BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 762
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Date of Hearing: May 10, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY AND TOXIC MATERIALS
Bob Wieckowski, Chair
AB 762 (Smyth) - As Introduced: February 17, 2011
As Proposed To Be Amended
SUBJECT : Medical waste.
SUMMARY : Deletes the requirement in current law that, in order
for it to be consolidated into a common container, medical
waste, bio-hazardous waste, and sharps waste must be treated by
extremely high heat technology. Authorizes the common
containers for these wastes to be reusable. Authorizes the
Department of Public Health (DPH) to approve "INCINERATION" as
one of the words that may be used on the label of a common
container.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the Medical Waste Management Act (MWMA),
administered by the Department of Public Health (DPH), to
regulate the management and handling of medical waste.
2)Establishes requirements for containing or storing medical
waste. Authorizes medical waste, bio-hazardous waste, and
sharps waste to be consolidated into a common container,
provided that the consolidated waste is treated by extremely
high heat technology.
3)Requires the common container to be labeled with the
bio-hazardous waste symbol and the words "HIGH HEAT ONLY," or
other label approved by DPH, on the lid and on the sides, to
ensure treatment of the bio-hazardous waste as required
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown.
COMMENTS :
Need for the bill : SB 419 (Scott, Chapter 477, Statutes of
2004) amended the California Medical Waste Management Act (MWMA)
(Health and Safety Code Section 118275) to allow consolidation
of medical waste into a common container provided that the waste
is treated by an approved extreme high heat technology and that
the container is labeled as required by the bill.
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According to the author's office, "Sewering, autoclave and
incineration treatments were recognized as acceptable treatment
methods at the time the ÝMWMA] was adopted and any other type of
treatment came to be known as alternative (to these recognized)
treatments. SB 419 was adopted in anticipation that plasma arc
alternative treatment technology would soon be brought into
operation in California. This and other forms of high heat
alternative treatment technologies have not developed due to
high development costs and the inability to operate them in a
cost-efficient manner.
Over time and with no alternative high heat treatment being
introduced, some hospitals used the SB 419 provision incorrectly
to consolidate sharps and pharmaceutical wastes into a single
container and sending it for incineration. Medical waste
incinerators typically operate at temperatures greater than 1300
degrees Fahrenheit. Sharps wastes can be treated by
incineration and pharmaceutical wastes that do not fall under
the provisions of the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery
Act (RCRA) must be treated by medical waste incineration, if
they come under the provisions of the MWMA or may be incinerated
if they are ungoverned. RCRA pharmaceutical wastes must be sent
to a federally licensed hazardous waste incinerator. The
incorrect application of the SB 419 provision was that the
medical waste incinerators were not "alternative" treatment
technologies and a strict interpretation of the MWMA."
Extremely high heat technology : According to legislative
analyses of SB 419, the author intended the bill to allow
hospitals that choose to use extremely high heat technologies to
combine wastes and create a more efficient on-site medical waste
disposal system. The author pointed to the plasma arc treatment
process as an example of high heat technology that might be used
to treat medical waste. According to a November 2000 paper of
the International Centre for Science and High Technology of the
United Nations Industrial Development Organization, in plasma
arc treatment, an electric current is directed through a
low-pressure gas stream, which creates a thermal plasma field.
These plasma arc fields can reach 5000 to 15000?C. The intense
high temperature zone can be used to dissociate waste into its
atomic elements by injecting the waste into the plasma, or by
using the plasma arc as a heat source for combustion.
The sponsor of AB 762, the California Hospital Association
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(CHA), argues that SB 419 was adopted in anticipation that
plasma arc alternative treatment technology would soon be
brought into operation in California. CHA notes that a plasma
arc technology company called InEntec had gained approval to
build a "Plasma Enhanced Melter" in Red Bluff, CA. According to
the InEntec Website, this technology transforms municipal,
industrial, medical, and hazardous waste into clean energy
products for transportation fuels, electricity generation and,
industrial products. CHA states that with the downturn of the
economy, the project was discontinued.
Support : According to CHA, "One of the main threats to
California's streams and other waterways is contamination from
pharmaceuticals. This occurs through leachate from landfills or
waste condensation from autoclaves. Treating Ýmedical waste,
bio-hazardous waste and sharps wastes] in one common container
which may be reusable and incinerated is better for the
environment and for hospital workers. The amount of time spent
deciding the appropriate segregation option at the point of
waste generation or the work site where care is rendered is also
reduced." Kaiser Permanente argues, "This bill will encourage
health care organizations to put medical waste in reusable
containers and reduce health care worker confusion over how to
safely and legally dispose of medical waste."
Double referral : This bill passed the Assembly Health Committee
on May 3, 2011, 18 - 0.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Hospital Association (sponsor)
Association of California Health Care Districts
Catholic Healthcare West
Kaiser Permanente
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Opposition
None received.
Analysis Prepared by : Shannon McKinney / E.S. & T.M. / (916)
319-3965