Santa Ana Fire Department (SAFD) recognized that their system for collecting and managing hazardous materials business plans (HMBPs) was behind the times. “Up until a few years ago, we were still accepting HMBPs in paper form and then putting those paper documents on our Hazmat rigs.”

SAFD took a giant step by requiring businesses to submit their HMBPs electronically through forms on the SAFD website. This saved time and money and significantly streamlined the HMBP submission and approval process. “Having the HMBPs uploaded to a database just made good sense.”

But SAFD did not stop there. They contacted Tait Environmental Management (Tait) to prepare their required hard copy Hazardous Materials Area Plan (Area Plan), but asked Tait to think about new ways of making the Area Plan more user-friendly. “The Area Plan has a ton of information, but it’s difficult to use during a response. For the most part, it sits on the rig and collects dust”

Tait listened to the needs of SAFD and, with direct input from them, created a web-based tool that incorporates their existing HMBP database and information from their Area Plan, and made it all accessible using a clickable map of the city… HazMAP was born!

HazMAP implementation was so effective that in 2005, the City of Santa Ana passed an ordinance requiring businesses to submit their business plans electronically!