Amended in Assembly June 30, 2016

Amended in Assembly June 21, 2016

Amended in Senate August 31, 2015

Amended in Senate July 6, 2015

Amended in Senate June 3, 2015

Senate Bill No. 423

Introduced by Senator Bates

February 25, 2015

An act to begin delete amend, repeal, and add Section 118215 of, and to add and repeal Section 118216 of, end delete begin insert add Section 25218.14 to end insert the Health and Safety Code, relating to hazardous waste.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 423, as amended, Bates. begin delete Pharmaceutical and consumer end delete begin insert Consumer end insert product waste: management.

begin delete Existing law, the Medical Waste Management Act, administered by the State Department of Public Health, regulates the management, handling, and disposal of medical waste, as defined, including pharmaceutical waste. Existing law requires a person generating or treating medical waste to ensure that the medical waste is treated by a specified method, thereby rendering it a solid waste, before disposal, except in prescribed circumstances. end delete begin insert Existing law requires the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, in consultation with the Department of Toxic Substances Control, to develop and implement a public information program to provide uniform and consistent information on the proper disposal of hazardous substances found in and around homes. end insert Existing law begin delete also end delete provides for regulation of the disposition of hazardous waste by the Department of Toxic Substances Control. begin delete A violation of these provisions is a crime. end delete

begin delete

This bill, until January 1, 2022, would require a pharmaceutical that is offered for sale without a prescription, upon discard, to be managed in accordance the hazardous waste provisions if the pharmaceutical is a hazardous waste, or, if the pharmaceutical is not a hazardous waste, in accordance with the above-described medical waste provisions or specified solid waste provisions.

end delete begin delete

Because a violation of these provisions would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

end delete

This bill would require the Department of Toxic Substances Control to convene a Retail Waste Working Group, as prescribed, to begin delete identify regulatory and policy directives that need clarification or specification when applied to consumer products and to adopt consensus recommendations to facilitate and increase sustainable practices and waste reduction opportunities for consumer products and to encourage safe and efficient options for managing the flow of surplus household consumer products through the reverse supply chain. end delete begin insert consider and make recommendations relating to requirements for the management of consumer products that are wastes, waste reduction opportunities for consumer products, and hazardous waste management requirements in the retail industry, as specified. end insert The bill would require the working group begin delete to identify a list of issues for discussion and resolution by March 1, 2017, and end delete to report begin delete consensus end delete begin insert these end insert recommendations to the Legislature by June 1, 2017.

begin delete

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.

end delete begin delete

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

end delete

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program:  begin delete yes end delete begin insert no end insert .

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

begin insert

begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 25218.14 is added to the end insert begin insert Health and
Safety Code end insert begin insert , to read: end insert

begin insert

begin insert 25218.14. end insert   

(a) The department shall convene a Retail Waste
Working Group comprised of representatives of large retailers,
small retailers, district attorneys, certified unified program
agencies, nongovernment organizations, other relevant state
agencies as determined by the department, manufacturers, reverse
distributors, and other stakeholders to consider and make
recommendations on the following:

(1) Regulatory and policy requirements that may be considered
confusing or may need clarification or specification when applied
to the overall management of consumer products that are wastes,
including those that are considered hazardous wastes when the
waste determination is made.

(2) Consensus policy or regulatory recommendations to
facilitate and increase waste reduction opportunities for consumer
products and to clarify hazardous waste management requirements
in the retail industry to encourage safe and efficient options for
managing waste and surplus consumer products.

(b) By June 1, 2017, the Retail Waste Working Group shall
report the recommendations made pursuant to subdivision (a) to
the Legislature.

end insert

begin delete

SECTION 1.  

Section 118215 of the Health and Safety Code
is amended to read:

118215.  

(a) Except as provided in subdivisions (b) and (c) and
Section 118216, a person generating or treating medical waste
shall ensure that the medical waste is treated by one of the
following methods, thereby rendering it solid waste, as defined in
Section 40191 of the Public Resources Code, before disposal:

(1) (A) Incineration at a permitted medical waste treatment
facility in a controlled-air, multichamber incinerator, or other
method of incineration approved by the department that provides
complete combustion of the waste into carbonized or mineralized
ash.

(B) Treatment with an alternative technology approved pursuant
to paragraph (3), which, due to the extremely high temperatures
of treatment in excess of 1,300 degrees Fahrenheit, has received
express approval from the department.

