Alabama Administrative Code › Title 335 - ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT › LAND DIVISION - MEDICAL WASTE PROGRAM › Chapter 335-17-1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 335-17-1-.02 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 42, No. 9, June 28, 2024
For the purpose of these rules and regulations, the following
				  words and phrases shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this Rule and as
				  ascribed by law unless the context of the regulations indicate
				  differently.
(1) Act - the "Solid
				Wastes and Recyclable Materials Management Act", Act No 151, Regular Session
				2008 (formerly the "Solid Waste Disposal Act, Act No 771 Regular Session, 1969,
				as amended by Act No 2247 Regular Session, 1971)
Code of Ala.
				1975
, §
									22-27-1 et seq the Alabama Solid
				Wastes and Recyclable Materials Management Act,
Code of Ala.
				1975
, Section
				22-27-1, et seq.
(2) Animal Waste - carcasses and body parts
				of animals exposed to human infectious agents as a result of the animal being
				used for the production and/or testing of biologicals and pharmaceuticals or in
				research Bulk blood, blood components and potentially infectious body fluids
				from these animals shall be handled as specified in (b) for human blood and
				body fluids All materials discarded from surgical procedures involving these
				animals which are grossly contaminated with bulk blood, blood components, or
				body fluids shall be treated as specified for surgical waste.
(3) Bladeable - the physical condition of a
				sludge or similar waste Physical conditions include, but are not limited to,
				the absence of free liquids and of a consistency that can be easily managed by
				heavy equipment normally utilized at a landfill unit.
(4) Blood and Body Fluids - all human bulk
				blood, bulk blood components (serum and plasma, for example), and bulk
				laboratory specimens of blood, tissue, semen, vaginal secretions, cerebrospinal
				fluid, synovial fluid, pleural fluid, peritoneal fluid, pericardial fluid, and
				amniotic fluid Precautions do not apply to feces, nasal secretions, sputum,
				sweat, tears, urine or vomitus unless they contain visible blood Free-flowing
				material or items saturated to the point of dripping liquids containing visible
				blood or blood components would be treated/handled as bulk blood and bulk blood
				components.
(5) Commercial Medical
				Waste Treatment Facility - a facility, other than an incinerator, used to treat
				more than 220 pounds of medical waste per month.
(6) Container - any portable device in which
				a material is stored, transported, treated, disposed of or otherwise handled
				The term container, when describing the packaging requirements, does not
				include items that are classified as medical waste.
(7) Contingency Plan - a document setting out
				an organized, planned and coordinated course of action to be followed in case
				of a fire, explosion or release of medical waste which could threaten human
				health or the environment.
(8)
				Decontamination - a process of reducing or eliminating the presence of harmful
				substances, such as infectious agents, so as to reduce the likelihood of
				disease transmission from those substances.
(9) Department or ADEM - the Alabama
				Department of Environmental Management as established by
Code of
				Ala. 1975
, §
									22-22A-4.
(10) Director - the Director of the Alabama
				Department of Environmental Management, appointed pursuant to
Code
				of Ala. 1975
, §
									22-22A-4, or his or her
				designee.
(11) Facility - all
				contiguous land, structures and other appurtenances used for the processing,
				treatment, storage or disposal of medical waste.
(12) Facility Structures - any buildings and
				sheds or utility or drainage lines on the facility.
(13) Free Liquids - liquids which readily
				separate from the solid portion of a waste under ambient temperature and
				pressure as determined by the Paint Filter Test referenced in USEPA Publication
				SW-846, Method 9095.
(14)
				Generation - the act or process of producing medical waste Medical waste shall
				be considered to be generated at the point that waste materials are first
				discarded or collected.
(15) Health
				Department - an approved county or district health department, including the
				Alabama State Department of Public Health and the affected state and county
				health department.
(16) Health
				Officer - the State or affected county health officer or his or her
				designee.
(17) Incinerator or
				Combustion Unit - a device designed to burn that portion of medical waste which
				will be consumed at temperatures generally ranging 1600 degrees Fahrenheit or
				over The unburned residue from an incinerator, including metal, glass, and the
				like shall be called ashes.
