BILL NUMBER: AB 333	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Wieckowski

                        FEBRUARY 13, 2013

   An act to repeal and add Section 117630 of the Health and Safety
Code, relating to medical waste.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 333, as introduced, Wieckowski. Biohazard bags.
   Existing law regulates the disposal of medical waste and requires
specified biohazard materials to be disposed of in biohazard bags.
Existing law defines a biohazard bag as a disposable red bag that has
the strength to preclude ripping, tearing, or bursting under normal
conditions of usage and handling and that is constructed of material
of sufficient single thickness strength to pass the 165-gram dropped
dart impact resistance test, as specified, and certified by the bag
manufacturer.
   This bill would change the definition of a biohazard bag to a film
bag certified by the manufacturer as having passed specified tests
for tear resistance and impact resistance. The bill would require a
biohazard bag to be red unless other colors are used to further
segregate the waste stream. If additional colors are used, the bill
would require the color assignments to be designated in the facility'
s medical waste management plan.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 117630 of the Health and Safety Code is
repealed. 
   117630.  "Biohazard bag" means a disposable red bag that is
impervious to moisture and has a strength sufficient to preclude
ripping, tearing, or bursting under normal conditions of usage and
handling of the waste-filled bag. A biohazard bag shall be
constructed of material of sufficient single thickness strength to
pass the 165-gram dropped dart impact resistance test as prescribed
by Standard D 1709-85 of the American Society for Testing and
Materials and certified by the bag manufacturer. 
  SEC. 2.  Section 117630 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to
read:
   117630.  "Biohazard bag" means a disposable film bag that is
impervious to moisture. The film bags that are used for transport
shall be marked and certified by the manufacturer as having passed
the tests prescribed for tear resistence in the American Society for
Testing Materials (ASTM) D1922, "Standard Test Method for Propagation
Tear Resistance of Plastic Film and Thin Sheeting by Pendulum Method"
and for impact resistence in ASTM D 1709, "Standard Test Methods for
Impact Resistance of Plastic Film by the Free-Falling Dart Method,"
as those documents are published on January 1, 2014. The film bag
shall meet an impact resistence of 165 grams and a tearing resistence
of 480 grams in both parallel and perpendicular planes with respect
to the length of the bag. The color of the bag shall be red, except
when other colors are used to further segregate the waste stream,
including for trace chemotherapy wastes, laboratory wastes, and other
subsets of the waste stream. If additional colors are used other
than the standard red bag, the color assignments shall be designated
in the facility's medical waste management plan.