City Council
Staff Report
From: City Manager
Report Type: CONSENT CALENDAR
Lead Department: Public Works
Meeting Date: March 2, 2026
Report #:2511-5420
TITLE
Approval of General Service Contract No. C26195719 with Clean Harbors Environmental Services, Inc. in an Amount Not-to-Exceed $1,914,000 to Provide Household Hazardous Waste Management and Emergency Response Services for a Period of Five Years, and Approval of a Budget Amendment in the Refuse Fund; CEQA Status – Negative Declarations Previously Approved
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Approve and authorize the City Manager or their designee to execute Contract No.
C26195719 with Clean Harbors to provide household hazardous waste management and emergency response services for a term of five years and a total not-to-exceed amount of $1,914,000; and
2. Amend the Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Appropriations for the Refuse Fund (requires a 2/3 majority vote) by:
a) Increasing the Hazardous Waste appropriation for contract services by $63,000; and
b) Decreasing the Refuse Fund balance by $63,000.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The City’s Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) program has provided collection of HHW since the 1980s. The program provides weekly collection service events for residential HHW, door-to- door collection for physically-limited residents, collection for qualifying businesses, and offers gently used HHW items for reuse. The contract with Clean Harbors will continue the convenient, safe, and proper collection and disposal of HHW services that the community has come to expect.
BACKGROUND
The City’s HHW program began in 1983 when Palo Alto became the second jurisdiction in the state to provide residential collection of HHW in response to community concerns about toxic wastes in the environment. The objectives of the HHW program are to provide public education
on the safe use, storage, disposal, and alternatives to HHW products, and to provide a convenient point of collection to reduce improper disposal of HHW to storm drains, landfill, and the sanitary sewer.
In 1989, AB 939, California’s Integrated Waste Management Act, was enacted which required cities to adopt and submit an HHW Element setting policies, objectives, and programs for collection of HHW in compliance with State mandates. In the early 1990s, the Regional Water Quality Control Plant became a permitted permanent HHW collection facility for residents to use, focusing on the collection and proper disposal of HHW that directly affected wastewater effluent such as photo chemicals, mercury waste, pesticides, and pharmaceuticals. In 2013, the current Household Hazardous Waste Station (HHWS) was constructed. The facility included additional hazardous waste storage lockers and introduced a reuse program to recover gently used HHW items dropped off by residents. Today, the HHWS serves residents at weekly HHW collection events and has one of the highest participation rates in the State at 19.6%.
The City has contracted for HHW management and emergency response services since the 1980s, including the acceptance, handling, transportation, and disposal or recycling of various HHW streams collected from the community. Due to stringent local, State, and Federal hazardous waste regulations, and the nature of the work, the City requires the resources of a qualified and experienced contracting firm to manage, transport, and dispose of HHW from the community. The current contract, C21180050, with Clean Harbors Environmental Services, Inc. (Clean Harbors) expired February 11, 20261 and was amended to extend through March 31, 2026.
ANALYSIS
The City’s HHW program is a long-standing, State-mandated, and essential service to the Palo Alto community, providing public and environmental health benefits. The new recommended five-year contract with Clean Harbors will continue to provide the City with safe and compliant management of HHW and proper staffing of the weekly HHW collection events, and includes the following tasks:
1. Weekly HHW Collection Events: Collection events are conducted every Saturday and the first Friday of each month. During collection events, Palo Alto residents drop off unused, unwanted, or expired household chemicals which are then segregated, packaged, and stored until transported offsite for disposal, recycling, or reuse.
2. HHWS Reuse Zone Program: During collection events, incoming HHW is screened for reusable products, including paint, cleaners, and motor oil that residents can later claim during HHW event hours from the Reuse Zone storage cabinet. 1 City Council, February 8, 2021; Agenda Item #5; SR #11816, https://portal.laserfiche.com/Portal/DocView.aspx?id=91&repo=r-704298fc&searchid=a56e3bda-7464-4c46-b334- 792c3a852112
3. Door-to-Door HHW Program: To ensure physically-limited residents can dispose of their HHW, the City’s HHW Contractor dispatches personnel to qualified residents’ home to collect and transport waste to the HHWS for proper management.
4. Very Small Quantity Generator Program: Businesses located within the RWQCP service area that generate less than 220 pounds per month of hazardous waste can dispose of their hazardous waste at the HHWS. Businesses must complete paperwork, pay a disposal fee, and set up an appointment through the City’s HHW Contractor.
5. Emergency Response Services: On-call 24-hour emergency response services to assist the City in responding to and cleaning up any hazardous waste spills that occur across the City, as needed.
Solicitation Process
A formal Request For Proposals (RFP) for the HHW management and emergency response services was posted on the City’s eProcurement system on September 17, 2025. The City received five proposals on October 15, 2025, four of which were deemed responsive, as summarized in Table 1.
