St. Clair County

St. Clair County Health Department, Environmental Health Division

In short

St. Clair County Health Department, Environmental Health Division issues 4 permits we publish for St. Clair County, last verified 2026-10-24. Each carries the fee as the agency publishes it, with a link to the schedule it was read from.

What this agency issues

Permits required, with issuing agency, fee, renewal term and the date each record was last verified against its source
Permit	Issuing agency	Fee	Renews	Last checked
Retail Food Establishment Permit	St. Clair County Health Department, Environmental Health Division	$168–$613 per calendar-year permit, 2026 fees by size and risk category (Category 1 / 2 / 3): Large $613 / $602 / $573; Medium $390 / $362 / $344; Small $223 / $194 / $168. Concession operations (open fewer than 95 days a year) and not-for-profit establishments pay 50% of the category fee; each additional kitchen, additional mobile food establishment or departmental inspection within the same facility $84; new establishments permitted between July 1 and December 31 pay 50%; no fee for food pantries and self-operated school food service	calendar year; expires December 31	2026-10-24
Retail Food Establishment Plan Reviewonly if it applies to you	St. Clair County Health Department, Environmental Health Division	A plan review fee is charged based on the establishment's risk category under County Code §19-4-4(E)(4) and Attachment D of the food ordinance; contact the Health Department's Environmental Health Division at (618) 233-7769 for the current amount.	one-time, per construction, remodel, conversion or ownership change	2026-10-24
Temporary Food Event Permit / Event Registrationonly if it applies to you	St. Clair County Health Department, Environmental Health Division	$0–$194 per vendor per event (2026 application): single day or two day $0.00; 3-day temporary permit $81.00; four to fourteen day event (consecutive days at the same location) $194.00	one event, up to 14 consecutive days at one location; not transferable or renewable	2026-10-24
Private Sewage Disposal Installation / Pumping Contractor Registrationonly if it applies to you	St. Clair County Health Department, Environmental Health Division	$100 per contractor per year (installation contractor and/or pumping contractor)	expires December 31 of the year issued; certificates issued in December expire December 31 of the following year	2026-10-24

Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.

About each permit

Retail Food Establishment Permit

The county food ordinance applies to food establishments "within the County townships served by the St. Clair County Health Department, whether or not said establishments are located within the corporate limits of any Municipality", and §19-4-2 states: "This Chapter shall not apply to the four (4) townships served by the East Side Public Health District." The Food Safety page names those as Canteen, Centreville, East St. Louis and Stites townships, which contact the East Side Health District at 618-271-8722. The 2026 annual fee is set by size and risk category: Large $613, $602 or $573; Medium $390, $362 or $344; Small $223, $194 or $168 for Category 1, 2 or 3. Section 19-4-4(E)(2)(C) places "food trucks, self-contained push carts, mobile retail vendors" in the Small class. Concession operations open fewer than 95 days a year and not-for-profit establishments pay 50% of the category fee, each additional kitchen, additional mobile food establishment or departmental inspection is $84, and new establishments permitted July 1 to December 31 pay 50%; food pantries and self-operated school food service pay no fee. All figures are per Attachment C of the St. Clair County Retail Food Ordinance (County Code Chapter 19, Article IV, as amended by Ord. No. 24-1301, adopted October 28, 2024, §19-4-7 "Effective – January 1, 2025"), the 2026 column of the ordinance's even-year fee table, as linked from the Health Department's Food Safety page. The Food Safety page lists daycares (adult and child) among the operations it permits, while §19-4-3(J)(4) states that a food establishment does not include "A kitchen in a private home, such as an in-home daycare provider".

Retail Food Establishment Plan Review

County Code §19-4-4(E)(4) requires plans and specifications to be submitted to the Health Department for review and approval before construction, extensive remodeling or conversion of a food service establishment or retail food store begins, and also when an establishment is new to the address or changes ownership with a pause or delay in operations. The submission includes the layout, equipment, proposed menu, hours, any required HACCP plans, and current Food Protection Manager and allergen training certificates, and a pre-operational inspection follows. The ordinance states that a fee for the review of plans is charged based on the risk category (Attachment D). The Food Safety page lists the plan review steps and offers the Retail Food Establishment Plan Review Application by request via phone or email; contact the Environmental Health Division at (618) 233-7769 for the application and the current fee.

Temporary Food Event Permit / Event Registration

Under County Code §19-4-4(E)(6), registration is required for any event that is in operation for one or two days at one location, and a temporary event permit is required for any event in operation for three to fourteen days; each vendor pays a fee to register for the event. The Health Department's 2026 Temporary Permit — Food Service Sanitation Permit Application lists a single day or two day event at $0.00, a 3-day temporary permit at $81.00 and a four to fourteen day event (consecutive days at the same location) at $194.00, and states: "PERMITS ISSUED TO A FACILITY ARE NOT TRANSFERABLE or REFUNDABLE." The ordinance requires a separate permit or registration for each event and allows mobile units without installed plumbing only at temporary events (§19-4-3(Q)). The permit applies in the townships the Health Department serves, not in Canteen, Centreville, East St. Louis or Stites townships.

Private Sewage Disposal Installation / Pumping Contractor Registration

County Code §19-2-5(A) requires an annual registration of every private sewage disposal system installation contractor and pumping contractor operating within the limits of St. Clair County. The Health Department issues the registration certificate to applicants who have passed the State written examination and hold the State of Illinois license for that work, and collects a $100 annual registration fee when the application is submitted. Certificates expire December 31 of the year issued, except those issued in December, which expire December 31 of the following year. The Health Department's contractor application shows "LICENSE FEE: $100.00", and its Water & Private Sewage page states that "St. Clair County licenses private sewage installers, private sewage pumpers, private sewage pumper trucks and aeration service providers."

Contact

Jurisdiction: St. Clair County
Phone: (618) 233-7769
Website: scchealthdept.com/environmental-programs/food-safety/

Contact details are taken from the agency’s own site or its published fee schedule. Where we have not verified a phone number we leave it blank rather than guess.

Sources

Every fee and term above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown.

Food SafetySt. Clair County Health Department · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-24
Health Dept - Food Ordinance (County Code)St. Clair County, Illinois · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-24
Health Dept - Private Sewage Disposal (County Code Chapter 19, Article II)St. Clair County, Illinois · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-24
Private Sewage Disposal System Contractor Application (2023; revised 11/30/2022)St. Clair County Health Department · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-24
Retail Food Ordinance, Code Chapter 19 Article IV (Ord. No. 24-1301, effective January 1, 2025)St. Clair County Health Department · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-24
Temporary Permit — Food Service Sanitation Permit Application (2026)St. Clair County Health Department · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-24
Water & Private SewageSt. Clair County Health Department · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-24

Other offices serving St. Clair County

The full permit list for this jurisdiction

Business licenses in St. Clair County

Industry permit lists that include this agency

Illinois jurisdictions

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