Connecticut Administrative Code › Title 22a - Environmental Protection › 209 - Solid Waste Management › Section 22a-209-15 - Biomedical waste

Current through July 10, 2024
(a)
Definitions.
For the purposes of this section:
"Air pollution control residue" means unburned particles and
				air pollution control reactants which become entrained in the stack gases of an
				incinerator and which are removed and collected by air pollution control
				equipment.
"Antineoplastic agent" means any substance approved for human
				use which is produced or used to stop or reverse the growth of malignant
				cells.
"Biological" means a preparation made from a living organism or
				its products, including vaccines and cultures, intended for use in diagnosing,
				immunizing, or treating humans or animals or in research pertaining
				thereto.
"Biomedical waste" means untreated solid waste, any disposable
				container thereof and any reusable container thereof which has not been
				decontaminated, generated during the administration of medical care or the
				performance of medical research involving humans or animals, including
				infectious waste, pathological waste and chemotherapy waste, but excluding (1)
				any solid waste which is a hazardous waste pursuant to Section
				22a-115 of the
				General Statutes or a radioactive material regulated pursuant to Section
				22a-148
				of the General Statutes; (2) untreated solid waste generated during the
				administration of medical care in a single or multiple family residence by a
				resident thereof; (3) discarded materials used for personal hygiene, such as
				diapers, facial tissues, and sanitary napkins, unless such materials are
				isolation waste; (4) syringes, hypodermic needles and other medical equipment
				used by farmers for the treatment of their livestock in the course of
				conducting farming, provided that such equipment is not excluded when used by a
				veterinarian or at the direction of a veterinarian; and (5) samples of
				biomedical waste collected and transported by Department personnel for
				enforcement purposes. As used in this definition of biomedical waste, the term
				"multiple family residence" does not include any facility specified in the
				definition of biomedical waste generator set forth in this section.
"Biomedical waste generator" or "generator" means any person
				who owns or operates a facility that produces biomedical waste in any quantity,
				including but not limited to the following: general hospitals, skilled nursing
				facilities or convalescent hospitals, intermediate care facilities, in-patient
				care facilities for the developmentally disabled, chronic dialysis clinics,
				free clinics, health maintenance organizations, surgical clinics, acute
				psychiatric hospitals, laboratories, medical buildings, physicians offices,
				veterinarians, dental offices and funeral homes.
"Biomedical waste incinerator residue" means bottom ash, air
				pollution control residue and other residuals of the combustion process of an
				incinerator utilized for the combustion of biomedical waste.
"Biomedical waste treatment facility" means a solid waste
				facility capable of storing, treating or disposing of any amount of biomedical
				waste, excluding any facility where the only biomedical waste stored, treated
				or disposed of is biomedical waste generated at the site where such facility is
				located.
"Biomedical waste transporter" or "transporter" means a person
				engaged in the transportation of biomedical waste by air, rail, highway, or
				water.
"Blood product" means any substance derived from human blood,
				including but not limited to plasma, platelets, red or white blood cells, and
				interferon.
"Body fluid" means any substance which emanates or derives from
				the human body, including but not limited to blood, semen, vaginal secretions,
				cerebrospinal fluid, synovial fluid, pleural fluid, peritoneal fluid and
				pericardial fluid, but excluding feces, urine, nasal secretions, sputum, sweat,
				tears, vomitus, saliva, and breast milk, unless any such excluded substance
				contains visible blood or is isolation waste.
"Bottom ash" means unburned or unburnable solid residue from
				incineration processes that does not become airborne.
"Central collection point" means a location, whether located on
				or off the generator's site, where such generator consolidates biomedical waste
				accumulated from original generation points before transporting it for
				treatment, storage, or disposal, provided that such central collection point is
				operated by such generator.
"C.F.R." means the Code of Federal Regulations.
"Chemotherapy waste" means waste which has come in contact with
				an antineoplastic agent during the preparation, handling or administration of
				such an agent. A container which is or has been used to contain such an agent
				shall be deemed chemotherapy waste even if such container is empty.
"Container" means any receptable in which material is placed.
				"Primary container" means the initial container in which biomedical waste is
				placed when multiple containers for packaging of biomedical waste are required
				under subsection (b) of this section. "Secondary container" means a container
				in which a primary container is placed.
"Decontaminate" means to substantially reduce or eliminate, by
				disinfection or other means, any biological hazard that is or may be associated
				with biomedical waste.
"Etiologic agent" means an organism defined to be an etiologic
				agent in 49 C.F.R. Section 173.386.
"Incinerator" means any device, apparatus, equipment or
				structure as defined in Sections
				22a-174-1 and
				22a-174-18(c)
				(1) of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies.
"Infectious agent" means any organism, such as a virus or
				bacterium, that is capable of being communicated by invasion and multiplication
				in body tissue and capable of causing disease or adverse health impacts in
				humans.
