96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2009 and 2010
HB6071

 

Introduced 2/11/2010, by Rep. Mike Boland

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
New Act
415 ILCS 5/3.227 new
415 ILCS 5/3.360   was 415 ILCS 5/3.84
415 ILCS 5/56.1   from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 1056.1

    Creates the Home-Generated Sharps Management Act. Prohibits, beginning September 1, 2011, any person from knowingly placing home-generated sharps waste in certain containers. Provides that, beginning September 1, 2011, home-generated sharps waste must be transported for disposal only in a sharps container, or other containers approved by the Department, and delivered for disposal only at certain locations. Provides that, upon being delivered to those locations, home-generated sharps waste shall be deemed potentially infectious medical waste and may be disposed of by the owners and operators of those facilities as is provided in Title XV of the Environmental Protection Act. Defines "Agency", "construction or demolition debris", "Department", "home-generated sharps consolidation point", "home-generated sharps waste", "household hazardous waste", "household hazardous waste collection facility", "landscape waste", "roll-off container", "sharps container", and "solid waste". Amends the Environmental Protection Act to make corresponding changes.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB6071 LRB096 19446 JDS 34838 b

1     AN ACT concerning safety.
 
2     Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
 
4     Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5 Home-Generated Sharps Management Act.
 
6     Section 5. Legislative findings. The General Assembly
7 finds and declares all of the following:
8         (1) The development of a safe, convenient, and
9     cost-effective infrastructure for the collection of
10     millions of home-generated sharps, and the public
11     education programs to promote safe disposal of these
12     sharps, will require a cooperative effort by the Illinois
13     Department of Public Health, the Illinois Environmental
14     Protection Agency, local governments, large employers,
15     dispensing pharmacies, manufacturers of sharps, and the
16     health care, solid waste, and pharmaceutical industries.
17         (2) Because mail-back programs utilizing containers
18     that have been approved by the United States Postal Service
19     offer one of the most convenient alternatives for the
20     collection and destruction of home-generated sharps, local
21     government and private sector stakeholders are encouraged
22     to implement mail-back programs and to promote their use.
23         (3) Local governments, the Illinois Environmental

 

 

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1     Protection Agency, the Illinois Department of Public
2     Health, solid waste service providers, and manufacturers
3     and dispensers of sharps are further encouraged to include
4     information on their websites, and in other public
5     materials, that identifies locations that accept
6     home-generated sharps and provide information about
7     available mail-back programs.
8         (4) It is the intent of the General Assembly that the
9     Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and the Illinois
10     Department of Public Health, to the extent resources are
11     available, continue to monitor the State's progress in
12     developing the infrastructure for the collection of
13     home-generated sharps and inform the appropriate policy
14     committees of any need for subsequent legislation to
15     achieve the purposes of this Act.
 
16     Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act, unless the
17 context clearly indicates otherwise:
18     "Agency" means the Illinois Environmental Protection
19 Agency.
20     "Construction or demolition debris" has the same meaning as
21 under Section 3.160 of the Environmental Protection Act.
22     "Department" means the Illinois Department of Public
23 Health.
24     "Home-generated sharps consolidation point" means a
25 location or facility, including, for example, a sharps

 

 

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1 collection station, that has been approved by the Agency,
2 Department, or both as a point of consolidation for the
3 collection of home-generated sharps waste for transport and
4 treatment as potentially infectious medical waste.
5     "Home-generated sharps waste" means hypodermic needles,
6 pen needles, intravenous needles, lancets, and other devices
7 that are used to penetrate the skin for the delivery of
8 medications and that have been discarded from a household,
9 including a multifamily residence or household.
10     "Household hazardous waste" means any hazardous waste
11 generated incidental to owning or maintaining a place of
12 residence. "Household hazardous waste" does not include any
13 waste generated in the course of operating a business at a
14 residence.
15     "Household hazardous waste collection facility" means a
16 facility operated by the Agency, Department, or one of their
17 contractors, for the purpose of collecting, handling,
18 treating, storing, recycling, or disposing of household
19 hazardous waste.
20     "Landscape waste" has the same meaning as under Section
21 3.270 of the Environmental Protection Act.
22     "Roll-off container" means a metal container with rails for
23 solid wastes or recyclable materials that is customarily moved
24 and emptied using heavy equipment, such as, but not limited to,
25 roll-off hoist equipped trucks.
26     "Sharps collection station" has the same meaning as under

 

 

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1 Section 3.458 of the Environmental Protection Act.
2     "Sharps container" means a rigid puncture-resistant
3 container, which, when sealed, is leak-resistant and cannot be
4 reopened without great difficulty.
5     "Solid waste" has the same meaning as under Section 3.470
6 of the Environmental Protection Act.
 