(18)
				Infectious Agent - any organism (such as a virus or a bacterium) that is
				capable of causing disease or adverse health impacts in humans by invasion and
				multiplication in body tissues, fluids or secretions.
(19) International Biological Hazard Symbol -
				the symbol that conforms to the design shown in 29 Code of Federal Regulations
				19101030(g)(1)(i)(B).
(20) Medical
				Waste - A solid waste or combination of solid wastes which because of its
				infectious characteristics may either cause, or significantly contribute to, an
				increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible or incapacitating
				reversible illness, or pose a substantial present hazard or potential hazard to
				human health or the environment when improperly treated, stored, transported,
				disposed, or otherwise managed.
(21) Medical Waste Facility - all contiguous
				land and structures, other appurtenances, and improvements on the land used for
				treating, destroying, or storing of medical waste A facility may consist of
				several treatment, destruction, or storage units.
(22) Medical Waste Generator - a medical
				facility or person who produces or generates medical waste The term includes,
				but is not limited to hospitals, nursing or convalescent facilities,
				intermediate care facilities, clinics, dialysis clinics, blood banks, dental
				offices, surgical clinics, medical buildings, health maintenance organizations,
				home health agencies, physicians offices, laboratories, emergency medical
				services, veterinary clinics, research and manufacturing facilities, and
				funeral homes In the case where more than one person (e.g., doctors with
				separate medical practices) is located in the same building, each individual
				business entity is a separate generator In no case shall a person be classified
				as a medical waste generator if those wastes are generated from a single-family
				residential dwelling by someone other than a health care
				professional.
(23) Medical Waste
				Storage - the containment of medical waste at the generating facility or some
				alternative place for a temporary or extended period of time at the end of
				which the waste is treated or stored elsewhere Placing waste in a container at
				the point of generation such as a patient's room, operating room, or laboratory
				would not be considered as storage.
(24) Medical Waste Storage Facility - a
				facility or part thereof at which medical waste is placed in storage The
				storage facility includes loading docks and parking areas where shipments of
				medical waste are held during the normal course of transportation.
(25) Medical Waste Transportation - the
				movement of medical waste after leaving the generator's building to any
				intermediate transfer points, and finally to the landfill unit The mode of
				transport may be by air, highway, rail, or water.
(26) Medical Waste Transporter - a person
				engaged in the off-site transportation of medical waste A medical waste
				generator who generates less than 220 pounds (100 kilograms) of medical waste
				per month and transports his/her own waste is exempt from the transporter
				requirements.
(27) Medical Waste
				Transport Vehicle - a motor vehicle, barge, airplane or rail car used for the
				transportation of medical waste by any mode Each cargo-carrying body (trailer,
				railroad car, etc.) is a separate transport vehicle A vehicle used to transport
				less than 220 pounds of medical waste per month is exempt.
(28) Medical Waste Treatment - any process,
				including incineration or steam sterilization, which changes the character or
				composition of medical waste in order for decontamination to take place
				Additional treatment measures may include melting, shredding, grinding,
				tearing, or breaking, so that it is no longer generally recognizable as medical
				waste.
(29) Medical Waste Treatment
				Facility - a location at which medical waste is subjected to
				treatment.
(30) Microbiological
				Waste - discarded cultures and stocks of human infectious agents and associated
				microbiologicals; human and animal cell cultures from medical and pathological
				laboratories; cultures and stocks of infectious agents from research and
				industrial laboratories; waste from the production of biologicals; discarded
				live and attenuated vaccines; culture dishes and devices used to transfer,
				inoculate and mix cultures Only those animal vaccines which are potentially
				infectious to humans (Strain 19 Brucellosis Vaccine, Feline Pneumonitis
				Vaccine, contagious Eczema Vaccine for Sheep, Newcastle Disease Vaccine,
				Anthrax Spore Vaccine, and Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis Vaccine) shall be
				considered microbiological waste.
