New User CERS Instructions

CERS INSTRUCTIONS – NEW CERS ACCOUNT Below, are the steps to complete your business plan on the California Environmental Reporting System Portal (CERS). All businesses are required to submit the following sections, if your site has (for any purpose) at any one time, hazardous materials at or above 55 gallons for liquids, 500 pounds for solids, or 200 cubic feet for compressed gases (include liquids in ASTs and USTs); or is regulated under more restrictive local inventory reporting requirements (shown below if present); or the applicable Federal threshold quantity for an extremely hazardous substance specified in 40 CFR Part 355, Appendix A or B; or handle radiological materials in quantities for which an emergency plan is required pursuant to 10 CFR Parts 30, 40 or 70: FACILITY INFORMATION, HAZARDOUS MATERIALS INVENTORY, AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE & TRAINING PLANS must be submitted annually between January 1- March 1.

1. Access the CERS website, using the CERS Business Portal differentiated by the color green.

2. Click Create New Account and follow the steps. (You must have access to a valid email address in order to create a CERS Account.)

3. Once your account is set up you will be directed to the screen below:

4. Select Add New Facility. Enter your facility’s physical address and enter facility information.

5. If a business/organization has previously reported in CERS on a facility with the address you entered. Select from the three option below:

I.

Once you have completed Step 4 or 5 you will begin your Business plan starting with the Facility Information/Business Activities (shown below).

Please read and answer all the questions corresponding your facility as best of your knowledge.

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If you said ‘Yes’ to the first question regarding Hazardous Materials you will be required to submit the following three sections (in grey) annually:

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If you said “No” to the first question regarding Hazardous Materials and do not handle quantities at or above the threshold listed in that question at any one time but you are a Hazardous Waste Generator you will ONLY be required to fill out the first section titled Facility Information.

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Next, complete the Business Owner/Operator Identification section, be sure to update the emergency contact information. (Contact CUPA at 213978-3680 if you need to report any change of address, ownership or business name.)

II.

Hazardous Material Inventory •

Please add all stored materials at or over 55 gallons for liquids, 500 pounds of solids, or 200 cubic feet of compressed gasses.

For example, if you have a total of eleven 5-gallon containers of a single product, the total reported would be 55 gallons. Please always report maximum storage capacity and not amount used daily.

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III.

Once you add your chemical please make sure you enter all the required information for each chemical. If you need assistance in this section you may call 213-978-3680.

Also, be sure to upload a site map under this section. For an example of how your sitemap should look like and the requirements it must include please follow the link listed as Site Map instructions: https://www.lafd.org/fire-prevention/cupa/documents-forms

Emergency Response •

In this section you are required to upload an Emergency Plan. If you do not have one please click the link shown below:

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Please fill out the template and make sure you save it to your computer before uploading it to CERS. Once it is saved to your computer select Choose File on CERS & upload the template then click Save and Finish. Please make sure you list us as our Local Unified Program Agency along with our phone number, LAFD CUPA 213-978-3680.

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Lastly, use the previous steps to upload your Employee Training Plan, otherwise click the options below and Save.

Please note: If you have Underground Storage Tanks (UST’s), Aboveground Petroleum Storage (APSA), or other Regulated Substances you will be required to fill out additional sections annually as well.

IV.

Last Step: Once you have entered all required information/documents in each section and you do not see any Red messages or warning signs you are ready to Submit. Please make sure you submit ALL sections at the same time. The following message is to confirm that your business plan was submitted.

Submissions are due between January 1 – March 1, annually. If you do not submit your Business Plan by March, you may be subject to a late submittal fee and/or further enforcement action pursuant to L.A.M.C. and H&SC, Section 25508(a)(3)