7     Section 15. Prohibition on disposal of sharps.
8 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, beginning
9 September 1, 2011, no person shall knowingly place
10 home-generated sharps waste in any of the following containers:
11         (1) Any container used for the collection of solid
12     waste, recyclable materials, or landscape waste.
13         (2) Any container used for the commercial collection of
14     solid waste or recyclable materials from business
15     establishments.
16         (3) Any roll-off container used for the collection of
17     solid waste, construction or demolition debris, landscape
18     waste, or recyclable materials.
 
19     Section 20. Transportation of sharps. Notwithstanding any
20 other provision of law, beginning September 1, 2011,
21 home-generated sharps waste shall be transported for disposal
22 only in a sharps container, or other container approved by the
23 Department, and shall only be delivered for disposal at the
24 following:

 

 

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1     (1) A household hazardous waste facility.
2     (2) A home-generated sharps consolidation point.
3     (3) A facility owned or operated by a potentially
4 infectious medical waste generator.
5     (4) A facility, approved by the Department, that receives,
6 through mail-back containers, home-generated sharps waste for
7 disposal.
 
8     Section 25. Disposal as potentially infectious medical
9 waste.     Upon being received by a household hazardous waste
10 facility, a home-generated sharps consolidation point, a
11 facility that generates potentially infectious medical waste,
12 or a facility, approved by the Department, that receives,
13 through mail-back containers, home-generated sharps waste for
14 disposal, the home-generated sharps waste that is received
15 shall be deemed potentially infectious medical waste and may be
16 disposed of by the owners and operators of those facilities
17 only as is provided in Title XV of the Environmental Protection
18 Act.
 
19     Section 30. The Environmental Protection Act is amended by
20 adding Section 3.227 and by changing Sections 3.360 and 56.1 as
21 follows:
 
22     (415 ILCS 5/3.227 new)
23     Sec. 3.227. Home-generated sharps waste. "Home-generated

 

 

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1 sharps waste" means hypodermic needles, pen needles,
2 intravenous needles, lancets, and other devices that are used
3 to penetrate the skin for the delivery of medications and that
4 have been discarded from a household, including a multifamily
5 residence or household.
 
6     (415 ILCS 5/3.360)  (was 415 ILCS 5/3.84)
7     Sec. 3.360. Potentially infectious medical waste.
8     (a) "Potentially infectious medical waste" means the
9 following types of waste generated in connection with the
10 diagnosis, treatment (i.e., provision of medical services), or
11 immunization of human beings or animals; research pertaining to
12 the provision of medical services; or the production or testing
13 of biologicals:
14         (1) Cultures and stocks. This waste shall include but
15     not be limited to cultures and stocks of agents infectious
16     to humans, and associated biologicals; cultures from
17     medical or pathological laboratories; cultures and stocks
18     of infectious agents from research and industrial
19     laboratories; wastes from the production of biologicals;
20     discarded live or attenuated vaccines; or culture dishes
21     and devices used to transfer, inoculate, or mix cultures.
22         (2) Human pathological wastes. This waste shall
23     include tissue, organs, and body parts (except teeth and
24     the contiguous structures of bone and gum); body fluids
25     that are removed during surgery, autopsy, or other medical

 

 

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1     procedures; or specimens of body fluids and their
2     containers.
3         (3) Human blood and blood products. This waste shall
4     include discarded human blood, blood components (e.g.,
5     serum and plasma), or saturated material containing free
6     flowing blood or blood components.
7         (4) Used sharps. This waste shall include but not be
8     limited to discarded sharps used in animal or human patient
9     care, medical research, or clinical or pharmaceutical
10     laboratories; home-generated sharps waste; hypodermic,
11     intravenous, or other medical needles; hypodermic or
12     intravenous syringes; Pasteur pipettes; scalpel blades; or
13     blood vials. This waste shall also include but not be
14     limited to other types of broken or unbroken glass
15     (including slides and cover slips) in contact with
16     infectious agents.
17         (5) Animal waste. Animal waste means discarded
18     materials, including carcasses, body parts, body fluids,
19     blood, or bedding originating from animals inoculated
20     during research, production of biologicals, or
21     pharmaceutical testing with agents infectious to humans.
22         (6) Isolation waste. This waste shall include
23     discarded materials contaminated with blood, excretions,
24     exudates, and secretions from humans that are isolated to
25     protect others from highly communicable diseases. "Highly
26     communicable diseases" means those diseases identified by

 

 

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1     the Board in rules adopted under subsection (e) of Section
2     56.2 of this Act.
3         (7) Unused sharps. This waste shall include but not be
4     limited to the following unused, discarded sharps:
5     hypodermic, intravenous, or other needles; hypodermic or
6     intravenous syringes; or scalpel blades.
7     (b) Potentially infectious medical waste does not include:
8         (1) waste generated as general household waste;
9         (2) waste (except for sharps) for which the infectious
10     potential has been eliminated by treatment; or
11         (3) sharps that meet both of the following conditions:
12             (A) the infectious potential has been eliminated
13         from the sharps by treatment; and
14             (B) the sharps are rendered unrecognizable by
15         treatment.
16 (Source: P.A. 92-574, eff. 6-26-02.)
 
