Frequently Asked Questions

What is environmental health?

1. Environmental health refers to the well-being of the public with respect to the things that affect our daily lives through our surroundings. Water quality, air quality, foodstuffs, housing, pollution, hazardous wastes, toxic wastes, smoking, recreational areas, etc.

  What does the Environmental Health Department (EHD) do?

1. The Environmental Health Department inspects restaurants, mobile food units, employee housing, hotels and motels, public water systems, dairies, wells, underground storage tanks, and enforces environmental health regulations associated with many other business and construction activities. The EHD works with Emergency Response teams in the event of a hazardous waste incident. As the Certified Unified Program Agency (CUPA), the EHD works with other agencies to coordinate hazardous materials program inspection and permitting activities.

  Where are you located?

1. The Environmental Health Department is located at 1868 E. Hazelton Ave. in Stockton Our main phone number is (209) 468-3420.

  How can I find out if a restaurant I want to visit has been inspected and is OK?

1. The EHD conducts annual inspections of all restaurants in the County. Restaurants are required, by regulation, to allow you to see their most recent inspection report. Some restaurants even post their reports for their customers to see.  You can also check our online food facility inspection page by clicking here.

 How can I find out about food recalls or health warnings?

1. Check our website’s home page for current environmental health news and warnings. There’s also a section on previous articles.

  I had a bad experience at a restaurant recently. How do I make the EHD aware of the problem?

1. Our website’s home page has links for you to register a complaint. Once you provide us with the information, we will check out the complaint and let you know what we find out.

  I need information on getting a boring permit.

1. In order to issue a boring permit, we need certain papers to be completed, signed and returned to us for review and approval.  Click here to find out what you need to do: Paperwork for Drilling