2023 Utah Code › Title 67 - State Officers and Employees › Chapter 5 - Attorney General › Section 36 - Drug Disposal Program.

Effective 5/12/2020
67-5-36.
Drug Disposal Program.
(1) As used in the section:
(a) "Controlled substance" means the same as that term is defined in Section 58-37-2.
(b) "Department" means the Department of Environmental Quality.
(c) "Environmentally friendly" means a controlled substance that is rendered:
(i) non-retrievable, as determined by the attorney general in consultation with the department;
(ii) non-hazardous, as determined by the department; and
(iii) permissible to dispose in a landfill in a manner that does not violate state or federal law relating to surface water or groundwater.
(d) "Home controlled substance disposal receptacle" means a receptacle provided by the program that can be used by an individual to render a small amount of controlled substances at an individual's residence non-retrievable and environmentally friendly.
(e) "Non-retrievable" means the same as that term is defined in 21 C.F.R. 1300.05.
(f) "Program" means the Drug Disposal Program described in this section.
(g) "Repository" means a controlled substance disposal repository described in Subsection (3).
(2) The attorney general may, in coordination with the department and within funds available for this purpose, administer a program, known as the Drug Disposal Program, to provide for the safe, secure, and environmentally friendly disposal of controlled substances in the state.
(3) The attorney general and the department, in developing and implementing the program:
(a) may work with law enforcement agencies, pharmacies, hospitals, and other entities to ensure that one or more repositories are present in each county in the state;
(b) shall ensure that each repository:
(i) renders a controlled substance placed in the repository non-retrievable and environmentally friendly, onsite; and
(ii) is secure from tampering or unauthorized removal;
(c) may require verification that:
(i) a repository complies with Subsection (3)(b); and
(ii) a home controlled substance disposal receptacle renders a controlled substance non-retrievable and environmentally friendly;
(d) shall ensure that the program operates in accordance with Drug Enforcement
Administration rules; and
(e) may publish, on the websites of the attorney general's office and the department:
(i) a list of the location of each repository in the state; and
(ii) if home controlled substance disposal receptacles are used as part of the program, information on how to obtain a home controlled substance disposal receptacle.
(4) The attorney general may, instead of, or in addition to, establishing a repository in a county, establish a process for residents of the county to obtain a home controlled substance disposal receptacle.
(5) A state or local government entity, other than the attorney general's office, the department, or a designee of the department, may not:
(a) regulate the disposal of a controlled substance rendered non-retrievable in a repository or home controlled substance disposal receptacle differently, or more strictly, than disposal of non-hazardous household waste;
(b) regulate or restrict the location of a repository or the distribution of a home controlled substance disposal receptacle; or
(c) otherwise take action to regulate or interfere with administration of the program.
(6) This section does not prohibit the disposal of a controlled substance:
(a) in a receptacle that does not qualify as a repository if:
(i) the receptacle is located on the premises of an entity authorized by Drug Enforcement Administration rules to accept a controlled substance for subsequent disposal; and
(ii) the entity described in Subsection (6)(a)(i) ensures that the controlled substance is managed in a manner permitted by Drug Enforcement Administration rule; or
(b) disposed at a facility that has received the approval required under Section 19-6-108.
(7) Unless otherwise agreed by the attorney general, an entity described in Subsection (3)(a) that permits the placement of a repository on property owned or controlled by the entity will dispose of a controlled substance placed in the repository after the controlled substance is rendered environmentally friendly.
Enacted by Chapter 443, 2020 General Session