17     (415 ILCS 5/56.1)  (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 1056.1)
18     Sec. 56.1. Acts prohibited.
19     (A) No person shall:
20     (a) Cause or allow the disposal of any potentially
21 infectious medical waste. Sharps other than home-generated
22 sharps waste may be disposed in any landfill permitted by the
23 Agency under Section 21 of this Act to accept municipal waste
24 for disposal, if both:
25         (1) the infectious potential has been eliminated from

 

 

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1     the sharps by treatment; and
2         (2) the sharps are packaged in accordance with Board
3     regulations.
4     (b) Cause or allow the delivery of any potentially
5 infectious medical waste for transport, storage, treatment, or
6 transfer except in accordance with Board regulations.
7     (c) Beginning July 1, 1992, cause or allow the delivery of
8 any potentially infectious medical waste to a person or
9 facility for storage, treatment, or transfer that does not have
10 a permit issued by the agency to receive potentially infectious
11 medical waste, unless no permit is required under subsection
12 (g)(1).
13     (d) Beginning July 1, 1992, cause or allow the delivery or
14 transfer of any potentially infectious medical waste for
15 transport unless:
16         (1) the transporter has a permit issued by the Agency
17     to transport potentially infectious medical waste, or the
18     transporter is exempt from the permit requirement set forth
19     in subsection (f)(l).
20         (2) a potentially infectious medical waste manifest is
21     completed for the waste if a manifest is required under
22     subsection (h).
23     (e) Cause or allow the acceptance of any potentially
24 infectious medical waste for purposes of transport, storage,
25 treatment, or transfer except in accordance with Board
26 regulations.

 

 

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1     (f) Beginning July 1, 1992, conduct any potentially
2 infectious medical waste transportation operation:
3         (1) Without a permit issued by the Agency to transport
4     potentially infectious medical waste. No permit is
5     required under this provision (f)(1) for:
6             (A) a person transporting potentially infectious
7         medical waste generated solely by that person's
8         activities;
9             (B) noncommercial transportation of less than 50
10         pounds of potentially infectious medical waste at any
11         one time; or
12             (C) the U.S. Postal Service.
13         (2) In violation of any condition of any permit issued
14     by the Agency under this Act.
15         (3) In violation of any regulation adopted by the
16     Board.
17         (4) In violation of any order adopted by the Board
18     under this Act.
19     (g) Beginning July 1, 1992, conduct any potentially
20 infectious medical waste treatment, storage, or transfer
21 operation:
22         (1) without a permit issued by the Agency that
23 specifically authorizes the treatment, storage, or transfer of
24 potentially infectious medical waste. No permit is required
25 under this subsection (g) or subsection (d)(1) of Section 21
26 for any:

 

 

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1             (A) Person conducting a potentially infectious
2         medical waste treatment, storage, or transfer
3         operation for potentially infectious medical waste
4         generated by the person's own activities that are
5         treated, stored, or transferred within the site where
6         the potentially infectious medical waste is generated.
7             (B) Hospital that treats, stores, or transfers
8         only potentially infectious medical waste generated by
9         its own activities or by members of its medical staff.
10             (C) Sharps collection station that is operated in
11         accordance with Section 56.7.
12         (2) in violation of any condition of any permit issued
13     by the Agency under this Act.
14         (3) in violation of any regulation adopted by the
15     Board.
16         (4) In violation of any order adopted by the Board
17     under this Act.
18     (h) Transport potentially infectious medical waste unless
19 the transporter carries a completed potentially infectious
20 medical waste manifest. No manifest is required for the
21 transportation of:
22         (1) potentially infectious medical waste being
23     transported by generators who generated the waste by their
24     own activities, when the potentially infectious medical
25     waste is transported within or between sites or facilities
26     owned, controlled, or operated by that person;

 

 

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1         (2) less than 50 pounds of potentially infectious
2     medical waste at any one time for a noncommercial
3     transportation activity; or
4         (3) potentially infectious medical waste by the U.S.
5     Postal Service.
6     (i) Offer for transportation, transport, deliver, receive
7 or accept potentially infectious medical waste for which a
8 manifest is required, unless the manifest indicates that the
9 fee required under Section 56.4 of this Act has been paid.
10     (j) Beginning January 1, 1994, conduct a potentially
11 infectious medical waste treatment operation at an incinerator
12 in existence on the effective date of this Title in violation
13 of emission standards established for these incinerators under
14 Section 129 of the Clean Air Act (42 USC 7429), as amended.
15     (B) In making its orders and determinations relative to
16 penalties, if any, to be imposed for violating subdivision
17 (A)(a) of this Section, the Board, in addition to the factors
18 in Sections 33(c) and 42(h) of this Act, or the Court shall
19 take into consideration whether the owner or operator of the
20 landfill reasonably relied on written statements from the
21 person generating or treating the waste that the waste is not
22 potentially infectious medical waste.
23 (Source: P.A. 94-641, eff. 8-22-05.)