S-4267               _______________________________________________

                                         SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL NO. 6264

                        _______________________________________________

                                                                            C 171 L 88

State of Washington                              50th Legislature                              1988 Regular Session

By Senate Committee on Environment & Natural Resources (originally sponsored bySenators Metcalf, Kreidler, Smith and Anderson)

Read first time 1/25/88.

AN ACT Relating to the management and disposal of infectious wastes; creating new sections; and providing an expiration date.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.     The legislature finds that the potential risks to the public health from inadequate management, treatment, and disposal of waste capable of producing an infectious disease have not been adequately assessed to date; that the sources for such material entering the waste stream are diverse and increasing, particularly as more home health care will increase the generation of residential wastes which may be capable of transmitting infectious diseases; that new technologies and regulatory requirements for the management, treatment, and disposal of solid waste may affect the level of risks regarding infectious wastes in specific circumstances; and that infectious wastes may ultimately be disposed of in a variety of media, including landfills, sewer systems, or as airborne particulate matter.  Therefore, the legislature declares that it is in the interests of public health to expeditiously assess the risks regarding management and disposal of infectious wastes and to take necessary state action to ensure that such risks are addressed.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.     (1) The department of ecology shall prepare and transmit to the legislature by January 1, 1990, a report containing:

          (a)  An assessment of the risks to public health due to the presence of waste capable of producing an infectious disease, including an identification of the diseases presenting the most serious risks, an identification of the components of the waste stream having the highest risks to public health, and the sources of such waste.  In conducting this assessment the department of ecology shall particularly review the sources of infectious waste from health care facilities and sources of infectious waste from home health care activities;

          (b)  A review of current waste management, transport, treatment, and disposal practices as they relate to potentially infectious wastes, including the adequacy of existing state, local, and federal regulatory programs to assure protection of public health;

          (c)  A review of preferred waste management practices, including new technologies, that minimize the risks to public health of infectious wastes, and recommendations regarding health care facility practices that will minimize the production of infectious wastes or will disinfect the wastes on-site, or other alternatives to minimize public health risks;

          (d) A cost analysis for those preferred waste management practices involving implementation by units of local government; and

          (e)  Recommendations for legislation and appropriations necessary to effect any enhanced regulatory programs to minimize the public health risks of infectious wastes.

          (2)  The report shall be prepared with the assistance of the department of social and health services, which shall be primarily responsible for an assessment of existing waste management practices of health care facilities and an assessment of the environmental transmission of infectious agents in media that include solid, liquid, or airborne wastes.  The department of ecology and the department of social and health services may jointly determine lead responsibilities for the balance of the report and may include in the report any additional information and recommendations useful to address this issue.

          (3) The departments of ecology and social and health services shall consult with local health departments and representatives of the health care, solid waste, and waste water management industries in the preparation of the report.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.     This act shall expire on January 1, 1990.