Table 1: Summary of Solicitation Process:
Proposal Description Household Hazardous Waste Management and Emergency Response Services/RFP195719
Proposed Length of Project 5 years
Total Days to Respond to Proposal 28
Pre-Proposal Meeting None
Pre-Proposal Meeting Date N/A
Number of Proposals Received Five
Number of Proposals Considered Responsive Four
Proposal Price Range $1,860,000 - $3,740,000
A team comprised of three staff from the Public Works Department evaluated the proposals included in Table 2 based on the following criteria: quality and completeness of proposal, effectiveness of proposed solution, experience, cost, financial stability, timely performance, prior record of performance with the City, ability to provide ongoing services, and compliance with applicable regulations.
Table 2: Responsive Proposals Received
Company Name Location (City, State) Proposal Amount
in Years 1 and 2
Proposal Amount Over 5
Years
Advanced Chemical Transport,
LLC (dba ACTenviro)
San Jose, CA $704,000 $3,740,000
Clean Earth Environmental
Solutions, Inc. (dba Clean Earth)
Rancho Cordova, CA $352,000 $1,860,000
Clean Harbors Environmental
Services, Inc. (dba Clean
Harbors)
San Jose, CA $363,000 $1,914,000
Patriot Environmental Services Richmond, CA $517,000 $2,740,000 Following a comprehensive evaluation, Clean Harbors received the highest aggregate score and was selected because of the quality and completeness of their proposal, quality and effectiveness of their services, the experience of their field staff, prior record of performance with the City, and their knowledge of hazardous waste regulation compliance. Clean Harbors’ proposal included continued free access to a robust online portal where staff can manage and create hazardous waste profiles, track all hazardous waste shipped offsite, and generate certificates of disposal and various reports. The City currently uses and will continue to benefit from this tool. Additionally, Clean Harbors owns and operates over 50 permitted treatment, storage, and disposal facilities across the United States with the nearest facility located in San Jose, California. The City will continue to benefit from Clean Harbors’ direct ownership of these sites and their ability to use local processing and disposal facilities where possible. The services proposed by Clean Harbors for HHW management, their record of safe and efficient management of the City’s HHW program, and their close attention to State and Federal regulations ensure that the Palo Alto community will continue to receive the high-quality service that they have come to expect and value, and the City will receive the best service for the cost. The selection of Clean Harbors, who holds the current HHW management contract, also ensures a smooth transition into the next contract without interruption of services.
The costs for the new contract were calculated based on the collection and disposal needs from calendar years 2024 and 2025, which are considered representative of future programs and services, and include an estimated Consumer Price Index (CPI) increase3 of five percent for contract years three through five. The funding needs for the new contract are higher at an additional $63,000 for the first two years than the current contract, and will increase with CPI in subsequent years. Although this is higher than the current annual contract, the last RFP was conducted in 2020, and costs have since increased considerably for labor, supplies, and general cost of living expenses. Clean Harbors’ proposal was the second lowest cost proposal received through the current solicitation, with proposed labor, transportation, and disposal rates increasing only by CPI in later years. Additionally, through negotiations, Clean Harbors further reduced some of their proposed rates for certain waste streams, such as vaping devices and toxic solids, and reduced their emergency service rates by approximately 12%.
FISCAL/RESOURCE IMPACT
Partial funding for the first year of the new contract is available in the Fiscal Year 2026 Adopted Operating Budget for the Refuse Fund. To fully fund the first year of the contract, staff recommends amending the Fiscal Year 2026 Adopted Operating Budget for the Refuse Fund by appropriating $63,000 from fund balance. Appropriations for subsequent contract years will be 3 CPI increases in contract years three, four, and five will be determined by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Percentage increase will be equal to the change in the CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers for the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose area, published most immediately preceding the commencement of the applicable contract year and not to exceed five percent.
determined through the annual budget development process and are subject to Council approval. Table 3 summarizes the contract costs.
Table 3: Summary of Contract Costs for Contract No. C26195719 with Clean Harbors Contract Year Annual Cost
Year 1 $363,000
Year 2 $363,000
Year 3 $374,000
Year 4 $396,000
Year 5 $418,000
Total Contract Not-to-Exceed Amount for 5-Year Term $1,914,000
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
This contract is a continuation of existing HHW program services and engagement focused on the procurement process to engage potential proposers.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The HHW program was reviewed in the negative declaration issued for the Source Reduction and Recycling Element and Household Hazardous Waste Element 5 which were approved and adopted by the City Council on June 6, 1991 (Negative Declaration No. 91-EIA-12). The Very Small Quantity Generator (previously called CESQG) program was reviewed in the negative declaration for the implementation of the program, which was approved and adopted by Council on June 24, 1993 (Negative Declaration No. 93-EIA-22).
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: Partially Executed Contract with Clean Harbors, Contract #C26195719 APPROVED BY:
Brad Eggleston, Director Public Works/City Engineer
5 Household Hazardous Waste Element: IWM-HHW-Element-City-of-Palo-Alto-Jun-1991.pdf