(2) Steam sterilization at a permitted medical waste treatment
facility or by other sterilization, in accordance with all of the
following operating procedures for steam sterilizers or other
sterilization:

(A) Standard written operating procedures shall be established
for biological indicators, or for other indicators of adequate
sterilization approved by the department, for each steam sterilizer,
including time, temperature, pressure, type of waste, type of
container, closure on container, pattern of loading, water content,
and maximum load quantity.

(B) Recording or indicating thermometers shall be checked
during each complete cycle to ensure the attainment of 121 degrees
centigrade (250 degrees Fahrenheit) for at least one-half hour,
depending on the quantity and density of the load, to achieve
sterilization of the entire load. Thermometers, thermocouples, or
other monitoring devices identified in the facility operating plan
shall be checked for calibration annually. Records of the calibration
checks shall be maintained as part of the facility’s files and records
for a period of two years or for the period specified in the
regulations.

(C) Heat-sensitive tape, or another method acceptable to the
enforcement agency, shall be used on each biohazard bag or sharps
container that is processed onsite to indicate that the waste went
through heat treatment. If the biohazard bags or sharps containers
are placed in a large liner bag within the autoclave for treatment,
heat-sensitive tape or another method acceptable to the enforcement
agency only needs to be placed on the liner bag and not on every
hazardous waste bag or sharps container being treated.

(D) The biological indicator Geobacillus stearothermophilus,
or other indicator of adequate sterilization as approved by the
department, shall be placed at the center of a load processed under
standard operating conditions at least monthly to confirm the
attainment of adequate sterilization conditions.

(E) Records of the procedures specified in subparagraphs (A),
(B), and (D) shall be maintained for a period of not less than two
years.

(3) (A) Other alternative medical waste treatment methods that
are both of the following:

(i) Approved by the department.

(ii) Result in the destruction of pathogenic microorganisms.

(B) Any alternative medical waste treatment method proposed
to the department shall be evaluated by the department and either
approved or rejected pursuant to the criteria specified in this
subdivision.

(b) Fluid blood or fluid blood products may be discharged to a
public sewage system without treatment if its discharge is
consistent with waste discharge requirements placed on the public
sewage system by the California regional water quality control
board with jurisdiction.

(c) (1) A medical waste that is a biohazardous laboratory waste,
as defined in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b)
of Section 117690, may be treated by a chemical disinfection if
the waste is liquid or semiliquid and the chemical disinfection
method is recognized by the National Institutes of Health, the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the American
Biological Safety Association, and if the use of chemical
disinfection as a treatment method is identified in the site’s medical
waste management plan.

(2) If the waste is not treated by chemical disinfection, in
accordance with paragraph (1), the waste shall be treated by one
of the methods specified in subdivision (a).

(3) Following treatment by chemical disinfection, the medical
waste may be discharged to the public sewage system if the
discharge is consistent with waste discharge requirements placed
on the public sewage system by the California regional water
quality control board, and the discharge is in compliance with the
requirements imposed by the owner or operator of the public
sewage system. If the chemical disinfection of the medical waste
causes the waste to become a hazardous waste, the waste shall be
managed in accordance with the requirements of Chapter 6.5
(commencing with Section 25100) of Division 20.

(d) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2022,
and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
is enacted before January 1, 2022, deletes or extends that date.

SEC. 2.  

Section 118215 is added to the Health and Safety Code,
to read:

118215.  

(a) Except as provided in subdivisions (b) and (c), a
person generating or treating medical waste shall ensure that the
medical waste is treated by one of the following methods, thereby
rendering it solid waste, as defined in Section 40191 of the Public
Resources Code, before disposal:

(1) (A) Incineration at a permitted medical waste treatment
facility in a controlled-air, multichamber incinerator, or other
method of incineration approved by the department that provides
complete combustion of the waste into carbonized or mineralized
ash.

(B) Treatment with an alternative technology approved pursuant
to paragraph (3), which, due to the extremely high temperatures
of treatment in excess of 1,300 degrees Fahrenheit, has received
express approval from the department.

(2) Steam sterilization at a permitted medical waste treatment
facility or by other sterilization, in accordance with all of the
following operating procedures for steam sterilizers or other
sterilization:

(A) Standard written operating procedures shall be established
for biological indicators, or for other indicators of adequate
sterilization approved by the department, for each steam sterilizer,
including time, temperature, pressure, type of waste, type of
container, closure on container, pattern of loading, water content,
and maximum load quantity.

