HB0658enr 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB0658 Enrolled LRB096 07990 JDS 18094 b

AN ACT concerning safety.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Environmental Protection Act is amended by adding Section 17.9 as follows:

(415 ILCS 5/17.9 new)

Sec. 17.9. Collaborative on Environmentally Safe Disposal of Pharmaceuticals.

(a) The Medication Education Disposal Solutions (MEDS) collaborative is established for the purpose of partnering with public and private sector constituents to promote the environmentally responsible disposal of unwanted and expired medications.

(b) The collaborative shall consist of the Director of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency or his or her designee and volunteer persons and organizations that have expressed an interest in contributing to the development of programs that (i) educate the public on the safe disposal of unwanted or expired medications and (ii) establish an expanded network of secure pharmaceutical collection centers throughout the State. Members of the collaborative may organize themselves as they deem necessary. The collaborative shall focus on the development of an organization that will produce educational materials for the public and assist in promoting the expansion of a network of secure pharmaceutical collection centers throughout the State. In developing and evaluating proposals to achieve these objectives, the Agency and MEDS shall:

(1) Develop, for placement on the Medication Disposal page of the Agency's Web site, additional information regarding best practices for the disposal of pharmaceuticals.

(2) Develop proposals that will expand opportunities for the safe disposal of pharmaceuticals and personal care products.

(3) Develop relationships with local health departments, local governments, pharmacies, police departments, and similar organizations to establish programs that will promote and enhance the safe disposal of pharmaceuticals.

(4) Develop educational materials that can be distributed to the public, schools, and various participating organizations.

(5) Review and adapt information from the USEPA and the USGS to inform and educate the public and further refine the Illinois pharmaceutical disposal program.

(6) Actively support supervised pharmaceutical collection, including Household Hazardous Waste collection events, at various locations around the State.

(7) Develop additional activities that further support environmentally safe disposal of pharmaceuticals.

(c) No later than December 31, 2010, the MEDS collaborative shall submit a report on its program development and recommendations for furthering environmentally safe disposal of pharmaceuticals. The Agency shall post the report and any other relevant findings on its Web site.

(d) This Section is repealed July 1, 2011.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.