BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 762
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 762 (Smyth)
As Amended July 7, 2011
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |78-0 |(May 19, 2011) |SENATE: |37-0 |(July 14, |
| | | | | |2011) |
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Original Committee Reference: HEALTH
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.
The Senate amendments are technical in nature and define "sharps
waste" and "pharmaceutical wastes."
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill was substantially similar
to its current form.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS : 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 reusable containers be
used. Finally, the author states that this bill will rectify
current problems that are causing the Department of Public
AB 762
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Health (DPH) and local enforcement agencies of the Medical Waste
Management Act (MWMA) to cite hospitals for incorrectly using
the provisions in existing law.
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.
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 Web site, 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.
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.
Analysis Prepared by : Melanie Moreno / HEALTH / (916)
319-2097
FN: 0001721