Amended in Assembly May 8, 2013

Amended in Assembly March 12, 2013

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 333


Introduced by Assembly Member Wieckowski

February 13, 2013


An act to amend Sections 117695, 117710, 117765,begin delete 117918,end delete 118027, andbegin delete 18240end deletebegin insert 118240end insert of, and to repeal and add Section 117630 of, the Health and Safety Code, relating to medical waste.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 333, as amended, Wieckowski. Medical waste.

(1) Existing law, the Medical Waste Management Act, regulates the disposal of medical waste, including requiring specified biohazard materials to be disposed of in biohazard bags and requiring specified treatment for medical waste. Transportation, storage, treatment, or disposal of medical waste in a manner not authorized by the act is a crime.

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.

(2) Existing law defines a medical waste management plan as a document that is completed by generators of medical waste, as specified, on forms provided by the State Department of Public Health or a local agency.

This bill would define a medical waste management plan as a document that describes how the medical waste generated at a generator’s facility shall be segregated, handled, stored, packaged, treated, or shipped for treatment, as applicable, and would only require the plan to be on department forms if those forms are provided by the department or local agency.

(3) Existing law exempts from specified provisions of the Medical Waste Management Act a person who is authorized to collect solid waste and who unknowingly transports medical waste to a solid waste facility, incidental to the collection of solid waste.

This bill would exempt those persons from the entire act, with regard to that waste, and would require the solid waste transporter to contact the originating generator of the medical waste to respond to the facility to provide ultimate proper disposal of the medical waste.

(4) Existing law requires that animals that die of infectious diseases be treated as medical waste, as specified, if, in the opinion of the attending veterinarian or local health officer, the carcass presents a danger of infection to humans.

This bill would require thebegin delete carcasesend deletebegin insert carcassesend insert of animals that have died of infectious diseases or that have been euthanized because of suspected exposure to infectious disease to be treated with a treatment technology approved by the department if, in the opinion of the attending veterinarian or local health officer, the carcass presents a danger of infection to humans. By expanding the definition of a crime, this bill would create a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

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SECTION 1.  

Section 117630 of the Health and Safety Code
2 is repealed.

3

SEC. 2.  

Section 117630 is added to the Health and Safety Code,
4to read:

5

117630.  

“Biohazard bag” means a disposable film bag that is
6impervious to moisture. The film bags that are used for transport
7shall be marked and certified by the manufacturer as having passed
8the tests prescribed for tear resistance in the American Society for
9Testing Materials (ASTM) D1922, “Standard Test Method for
10Propagation Tear Resistance of Plastic Film and Thin Sheeting by
11Pendulum Method” and for impact resistance in ASTM D 1709,
12“Standard Test Methods for Impact Resistance of Plastic Film by
13the Free-Falling Dart Method,” as those documents are published
14on January 1, 2014. The film bag shall meet an impact resistance
15of 165 grams and a tearing resistance of 480 grams in both parallel
16and perpendicular planes with respect to the length of the bag. The
17color of the bag shall be red, except when other colors are used to
18further segregate the waste stream, including for trace
19chemotherapy wastes, laboratory wastes, and other subsets of the
20waste stream. If additional colors are used other than the standard
21red bag, the color assignments shall be designated in the facility’s
22medical waste management plan.

23

SEC. 3.  

Section 117695 of the Health and Safety Code is
24amended to read:

25

117695.  

Medical waste that has been treated in accordance
26with the provisions of the Medical Waste Management Act,
27Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 118215), and that is not
28otherwise hazardous, shall thereafter be considered solid waste as
29defined in Section 40191 of the Public Resources Code and not
30medical waste.

31

SEC. 4.  

Section 117710 of the Health and Safety Code is
32amended to read:

33

117710.  

“Medical waste management plan” means a document
34that is completed by generators of medical waste that describes
35how the medical waste generated at their facility shall be
36segregated, handled, stored, packaged, treated, or shipped for
37treatment, as applicable, pursuant to Section 117935 for small
38quantity generators and Section 117960 for large quantity
P4    1generators, on forms prepared by the enforcement agency, if those
2forms are provided by the enforcement agency.

3

SEC. 5.  

Section 117765 of the Health and Safety Code is
4amended to read:

5

117765.  

“Storage” means the holding of medical wastes, in
6compliance with the Medical Waste Management Act, including
7Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 118275), at a designated
8accumulation area, offsite point of consolidation, transfer station,
9other registered facility, or in a vehicle detached from its means
10of locomotion.

begin delete11

SEC. 6.  

Section 117918 of the Health and Safety Code is
12amended to read:

13

117918.  

Medical waste shall be treated using treatment
14technologies approved by the department in accordance with
15Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 118215).

end delete
16

begin deleteSEC. 7.end delete
17begin insertSEC. 6.end insert  

Section 118027 of the Health and Safety Code is
18amended to read:

19

118027.  

A person who is authorized to collect solid waste, as
20defined in Section 40191 of the Public Resources Code, who
21unknowingly transports medical waste to a solid waste facility, as
22defined in Section 40194 of the Public Resources Code, incidental
23to the collection of solid waste is exempt from the provisions of
24the Medical Waste Management Act with regard to that waste. If
25a solid waste transporter discovers that he or she has hauled
26untreated medical waste to a landfill or materials recovery facility,
27he or she shall contact the originating generator of the medical
28waste to respond to the landfill or recovery facility to provide
29ultimate proper disposal of the medical waste.

30

begin deleteSEC. 8.end delete
31begin insertSEC. 7.end insert  

Section 118240 of the Health and Safety Code is
32amended to read:

33

118240.  

Notwithstanding Section 9141 of the Food and
34Agricultural Code, animals that die from infectious diseases or
35that are euthanized because they are suspected of having been
36exposed to infectious disease shall be treated with a treatment
37technology approved by the department for that use if, in the
38opinion of the attending veterinarian or local health officer, the
39carcass presents a danger of infection to humans.

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begin deleteSEC. 9.end delete
2begin insertSEC. 8.end insert  

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
3Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
4the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
5district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
6infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
7for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of
8the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within
9the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
10Constitution.



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