"Infectious waste" means waste which is capable of causing an
				infectious disease, is one of the wastes listed below, or is waste identified
				as infectious by a licensed health care provider. Waste shall be deemed capable
				of causing an infectious disease if there is reason to believe that it has been
				contaminated by an organism that is known or suspected to be pathogenic to
				humans and if such organism may be present in sufficient quantities and with
				sufficient virulence to transmit disease. The following are listed as
				infectious waste:
(1) Any discarded
			 culture or stock of infectious agents and associated biologicals, including
			 human and animal cell cultures from clinical, hospital, public health, research
			 and industrial laboratories; any waste from the production of biologicals; any
			 discarded etiologic agent; any discarded live or attenuated vaccine or serum;
			 and any discarded culture dish or device used to transfer, inoculate, or mix
			 cell cultures.
(2) Any body fluid,
			 waste human blood, or waste blood product, any container of any of the
			 foregoing, and any disposable item that is saturated or dripping with a body
			 fluid or that was saturated or dripping with a body fluid and has since caked
			 with dried body fluid.
(3) Any
			 discarded used sharp and any residual substance therein.
(4) Any discarded unused hypodermic needle,
			 scalpel blade, suture needle or syringe.
(5) Any discarded animal carcass, animal body
			 part or animal bedding, when such carcass, part or bedding is known to be
			 contaminated with or to have been exposed to an infectious agent.
(6) Isolation waste.
(7) Any material collected during or
			 resulting from the cleanup of a spill of infectious or chemotherapy
			 waste.
(8) Any waste which is
			 neither a hazardous waste pursuant to Section
			 22a-115 of the
			 General Statutes nor a radioactive material subject to Section
			 22a-148
			 of the General Statutes and which is mixed with infectious waste.
"Interment" means burial in a cemetary or burial place.
"Isolation waste" means discarded material contaminated with
				body fluids from (A) humans who are isolated to protect others from a highly
				communicable disease, and (B) animals which are isolated because they are known
				to be infected with an infectious agent capable of causing a highly
				communicable disease. A highly communicable disease is one listed in Biosafety
				Level 4 of the Centers for Disease Control/National Institutes of Health
				Guidelines entitled
Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical
				Laboratories
and dated May, 1988.
"Original generation point" means the location on a site where
				biomedical waste is generated.
"Pathological waste" means any human tissue, organ, or body
				part removed during surgery, autopsy or other medical procedure. Pathological
				waste does not include formaldehyde or other preservative agent, or a human
				corpse or part thereof regulated pursuant to Section
				7-64 or
				Chapter 368i, 368j or 368k of the General Statutes.
"Publicly owned treatment works" or "POTW" means publicly owned
				treatment works or POTW as defined in Section
				22a-430-3(a)
				(3) of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies.
"Sharp" means an item capable of causing a puncture or cut,
				including but not limited to a hypodermic needle, scalpel blade, and broken
				glassware, provided that (1) broken glassware shall not be deemed a sharp
				unless it is known to be contaminated with an infectious agent, and (2) a
				syringe, regardless whether a hypodermic needle is attached thereto, shall be
				deemed a sharp.
"Shipping paper" means a shipping order, bill of lading,
				manifest, or other shipping document as defined in
				49 C.F.R. Section
				171.8.
"Small quantity generator" means a biomedical waste generator
				that generates less than 50 pounds of biomedical waste in any calendar month or
				who transports, or delivers for transport, in any single shipment less than 50
				pounds of biomedical waste.
"Spill" means any unplanned release, leaking, pumping, pouring,
				emitting, or depositing of biomedical waste or any planned release, leaking,
				pumping, pouring, emitting, or depositing of biomedical waste in violation of
				the requirements of this section.
"Storage" means the temporary holding of biomedical waste,
				other than temporary holding conducted in accordance with the conditions
				described in subparagraphs (A), (B), (C), (D), (E) and (F) of subdivision (g)
				(15) of this section, at any location before treating or disposing of it or
				transporting it for treatment, disposal, or further storage.
"Tracking form" means the tracking form described and required
				under subsection (h) of this section.
"Transfer" means to move, or the movement of, biomedical waste
				from one location on the site where such waste was generated to another
				location on such site.
"Transport" means to move biomedical waste by air, rail,
				highway, or water from the site at which such waste was generated to any other
				site.
"Transportation" means the act of transporting or the state of
				being transported.
"Transport vehicle" or "vehicle" means any conveyance used for
				the transportation of biomedical waste. Each cargo-carrying compartment of a
				vehicle, such as a truck trailer or railroad freight car, is a separate
				vehicle.
"Treat" means to decontaminate biomedical waste and to
				physically alter it so as to render it unrecognizable as biomedical
				waste.
"Treatment" means the act of treating or the state of being
				treated.
"Universal biohazard symbol" means the symbol shown in
				29 C.F.R.
				Section 1910.145(f) (8)
				(ii).
"Violent mechanical stress" means tensile or compressive forces
				acting upon packaging material so as to cause such material to tear, rip,
				burst, or otherwise fail.