(B) Recording or indicating thermometers shall be checked
during each complete cycle to ensure the attainment of 121 degrees
centigrade (250 degrees Fahrenheit) for at least one-half hour,
depending on the quantity and density of the load, to achieve
sterilization of the entire load. Thermometers, thermocouples, or
other monitoring devices identified in the facility operating plan
shall be checked for calibration annually. Records of the calibration
checks shall be maintained as part of the facility’s files and records
for a period of two years or for the period specified in the
regulations.

(C) Heat-sensitive tape, or another method acceptable to the
enforcement agency, shall be used on each biohazard bag or sharps
container that is processed onsite to indicate that the waste went
through heat treatment. If the biohazard bags or sharps containers
are placed in a large liner bag within the autoclave for treatment,
heat-sensitive tape or another method acceptable to the enforcement
agency only needs to be placed on the liner bag and not on every
hazardous waste bag or sharps container being treated.

(D) The biological indicator Geobacillus stearothermophilus,
or other indicator of adequate sterilization as approved by the
department, shall be placed at the center of a load processed under
standard operating conditions at least monthly to confirm the
attainment of adequate sterilization conditions.

(E) Records of the procedures specified in subparagraphs (A),
(B), and (D) shall be maintained for a period of not less than two
years.

(3) (A) Other alternative medical waste treatment methods that
are both of the following:

(i) Approved by the department.

(ii) Result in the destruction of pathogenic microorganisms.

(B) Any alternative medical waste treatment method proposed
to the department shall be evaluated by the department and either
approved or rejected pursuant to the criteria specified in this
subdivision.

(b) Fluid blood or fluid blood products may be discharged to a
public sewage system without treatment if its discharge is
consistent with waste discharge requirements placed on the public
sewage system by the California regional water quality control
board with jurisdiction.

(c) (1) A medical waste that is a biohazardous laboratory waste,
as defined in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b)
of Section 117690, may be treated by a chemical disinfection if
the waste is liquid or semiliquid and the chemical disinfection
method is recognized by the National Institutes of Health, the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the American
Biological Safety Association, and if the use of chemical
disinfection as a treatment method is identified in the site’s medical
waste management plan.

(2) If the waste is not treated by chemical disinfection, in
accordance with paragraph (1), the waste shall be treated by one
of the methods specified in subdivision (a).

(3) Following treatment by chemical disinfection, the medical
waste may be discharged to the public sewage system if the
discharge is consistent with waste discharge requirements placed
on the public sewage system by the California regional water
quality control board, and the discharge is in compliance with the
requirements imposed by the owner or operator of the public
sewage system. If the chemical disinfection of the medical waste
causes the waste to become a hazardous waste, the waste shall be
managed in accordance with the requirements of Chapter 6.5
(commencing with Section 25100) of Division 20.

(d) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2022.

SEC. 3.  

Section 118216 is added to the Health and Safety Code,
to read:

118216.  

(a) Notwithstanding Section 117690, a pharmaceutical
that is offered for sale without a prescription shall, upon discard,
be managed in accordance with Chapter 6.5 (commencing with
Section 25100) of Division 20 if it is a hazardous waste as defined
in Section 25117 and implementing regulations. If the
pharmaceutical is not a hazardous waste, it shall be managed in
accordance with one of the following:

(1) Section 118215.

(2) Provisions relating to solid waste pursuant to Division 30
(commencing with Section 40000) of the Public Resources Code.

(b) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2022,
and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
is enacted before January 1, 2022, deletes or extends that date.

SEC. 4.  

(a) The Department of Toxic Substances Control shall
convene a Retail Waste Working Group comprised of
representatives of large retailers, small retailers, district attorneys,
certified unified program agencies, nongovernment organizations,
the State Department of Public Health, manufacturers, reverse
distributors, and other stakeholders to do both of the following:

(1) Identify regulatory and policy directives that need
clarification or specification when applied to consumer products.

(2) Adopt consensus recommendations to facilitate and increase
sustainable practices and waste reduction opportunities for
consumer products and to encourage safe and efficient options for
managing the flow of surplus household consumer products through
the reverse supply chain.

(b) By March 1, 2017, the Retail Waste Working Group shall
identify a list of issues for discussion and resolution and, thereafter,
shall meet regularly to assist and advise the Legislature, and shall
report the consensus recommendations to the Legislature by June
1, 2017.

SEC. 5.  

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

end delete