SECTIONS 118000-118045 - California Statutes

HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE

SECTION 118000-118045

118000. (a) Except as otherwise exempted pursuant to Section
118030, all medical waste transported to an offsite medical waste
treatment facility shall be transported in accordance with this
chapter by a registered hazardous waste transporter issued a
registration certificate pursuant to Chapter 6 (commencing with
Section 118025) and Article 6.5 (commencing with Section 25167.1) of
Chapter 6.5 of Division 20. A hazardous waste transporter
transporting medical waste shall have a copy of the transporter's
valid hazardous waste transporter registration certificate in the
transporter's possession while transporting medical waste. The
transporter shall show the certificate, upon demand, to any
enforcement agency personnel or authorized employee of the Department
of the California Highway Patrol.
(b) Except for small quantity generators transporting medical
waste pursuant to Section 118030, medical waste shall be transported
to a permitted offsite medical waste treatment facility or a
permitted transfer station in leak-resistant and fully enclosed rigid
secondary containers that are then loaded into an enclosed cargo
body.
(c) A person shall not transport medical waste in the same vehicle
with other waste unless the medical waste is separately contained in
rigid containers or kept separate by barriers from other waste, or
unless all of the waste is to be handled as medical waste in
accordance with this part.
(d) Medical waste shall only be transported to a permitted medical
waste treatment facility, or to a transfer station or another
registered generator for the purpose of consolidation before
treatment and disposal, pursuant to this part.
(e) Facilities for the transfer of medical waste shall be annually
inspected and issued permits in accordance with the regulations
adopted pursuant to this part.
(f) Any persons manually loading or unloading containers of
medical waste shall be provided by their employer at the beginning of
each shift with, and shall be required to wear, clean and protective
gloves and coveralls, changeable lab coats, or other protective
clothing. The department may require, by regulation, other protective
devices appropriate to the type of medical waste being handled.

118005. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter,
trauma scene waste may be transported by a trauma scene management
practitioner registered pursuant to Section 118321.1.
(b) The exemption specified in Section 118030 for limited quantity
hauling shall not apply to the transportation of trauma scene waste.
(c) (1) A business that has contracted with, or that currently
employs, a person whose services may include the cleanup of trauma
scene waste in the manner specified in Section 118321.6 may apply, on
forms provided by the department, to the department for an exemption
from the requirements of Section 118321.1. This exemption shall be
known as an incidental trauma scene waste hauling permit, and shall
authorize the person to transport, by herself or himself, trauma
scene waste that is collected in the manner specified in Section
118321.6 to a permitted medical waste transfer station or a permitted
medical waste offsite treatment facility, or to a health care
facility, previously designated by mutual agreement, for
consolidation with the facility's existing medical waste stream.
(2) An application for an incidental trauma scene waste hauling
permit shall be accompanied by a fee of twenty-five dollars ($25) and
the incidental trauma scene waste hauling permit shall be valid for
one cleanup event. The application shall identify any person who will
transport trauma scene waste for the business pursuant to paragraph
(1).

118025. All medical waste shall be hauled by either a registered
hazardous waste hauler or by a person with an approved
limited-quantity exemption granted pursuant to Section 118030.

118027. Any person who is authorized to collect solid waste, as
defined in Section 40191 of the Public Resources Code, who
unknowingly transports medical waste to a solid waste facility, as
defined in Section 40194 of the Public Resources Code, incidental to
the collection of solid waste is exempt from this chapter with regard
to that waste.

118029. (a) On or before September 1, 1993, and each year
thereafter on or before July 1, a registered hazardous waste
transporter which transports medical waste shall so notify the
department, and provide the following information:
(1) Business name, address, and telephone number.
(2) Name of owner, operator, and contact person.
(3) Hazardous waste transporter registration number.
(4) Vehicle manufacturer name, vehicle model year, vehicle
identification number, and the license plate number of each vehicle
transporting medical waste.
(b) For transporters that begin transporting medical waste after
September 1, 1993, notification to the department, and provision of
the information required by subdivision (a) shall be provided to the
department prior to transporting medical waste.
(c) On or before September 1, 1993, each registered hazardous
waste transporter, and each provider of medical waste mail back
systems, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 118245, shall
provide to the department a list of all medical waste generators
serviced by that person during the previous 12 months. That list
shall include the business name, business address, mailing address,
telephone number, and other information as required by the department
to collect annual fees pursuant to Section 117924. When the
transportation of registered hazardous waste by a medical waste
transporter or the provision of a medical waste mail back system
begins after September 1, 1993, the initial list shall be provided to
the department within 10 days of the close of the earliest calendar
quarter ending September 30, December 31, March 31, or June 30, or as
otherwise required by the department.
(d) Subsequent to providing the initial list pursuant to
subdivision(c), registered hazardous waste transporters and providers
of medical waste mail back systems shall submit to the department
any changes made to the most recent list every three months, within
10 days of the close of the calendar quarters ending September 30,
December 31, March 31, and June 30, or as otherwise required by the
department.

