Regulatory Requirements for Medical Waste

Although the EPA does provide some oversight of medical waste storage and disposal, the majority of medical waste is regulated on a state or local level. The exceptions to this rule are radioactive waste, which is regulated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and emissions from medical incinerators, which are regulated by the EPA. Other federal organizations regulate other aspects of medical waste disposal. For example, the Department of Transportation (DOT) has regulations on the transport of medical waste, and the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) has regulations on the presence of medical waste in the workplace.

The majority of regulations for the treatment and disposal of potentially infectious medical waste (also referred to as regulated medical waste) are dictated by state and local agencies. For example, in Massachusetts the regulations on medical waste are under the jurisdiction of the Department of Public Health for the state, and Boards of Health on the local level. The Department of Public Health in this case administers the State Sanitary Code, part of which regulates the storage, treatment and disposal of medical waste. In California, the Environmental Management Branch of the California Department of Public Health regulates the storage, treatment and disposal of medical waste. Information on state regulations can generally be found on the state government web sites under the respective department of public health.

The EPA released final standards and guidelines in 1997 for emissions from medical waste incinerators. The guidelines are to be used by the states in developing plans to reduce air pollution from existing medical waste incinerators built on or before June 20, 1996, and new stringent air emissions standards to be applied to medical waste incinerators built after June 20, 1996. These air emission standards and guidelines were predicted to reduce air emissions from medical waste incinerators by 75 to 98 percent from the levels in 1997 when the standard was introduced. The EPA estimates that these regulations will result in the decline of mercury emissions by 94%, particulate matter by 90%, hydrogen chloride by 98%, and dioxin by 95%.