BILL NUMBER: SB 423 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
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
INTRODUCED BY Senator Bates
FEBRUARY 25, 2015
An act to amend, repeal, and add Section 118215 of, and
to add and repeal Section 118216 of, add Section
25218.14 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to hazardous
waste.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 423, as amended, Bates. Pharmaceutical and consumer
Consumer product waste: management.
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.
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.
Existing law also provides for regulation of the
disposition of hazardous waste by the Department of Toxic Substances
Control. A violation of these provisions is a crime.
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.
Because a violation of these provisions would be a crime, this
bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
This bill would require the Department of Toxic Substances Control
to convene a Retail Waste Working Group, as prescribed, to
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.
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.
The bill would require the working group to identify a
list of issues for discussion and resolution by March 1, 2017, and
to report consensus these
recommendations to the Legislature by June 1, 2017.
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 no .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 25218.14 is added to the
Health and Safety Code , to read:
25218.14. (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.
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.