118030. (a) A medical waste generator or parent organization that
employs health care professionals who generate medical waste may
apply to the enforcement agency for a limited-quantity hauling
exemption, if the generator or health care professional meets all of
the following requirements:
(1) The generator or health care professional generates less than
20 pounds of medical waste per week, transports less than 20 pounds
of medical waste at any one time, and the generator or parent
organization has on file one of the following:
(A) If the generator or parent organization is a small quantity
generator required to register pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with
Section 117915), a medical waste management plan prepared pursuant
to Section 117935.
(B) If the generator or parent organization is a small quantity
generator not required to register pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing
with Section 117915), the information document maintained pursuant to
subdivision (a) of Section 117945.
(C) If the parent organization is a large quantity generator, a
medical waste management plan prepared pursuant to Section 117960.
(2) The generator or health care professional who generated the
medical waste transports the medical waste himself or herself, or
directs a member of his or her staff to transport the medical waste,
to a permitted medical waste treatment facility, a transfer station,
a parent organization, or another health care facility for the
purpose of consolidation before treatment and disposal.
(3) Except as provided in paragraph (4), the generator maintains a
tracking document, as specified in Section 118040.
(4) (A) Notwithstanding paragraph (3), if a health care
professional who generates medical waste returns the medical waste to
the parent organization, a single-page form or multiple entry log
may be substituted for the tracking document, if the form or log
contains all of the following information:
(i) The name of the person transporting the medical waste.
(ii) The number of containers and type of medical waste. This
subparagraph does not require any generator to maintain a separate
medical waste container for every patient or to maintain records as
to the specified source of the medical waste in any container.
(iii) The date that the medical waste was returned.
(B) This paragraph does not prohibit the use of a single document
to verify the return of more than one container over a period of
time, if the form or log is maintained in the files of the parent
organization once the page is completed.
(b) The limited-quantity hauling exemption authorized by this
section is valid for a period of one year.
(c) An application for an initial or a renewal of a
limited-quantity hauling exemption shall be accompanied by a fee of
twenty-five dollars ($25). The application shall identify each person
who will transport medical waste for the transporter. If the
generator or parent organization identifies more than four persons
who will be transporting medical waste, the generator or parent
organization shall pay an additional fee of five dollars ($5) for
each person, up to a maximum additional fee of twenty-five dollars
($25).

118035. For the purpose of transferring medical waste prior to
reaching a permitted medical waste treatment facility, medical waste
shall not be unloaded, reloaded, or transferred to another vehicle at
any location, except at a permitted medical waste transfer station
or in the case of a vehicle breakdown or other emergency.

118040. (a) Except with regard to sharps waste consolidated by a
home-generated sharps consolidation point approved pursuant to
Section 117904, a hazardous waste transporter or generator
transporting medical waste shall maintain a completed tracking
document of all medical waste removed for treatment or disposal. A
hazardous waste transporter or generator who transports medical waste
to a facility, other than the final medical waste treatment
facility, shall also maintain tracking documents which show the name,
address, and telephone number of the medical waste generator, for
purposes of tracking the generator of medical waste when the waste is
transported to the final medical waste treatment facility. At the
time that the medical waste is received by a hazardous waste
transporter, the transporter shall provide the medical waste
generator with a copy of the tracking document for the generator's
medical waste records. The transporter or generator transporting
medical waste shall maintain its copy of the tracking document for
three years.
(b) The tracking document shall include, but not be limited to,
all of the following information:
(1) The name, address, telephone number, and registration number
of the transporter, unless transported pursuant to Section 118030.
(2) The type and quantity of medical waste transported.
(3) The name, address, and telephone number of the generator.
(4) The name, address, telephone number, permit number, and the
signature of an authorized representative of the permitted facility
receiving the medical waste.
(5) The date that the medical waste is collected or removed from
the generator's facility, the date that the medical waste is received
by the transfer station, the registered large quantity generator, or
point of consolidation, if applicable, and the date that the medical
waste is received by the treatment facility.
(c) Any hazardous waste transporter or generator transporting
medical waste in a vehicle shall have a tracking document in his or
her possession while transporting the medical waste. The tracking
document shall be shown upon demand to any enforcement agency
personnel or officer of the Department of the California Highway
Patrol. If the medical waste is transported by rail, vessel, or air,
the railroad corporation, vessel operator, or airline shall enter on
the shipping papers any information concerning the medical waste that
the enforcement agency may require.
(d) A hazardous waste transporter or a generator transporting
medical waste shall provide the facility receiving the medical waste
with the original tracking document.
(e) Each hazardous waste transporter and each medical waste
treatment facility shall provide tracking data periodically and in a
format as determined by the department.
(f) Medical waste transported out of state shall be consigned to a
permitted medical waste treatment facility in the receiving state.
If there is no permitted medical waste treatment facility in the
receiving state or if the medical waste is crossing an international
border, the medical waste shall be treated in accordance with Chapter
8 (commencing with Section 118215) prior to being transported out of
the state.

118045. (a) The department shall charge an application fee for a
permit for a transfer station equal to one hundred dollars ($100) for
each hour which the department spends on processing the application,
but not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or as provided in
the regulations adopted by the department.
(b) In addition to the fee specified in subdivision (a), the
annual permit fee for a transfer station issued a permit pursuant to
subdivision (e) of Section 118000 is two thousand dollars ($2,000),
or as provided in the regulations adopted pursuant to this part.