N.Y. Public Health Law § 1389-dd: Treatment and disposal of regulated medical waste

§ 1389-dd. Treatment and disposal of regulated medical waste. 1.

Treatment or disposal of regulated medical waste shall be by one of the

following methods:

(a) By incineration in a regulated medical waste incineration facility

approved and under permit pursuant to article nineteen of the

environmental conservation law, which provides complete combustion of

the waste to carbonized or mineralized ash. Regulated medical waste so

combusted shall be disposable as nonhazardous waste provided it is not

an otherwise hazardous waste as defined in the regulations promulgated

under section 27-0903 of the environmental conservation law.

(b) By discharge to sewerage system if the waste is liquid or

semiliquid, except as specifically prohibited by the commissioner of

health.

(c) By decontamination by autoclaving, or by other technique approved

by the department, so as to render the waste noninfectious. Regulated

medical waste so treated shall be disposed of as solid waste provided it

does not otherwise meet the definition of hazardous waste as defined in

the regulations promulgated under section 27-0903 of the environmental

conservation law or the regulations promulgated thereunder, and is

accompanied by a certificate, in a form prescribed by the commissioner,

which evidences such treatment.

(d) By other method approved by the commissioner.

2. Regulated medical waste shall not be disposed of by burial at a

landfill disposal facility, unless treated in accordance with

subdivision one of this section. All sharps must be rendered

unrecognizable prior to disposal.

3. The commissioner, in consultation with the commissioner of

environmental conservation, shall develop a limited number of

cooperative pilot projects to promote the safe handling, treatment and

disposal of regulated medical waste generated in private residences,

including the establishment of guidelines for safe transport and

handling of such waste prior to disposal. Such pilot projects shall be

limited to a maximum of four municipalities throughout the state, and

may vary in scope from single-facility to multi-facility projects.

Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed as imposing any new

requirements on generators of regulated medical waste. The commissioner

shall give due consideration to the experience of the pilot projects in

developing rules and regulations authorized in subdivision four of this

section. Any moneys allocated by any government or organization to the

department of health or the department of environmental conservation for

purposes of establishing such pilot projects are hereby authorized for

appropriation pursuant to this subdivision.

4. Sharps, including needles, syringes and lancets, originating from a

private residence, may be delivered for disposal to a general hospital,

as defined in subdivision ten of section twenty-eight hundred one of

this chapter, or a residential health care facility, as defined in

subdivision three of section twenty-eight hundred one of this chapter.

Sharps, including needles, syringes and lancets returned pursuant to

this section must be accepted by the hospital or residential health care

facility on the condition that the needles, syringes and lancets have

been deposited in an approved puncture proof container by the generator.

The hospital or residential health care facility receiving such

contained sharps must dispose of sharps in accordance with this section.

The commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations establishing

guidelines for safe transport and handling of such sharps, including the

approval of puncture proof containers for sharps.