S-3911.1  _______________________________________________

                         SENATE BILL 6568

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      56th Legislature     2000 Regular Session

By Senators Swecker, Hale, Rasmussen, Oke and Morton

Read first time 01/19/2000.  Referred to Committee on Environmental Quality & Water Resources.

Requiring the treatment of biomedical waste cultures prior to disposal.

    AN ACT Relating to requiring the treatment of biomedical waste cultures prior to disposal; amending RCW 70.95K.010; and adding a new section to chapter 70.95K RCW.

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

    Sec. 1.  RCW 70.95K.010 and 1994 c 165 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

    Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.

    (1) (("Biomedical waste" means, and is limited to, the following types of waste:

    (a))) "Animal waste" is waste animal carcasses, body parts, and bedding of animals that are known to be infected with, or that have been inoculated with, human pathogenic microorganisms infectious to humans.

    (((b) "Biosafety level 4 disease waste" is waste contaminated with blood, excretions, exudates, or secretions from humans or animals who are isolated to protect others from highly communicable infectious diseases that are identified as pathogenic organisms assigned to biosafety level 4 by the centers for disease control, national institute of health, biosafety in microbiological and biomedical laboratories, current edition.

    (c))) (2) "Biomedical waste" means, and is limited to, the following types of waste:  Animal waste, cultures, human blood and blood products, pathology waste, and sharps waste.

(3) "Biosafety level 3 practices" means practices identified in the centers for disease control and prevention publication,  "Biosafety in Microbial and Biomedical Laboratories," fourth edition, May 1999, as necessary to handle indigenous or exotic agents properly, which agents may be aerosol-transmitted and may cause serious and potentially lethal infection.

(4) "Biosafety level 4 practices" means practices identified in the centers for disease control and prevention publication, "Biosafety in Microbial and Biomedical Laboratories," fourth edition, May 1999, as necessary to handle dangerous and exotic agents properly, which agents pose a high risk of life-threatening disease, may be aerosol-transmitted, and for which there is no available vaccine or therapy.

(5) "Cultures ((and stocks))" are laboratory wastes infectious to humans and includes specimen cultures, cultures ((and stocks)) of etiologic agents, wastes from production of biologicals and serums, discarded live and attenuated vaccines, and laboratory waste that has come into contact with cultures ((and stocks)) of etiologic agents or blood specimens.  Such waste includes but is not limited to culture dishes, ((blood specimen tubes,)) and devices used to transfer, inoculate, and mix cultures.

    (((d))) (6) "Drop-off programs" means those program sites designated by the solid waste planning jurisdiction where sharps users may dispose of their sharps containers.

(7) "Human blood and blood products" is discarded waste human blood and blood components, and materials containing free-flowing blood and blood products.

    (((e))) (8) "Local government" means city, town, or county.

(9) "Local health department" means the city, county, city-county, or district public health department.

(10) "Mail programs" means those programs that provide sharps users with a multiple barrier protection kit for the placement of a sharps container and subsequent mailing of the wastes to an approved disposal facility.

(11) "((Pathological)) Pathology waste" is waste human source biopsy materials, tissues, and anatomical parts that emanate from surgery, obstetrical procedures, and autopsy.  "((Pathological)) Pathology waste" does not include teeth, human corpses, remains, and anatomical parts that are intended for interment or cremation.

    (((f))) (12) "Person" means an individual, firm, corporation, association, partnership, consortium, joint venture, commercial entity, state government agency, or local government.

(13) "Pharmacy return programs" means those programs where sharps containers are returned by the user to designated return sites located at a pharmacy to be transported by a biomedical or solid waste collection company approved by the utilities and transportation commission.

(14) "Residential sharps waste" has the same meaning as "sharps waste" in subsection (15) of this section except that the sharps waste is generated and prepared for disposal at a residence, apartment, dwelling, or other noncommercial habitat.

(15) "Sharps waste" is all hypodermic needles, syringes with needles attached, IV tubing with needles attached, scalpel blades, and lancets that have been removed from the original sterile package.

    (((2) "Local government" means city, town, or county.

    (3) "Local health department" means the city, county, city-county, or district public health department.

    (4) "Person" means an individual, firm, corporation, association, partnership, consortium, joint venture, commercial entity, state government agency, or local government.

    (5))) (16) "Sharps waste container" means a leak-proof, rigid, puncture-resistant container that is taped closed or tightly lidded to prevent the loss of the residential sharps waste.

(17) "Source separation" has the same meaning as in RCW 70.95.030.

(18) "Treatment" means incineration, sterilization, or other method, technique, or process that changes the character or composition of a biomedical waste so as to minimize the risk of transmitting an infectious disease.

    (((6) "Residential sharps waste" has the same meaning as "sharps waste" in subsection (1) of this section except that the sharps waste is generated and prepared for disposal at a residence, apartment, dwelling, or other noncommercial habitat.

    (7) "Sharps waste container" means a leak-proof, rigid, puncture-resistant red container that is taped closed or tightly lidded to prevent the loss of the residential sharps waste.

    (8) "Mail programs" means those programs that provide sharps users with a multiple barrier protection kit for the placement of a sharps container and subsequent mailing of the wastes to an approved disposal facility.

    (9) "Pharmacy return programs" means those programs where sharps containers are returned by the user to designated return sites located at a pharmacy to be transported by a biomedical or solid waste collection company approved by the utilities and transportation commission.

    (10) "Drop-off programs" means those program sites designated by the solid waste planning jurisdiction where sharps users may dispose of their sharps containers.

    (11) "Source separation" has the same meaning as in RCW 70.95.030.

    (12))) (19) "Unprotected sharps" means residential sharps waste that are not disposed of in a sharps waste container.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.  A new section is added to chapter 70.95K RCW to read as follows:

    Generators of cultures requiring biosafety level 3 practices or biosafety level 4 practices shall treat those cultures before disposal in either of the following ways:  (1) The generators may treat the cultures before transport from the facility; or (2) the generators may segregate the cultures into incinerate-only containers and transport the cultures to a treatment facility for incineration.

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