues. I. An informed public understands: The risks involved with their own use of hazardous materials, and The risks to the community as a whole due to the environmental impact of the past and present use of hazardous materials.
		5-year objective
		1. The total amount of hazardous materials stored in San Francisco has been reduced by 10% from 1995 levels. 2. The number of options available to residents and businesses for the proper disposal of hazardous wastes is double the 1995 number. 3. The City applies the priorities set forth by the Task Force described in Action (g). to 75% of its own operations (such as city labs, hospitals, and offices). 4. A process has been established through which the public sets its priorities for elimination or reduction of hazardous materials and the cleanup of contaminated sites. 5. A system has been established for ongoing review of city regulations to insure they are addressing top priorities. 6. A standardized self-audit procedure has been established which is mandatory for businesses required to register hazardous material storage with the City and voluntary for residents and other businesses. The purpose of the audit is to provide the tools to assess the impact of operations and lifestyles on the environment, as well as to evaluate compliance with applicable regulations. 7. An environmental safety program has been created that is focused on educating groups identified as more at-risk either because of their characteristics (for instance, children and people with suppressed immune systems) or their location (for instance, adjacent to a contaminated site).
			actions
			a. Create financial incentives for businesses and city departments to reduce their use and storage of hazardous materials and their generation of hazardous waste. b. Establish the following programs to manage and dispose of hazardous waste generated by residents and small businesses: Curbside collection of oil, paint and batteries. Satellite collection points. Mobile collection service. Additional “one day” collection events. c. Require every retail outlet for hazardous materials in San Francisco to actively provide public information about non-toxic alternatives and proper disposal of hazardous products. d. Encourage retailers to stock non-toxic alternatives to hazardous products. e. Determine and assess the impact of known hazardous materials exposure within the San Francisco population using existing data. f. Create a central database and mapping system identifying sites which use, store, or are contaminated by hazardous materials. g. Develop a hazardous material prioritization task force, made up of San Francisco residents, representatives of city government, and businesses, to: Define the risks posed by the past and present use of hazardous materials, Determine the populations most at risk of health damage due to acute and chronic exposure to hazardous materials within San Francisco. Establish or select a single hazard index that measures the relationship between hazardous materials and their impact on human health. Set priorities for the elimination of hazardous materials/wastes and remediation of contaminated sites: Among hazardous material/waste issues and risks, and With other health and welfare issues, and Disseminate results. h. Increase health care and epidemiological studies in areas disproportionately “unhealthy,” focusing on sites with a high hazard index. i. Develop criteria in the City’s facility-siting policy and permit- review processes to take into account any disproportionate hazardous material/waste exposure “load” on the community. j. Prepare and make available to the public a document describing the current hazardous materials/ wastes siting, zoning, and enforcement decision-making processes and the institutions involved. k. Conduct an inventory and preliminary risk evaluation of all “brownfields” (sites unused due to existing or perceived contamination) within city limits. l. Require retailers and suppliers of appropriate hazardous materials to report annual sales of those materials within San Francisco in order to determine the effectiveness of hazardous material-reduction efforts. m. Develop an outreach program on alternatives to the use of hazardous materials in homes and businesses. The program should include documents in non-technical language, appropriately translated, or use symbols. Work with organizations that already provide education to target groups. Target the program to: Neighborhood associations, Student-body councils, Merchant associations, and San Francisco neighborhood emergency response team participants. n. Increase education about hazardous materials at workplaces where workers are likely to have less information (such as businesses that are exempt from Cal OSHA hazard communication requirements). o. Develop a system for the public to easily identify neighborhoods and businesses that are environmentally progressive and those that are not. Possible examples include: A color-coded “report card” rating scheme relative to the use or sale of appropriate alternatives to hazardous materials, and Signs or tags that give recognition to areas (streets, apartment complexes, business parks) that meet environmental criteria. p. Encourage local news media to designate an editor or reporter who specializes in hazardous materials. q. Develop a public education program that keeps San Francisco residents regularly informed on progress toward the objectives and actions set forth in the sustainability plan. r. Make as part of the City’s contracting process the requirement that all prime- and sub-contractors properly dispose of all wastes and reduce or eliminate the use of hazardous materials to the maximum extent possible. s. Create and operate a central phone number which residents could call to report illegal disposal in San Francisco. Stencil this number on sewer catch-basins using alternative community service labor. Educate city enforcement staff (such as police and fire personnel) about the number to develop a consistent and effective response to complaints.