BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 762
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 3, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HEALTH
William W. Monning, Chair
AB 762 (Smyth) - As Amended: March 31, 2011
SUBJECT : Public health: medical waste.
SUMMARY : Deletes a provision in existing law that requires a
specified extremely high heat technology (plasma arc technology)
to be used on medical waste, biohazardous waste, and sharps
waste in order for it to be consolidated into a common
container, in effect permitting that waste to be incinerated in
a common container. Permits that common container to be
reusable.
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. Permits medical waste, biohazardous waste, and sharps
waste to be consolidated into a common container provided that
the consolidated waste is treated by plasma arc technology.
FISCAL EFFECT : None.
COMMENTS :
1)PURPOSE OF THIS BILL . According to the author, from a
scientific and operational standpoint, the consolidation of
sharps and certain pharmaceutical wastes into a single
reusable container for treatment in a medical waste
incinerator provides several advantages. First, treating
sharps waste by incineration is better for the environment and
worker safety at the treatment plant than allowing the unused
residual pharmaceuticals in the sharps to be aerosolized by
autoclave treatment. The author states that additionally,
waste water treatment authorities no longer want
pharmaceutical wastes to go into their sewers either through
direct discharge or via leachate from landfills or waste
condensation from autoclaves and that landfill operations do
not want pharmaceutical leachate from autoclave treated
sharps. The author contends that this bill will also reduce
plastics going into the waste streams by requiring that
AB 762
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reusable containers be used. Finally, the author states that
this bill will rectify current problems that are causing DPH
and local enforcement agencies of the MWMA to cite hospitals
for incorrectly using the provisions existing law.
2)BACKGROUND . SB 419 (Scott), Chapter 477, Statutes of 2004,
changes the MWMA to allow consolidation of certain medical
waste if it is sent for high heat treatment of at least 1300?F
in an "alternative treatment technology" (specifically, plasma
arc technology). Sewering, autoclave, and incineration
treatments were recognized as acceptable treatment methods at
the time the MWMA was adopted and any other type of treatment
came to be known as alternative (to these recognized)
treatments. Over time and with no alternative high heat
treatment being introduced in California, some hospitals used
the SB 419 provision incorrectly to consolidate sharps and
pharmaceutical wastes into a single container and send it for
incineration. The incorrect application of the SB 419
provision was that the medical waste incinerators were not
"alternative" treatment technologies under a strict
interpretation of the MWMA.
According to background materials submitted by the author,
hospitals had looked forward to implementation of plasma arc
treatment and the provisions of SB 419 to reduce their medical
waste handling costs through consolidation of the wastes.
This provision would have reduced the amount of professional
staff time spent deciding how to properly segregate the
medical waste stream components as well as time devoted to
training staff in proper segregation techniques.
3)PLASMA ARC TECHNOLOGY . 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. According to information provided by the sponsor
of this bill, the California Hospital Association (CHA), a
Plasma Arc company called InEntec had 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
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economy, the project was shelved.
4)SUPPORT . CHA states that one of the main threats to
California's streams and other waterways is contamination from
pharmaceutics, which occurs through leachate from landfills or
waste condensation from autoclaves. CHA states that treating
those wastes in one common container, which may be reusable,
is better for the environment and for hospital workers. The
Association of California Health Care Districts writes that
this bill provides overdue clarity to the appropriate handling
of medical waste, while affording appropriate safety for
medical personnel as well as protecting the environment.
Catholic Healthcare West writes that this bill will reduce the
amount of time spent deciding the appropriate segregation
option at the point of waste generation, especially where care
is rendered and the risk of occupational exposure and error by
providing a direct, accessible single container at the point
of generation will be reduced. Kaiser Permanente writes that
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.
5)DOUBLE REFERRAL . This bill is double referred. Should it
pass out of this committee, it will be referred to the
Assembly Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic
Materials.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Hospital Association (sponsor)
Association of California Health Care Districts
Catholic Healthcare West
Kaiser Permanente
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Melanie Moreno / HEALTH / (916)
319-2097