(31) Municipal Solid Waste Landfill (MSWLF) -
				a discrete area of land or an excavation that receives household waste and that
				is not a land application unit, surface impoundment, injection well, or waste
				pile A municipal solid waste landfill may also receive other types of solid
				wastes, such as commercial solid waste, nonhazardous sludge, conditionally
				exempt small quantity generator waste, industrial solid waste,
				construction/demolition waste, and rubbish A municipal solid waste landfill is
				a sanitary landfill Such a landfill may be publicly or privately
				owned.
(32) Off-site - not a part
				of what is defined as on-site.
(33)
				On-site - the same or geographically contiguous property which may be divided
				by public or private right-of-way Non-contiguous properties owned by the same
				person or entity connected by a right-of-way which he controls and to which the
				public does not have access, is also considered on-site property.
(34) Owner - the person(s) who owns a
				facility or part of a facility.
(35) Pathological Waste - all discarded human
				tissues, organs, and body parts which are removed during surgery, obstetrical
				procedures, autopsy, laboratory, embalming, or other medical procedures, or
				traumatic amputation Extracted teeth are not included in this
				definition.
(36) Permit - written
				authorization granted to a person by the Department to operate a medical waste
				facility or to transport medical waste.
(37) Permittee - any person possessing a
				valid permit issued by the Department to manage or transport medical waste This
				person is responsible for the overall operation of a medical waste facility or
				transportation facility.
(38)
				Person - any individual, trust, firm, joint stock company, corporation
				(including a government corporation), partnership, association, state,
				municipality, commission, political subdivision of a state, any interstate
				body, or any other private or public legal entity.
(39) Renal Dialysis Waste - all liquid waste
				from renal dialysis contaminated with peritoneal fluid or with human blood
				visible to the human eye Solid renal dialysis waste is considered medical waste
				if it is saturated, having the potential to drip or splash regulated blood or
				body fluids.
(40) Sanitary Sewer -
				any device or system used in the treatment of municipal sewage or industrial
				waste of a liquid nature This includes sewers, pipes or other conveyances only
				if they convey wastewater to a facility providing treatment.
(41) Sharps - any used or unused discarded
				article that may cause punctures or cuts and which has been or is intended for
				use in animal or human medical care, medical research, or in laboratories
				utilizing microorganisms Such waste includes, but is not limited to, hypodermic
				needles, IV tubing with needles attached, scalpel blades, and syringes (with or
				without a needle attached) Items listed above that have been removed from their
				original sterile containers are included in this definition Glassware, blood
				vials, pipettes, and similar items are to be handled as sharps if they are
				contaminated with blood or body fluids.
(42) Special Waste - those wastes requiring
				specific processing, handling or disposal techniques as determined necessary by
				the Department which are different from the techniques normally utilized for
				handling or disposal Examples of such waste types may include, but are not
				limited to: mining waste; fly ash; bottom ash; sludges; friable asbestos;
				industrial waste; liquid waste; large dead animals or large quantities of dead
				animals and residue, medical waste, foundry waste, petroleum contaminated
				wastes, municipal solid waste ash, or contaminated soil and water from the
				cleanup of a spill.
(43) Spill -
				the unplanned, accidental or unpermitted discharge, deposit, injection,
				leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, dumping, placing or releasing of solid or
				medical waste, or materials which when spilled become solid or medical waste,
				into or on the land, the air or the water.
(44) State - the State of Alabama.
(45) State Health Department - the Alabama
				Department of Public Health as defined by §
									22-2-1,
Code of Ala.
				1975
.
(46) State
				Health Officer - the Health Officer for the State of Alabama as set out in
				§
									22-2-8,
Code of Ala.
				1975
, or his designee provided by law.
(47) Surgical Waste - all materials discarded
				from surgical procedures which are contaminated with human bulk blood, blood
				components, or body fluids, including but not limited to, disposable gowns,
				dressings, sponges, lavage tubes, drainage sets, underpads, and surgical
				gloves. Discarded surgical material is considered medical waste if it is
				saturated, having the potential to drip or splash regulated blood or body
				fluids contained in (b) above. Extracted teeth are not included in this
				definition.
Author:
James L. Bryant
Statutory Authority:
Code of Ala.
					 1975
, §§
											22-27-9,
					 22-27-12.