Glendale, CA Public Health Rules: Syringe Disposal (2026)
Key Facts
- Prohibited act
- grinding/discharging needles to sewer
- Covered facilities
- hospitals, clinics, medical/dental offices
- Governing article
- GMC Ch. 13.40 Industrial Waste
- Enforcing officer
- fire chief
- Permit at risk
- industrial wastewater permit
- Appeal path
- city council under Ch. 2.88
Summary
Glendale's industrial waste ordinance bars grinding and discharging used hypodermic needles, syringes and associated articles from hospitals, clinics and medical or dental offices into the sanitary sewer system. The fire chief enforces the rule through the city's industrial waste permit program.
Disposable hypodermic needles, syringes and associated articles following their use in hospitals, outpatient clinics, medical and dental offices, etc., may not be ground and discharged to the sanitary sewer system.
3. Septic Tanks, Seepage Pits and Cesspools Connections (Private Sewage Disposal Systems). No commercial or industrial facility shall discharge wastewater to a private sewage disposal system.
4. National Categorical Pretreatment Standards. Upon the promulgation of mandatory National Categorical Pretreatment Standards for any industrial subcategory, the National Categorical Pretreatment Standards, if more restrictive than limitations imposed under this section, shall apply. The fire chief may impose a phased compliance schedule to ensure that affected industries meet the National Categorical Pretreatment Standards. Failure to meet the phased compliance schedule may result in permit revocation. Those dischargers subject to National Categorical Pretreatment Standards shall comply with all reporting requirements in accordance with the General Pretreatment Regulations for Existing and New Sources of Pollution (Title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 403), and as subsequently amended.
5. Dilution. No discharger shall use any water to dilute any pollutant to achieve compliance with the discharge limitations contained in this section.
6.
Full Breakdown
310, part of the industrial waste article of the sewer system chapter, sets the criteria governing what can be discharged into the sanitary sewer. Subsection (B)(2)(e) specifically prohibits disposable hypodermic needles, syringes and associated articles used in hospitals, outpatient clinics, medical offices and dental offices from being ground and discharged into the sanitary sewer system, treating them alongside other banned specific pollutants such as radioactive waste (subsection (B)(2)(b)), infectious waste (subsection (B)(2)(c)) and unground food market refuse (subsection (B)(2)(d)). 300 as substances or liquids discharged from a nonresidential facility other than storm runoff, residential sewage or ordinary sanitary waste, which is why the needle and syringe ban sits inside the medical and commercial facility rules rather than a residential sharps program.
320, describing its wastewater characteristics and any pretreatment. 400: an industrial wastewater permit can be suspended immediately if a discharge is an imminent hazard to public health or the sanitary sewer system, with the discharger required to cease and desist, and can be revoked for nonperformance of permit conditions. 88. 390, a discharger whose unlawful discharge damages or affects the sanitary sewer, storm drain system or state waters is liable to the city for the reasonable costs of correcting that damage and for the city's investigation costs.
Violations & Fines
Grinding and discharging used needles or syringes into the sanitary sewer under Section 13.40.310(B)(2)(e) exposes the facility's industrial waste permit to immediate suspension under Section 13.40.400(A) if the fire chief finds an imminent hazard, with the discharger required to cease and desist at once. Repeated or unaddressed noncompliance can lead to permit revocation, and the discharger remains liable under Section 13.40.390 for the city's reasonable costs of correcting any resulting damage and investigating the violation. Permit decisions may be appealed to the city council under Chapter 2.88.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a medical office in Glendale flush used syringes down the drain?
Who enforces Glendale's sharps discharge ban?
What happens if a facility is caught discharging syringes into the sewer?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Glendale
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