By Pete Lawson
The California Paint Stewardship Program
By Joe Zuccaro, Fire Prevention Supervisor
The California Paint Stewardship law requires that paint
manufacturers develop a sustainable program to manage
post-consumer architectural paint.
First Responders
Blood Drive 2015
proudly supported by
The San Bernardino County Fire Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Division
coordinates with PaintCare to participate in the paint stewardship program.
Our HHW program includes one central facility, 13 satellite facilities, four ABOP
(antifreeze, batteries, oil and paint) facilities and conducts approximately six
The program began on Oct. 19, 2012 as PaintCare, a non-profit organization,
temporary events a year. Home generated latex or oil-based paint is accepted
was created to administer the program in any state with such a law.
at any of the satellite facilities, central facility, or household hazardous waste
California’s program helped PaintCare set up 738 drop-off locations in the
collection events free of charge to San Bernardino County residents. The
state, giving the public a variety of places to dispose of leftover, unwanted
ABOP sites are limited to accepting latex paint only. San Bernardino County
paint. Located at selected paint retailers or household hazardous
waste sites, any household or business in California is
Conditionally Exempt Small Quantity Generators (CESQG) are allowed
to use this program but are limited to taking their paint to the
eligible to drop off its unwanted paint at these sites.
San Bernardino central facility. CESQGs must also make an
However, household hazardous waste programs have some
appointment and they are charged an administrative fee.
restrictions for accepting paint from businesses since
these programs are mainly geared to collect and manage
household waste. In fact it is best to call ahead before taking
paint to a drop-off location to confirm that the location has room to
accept the amount of paint you are recycling.
Lifestream blood bank kicked off its second annual Guns and Hoses Blood Drive,
which runs through the months of June and July. It’s a friendly competition between
law enforcement and the fire service throughout Riverside and San Bernardino
Counties. The biggest need for blood is usually in the summer months and a drive
like this helps out tremendously.
The San Bernardino County Fire HHW goes above and beyond
to recycle and offer paint back to the residents of San Bernardino
County through a materials exchange program. The HHW Division staff
bulks paint to produce five gallon buckets of paint in a few different colors. The
paint is available to residents through our materials exchange program. The
PaintCare has restrictions to the type of product that it will accept. Acceptable
residents pay a $7 fee for the purchase of the five-gallon bucket but the five
paint includes: house paint, primers, stains, sealers and clear coatings.
gallons of paint is free. HHW staff also stocks the materials exchange store with
Some products that PaintCare will not accept include: aerosols, solvents and
quarts and one-gallon containers of useable paint that residents can take for
industrial or non-architectural products. Acceptable paint must be in its original
free. The materials exchange store, located at the San Bernardino County Fire
container, not be leaking, have a label, have a secure lid and be no larger than
HHW central facility, is open Monday-Friday from 1–3:30pm. While the store
five gallons. Visit PaintCare’s website, www.paintcare.org, for more information
has other usable household hazardous materials, most residents come for the
on acceptable versus non-acceptable paint.
free paint. In fact it is not uncommon to see a line of folks waiting for the store
With all the force hires and ongoing fires we were able to put together three drives,
at Stations 311, 10 and 71. Considering the multitude of activities taking place
and busy staff, the drive was successful. Thanks to captains Bob Kittleman and
Jeremy Lindsay and engineer Travis Aguirre for coordinating the drives at your
respective stations.
Firefighter/Paramedic Jared Kurtz gave the gift of life.
Lifestream is still tallying the final results. There were 19 agencies participating
in the drive and San Bernardino County Fire was able to collect over 50 units of
blood. Each unit of blood can help up to three people. I found out that we can
host these events at a station and invite the community and the units collected
will go toward our count.
As most of you are aware, San Bernardino County Fire has a close relationship
with Lifestream. Some of the biggest drives they have had were for the County Fire
family. Giving blood only takes about an hour of your time and it really does make
a difference. We strive to do better and better each year.
Station 10 in Phelan proud to host Lifestream and
support the Guns and Hoses event.
to open. Some San Bernardino County HHW satellite facilities also have their
PaintCare receives its funding from the “PaintCare Fee” that is added to the
own such stores.
paint price purchased from a retailer. The fees collected are used to pay for paint
collection, transportation, recycling, public outreach, program administration
To find out more, contact the San Bernardino County Fire Household Hazardous
and to manage old “legacy” paint. Fees are based on the size of the container:
Waste Division at 1-800-OILY Cat or (909) 382-5401. Information can also be
found on our website at www. sbcfire.org.
·
$0.00 half pint or smaller
·
$0.35 > half pint to < one gallon
·
$0.75 one gallon
·
$1.60 > one gallon up to five gallons
SBCoFD and Local 935 proud to
support the Guns and Hoses event
Captain Bob Kittleman gives the gift of life.
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FIREWIRE | Fall 2015
Captain Pete Lawson is a spokesperson for the Lifestream blood bank and also the high
desert coordinator for the Firefighters Quest for Burn Survivors. He lives in Spring Valley
Lake with his wife Shannon. Captain Lawson is retired, having served 24 years with the
Victorville Fire Department and seven years with San Bernardino County Fire. He is very
passionate about giving back to the community.
Fall 2015 | FIREWIRE
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