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AB-444 Medical waste: home-generated medical waste.(2017-2018)



Current Version: 04/18/17 - Amended Assembly

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AB444:v98#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Assembly  April 18, 2017

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 444

Introduced by Assembly Members Ting and Gray

February 13, 2017

An act to amend Section 117904 of add Section 117906 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to public health.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 444, as amended, Ting. Medical waste: home-generated sharps medical waste.
The Medical Waste Management Act generally regulates the management and disposal of medical waste.
This bill would authorize the California Environmental Protection Agency to develop a statewide program for the collection, transportation, and disposal of home-generated medical waste, as defined.

The Medical Waste Management Act, among other things, authorizes a local agency to approve, as part of a medical waste management program, a location as a point of consolidation for the collection of home-generated sharps waste, which, after collection, is transported and treated as medical waste. The act requires sharps containers at a home-generated sharps consolidation point that are ready for disposal to not be held more than 7 days, except as provided.

This bill would extend the time period that sharps containers at a home-generated sharps consolidation point may be held from 7 to 14 days.

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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


SECTION 1.

 Section 117906 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

117906.
 (a) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
(1) “Home-generated medical waste” includes home-generated pharmaceutical waste and home-generated sharps waste.
(2) “Home-generated pharmaceutical waste” means a prescription or over-the-counter human or veterinary home-generated pharmaceutical, as defined in Section 109925 or in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, as amended (21 U.S.C. Sec. 321(g)(1)), that is a waste, as defined by Section 25124, derived from a household, including, but not limited to, a multifamily residence or household.
(3) “Home-generated sharps waste” means hypodermic needles, pen needles, intravenous needles, lancets, and other devices that are used to penetrate the skin for the delivery of medications, that are wastes, as defined pursuant to Section 25124, derived from a household, including, but not limited to, a multifamily residence or household.
(4) “Stakeholder” means a person, including, but not limited to, a consumer, retailer, distributor, or healthcare provider or facility, who will be participating in a program developed pursuant to subdivision (b).
(b) (1) The California Environmental Protection Agency, in consultation with stakeholders, may develop a statewide program for the collection, transportation, and disposal of home-generated medical waste that complies with federal and state laws regulating the collection, transportation, and disposal of medical waste.
(2) The program developed pursuant to paragraph (1) shall not be implemented without appropriation by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act.

SECTION 1.Section 117904 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:
117904.

(a)In addition to the consolidation points authorized pursuant to Section 118147, the enforcement agency may approve a location as a point of consolidation for the collection of home-generated sharps waste, which, after collection, shall be transported and treated as medical waste.

(b)A consolidation location approved pursuant to this section shall be known as a “home-generated sharps consolidation point.”

(c)A home-generated sharps consolidation point is not subject to the requirements of Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 118275), to the permit or registration requirements of this part, or to any permit or registration fees, with regard to the activity of consolidating home-generated sharps waste pursuant to this section.

(d)A home-generated sharps consolidation point shall comply with all of the following requirements:

(1)All sharps waste shall be placed in sharps containers.

(2)Sharps containers ready for disposal shall not be held for more than 14 days without the written approval of the enforcement agency.

(e)An operator of a home-generated sharps consolidation point approved pursuant to this section shall not be considered the generator of that waste, but shall be listed on the tracking documents in compliance with the United States Postal Service requirements for waste shipped through mail back and on the tracking documents as required by the department.

(f)The medical waste treatment facility which treats the sharps waste subject to this section shall maintain the tracking document required by Sections 118040 and 118165 with regard to that sharps waste.