Pennsylvania Act 1988-93 — INFECTIOUS AND CHEMOTHERAPEUTIC WASTE LAW

Act text

INFECTIOUS AND CHEMOTHERAPEUTIC WASTE LAW
                  Act of Jul. 13, 1988, P.L. 525, No. 93              Cl. 27
                                  AN ACT

     Requiring the development of the Pennsylvania Infectious and
        Chemotherapeutic Wastes Plan prior to the issuance of permits
        for infectious and chemotherapeutic wastes incinerators and
        disposal facilities; and providing penalties.

        The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
     hereby enacts as follows:

     Section 1.  Findings.
        The General Assembly finds that the legitimate public health
     concerns of the Commonwealth require the review and adoption of
     regulations providing standards for the collection,
     transportation, processing, storage and incineration or other
     disposal of infectious and chemotherapeutic wastes. The public
     health, safety and welfare will be served by the development and
     implementation of a comprehensive, Statewide plan and regulation
     addressing the present and future needs of this Commonwealth
     with regard to the incineration and disposal of infectious and
     chemotherapeutic wastes as well as by the acknowledgment of the
     public's need for medical treatment and diagnosis at hospitals
     and supporting clinical testing laboratories, which necessarily
     generate infectious and chemotherapeutic wastes while furnishing
     such needed service. The General Assembly also finds that the
     future construction and operation of facilities proposed to be
     used for the incineration and disposal of infectious or
     chemotherapeutic wastes should comply and conform with the
     aforementioned regulations and Statewide plan. The General
     Assembly further finds that infectious and chemotherapeutic
     wastes by their very nature cannot be recycled and that such
     wastes are best managed at the place of generation with a
     minimum of transportation through this Commonwealth and exposure
     to the public and that such wastes are best managed, processed
     and disposed of and rendered harmless by means of current state-
     of-the-art high-temperature incineration.
     Section 2.  Duties and responsibilities of the Department of
                    Environmental Resources.
        (a)  Comprehensive plan.--The Department of Environmental
     Resources, over a period of not less than one year, shall
     conduct a thorough study and an investigation of infectious and
     chemotherapeutic wastes and prepare a Pennsylvania Infectious
     and Chemotherapeutic Wastes Plan addressing the following
     issues:
            (1)  The determination of present and projected volumes
        of infectious and chemotherapeutic wastes which will be
        produced in this Commonwealth as well as the market and
        demand for importation of such wastes from neighboring states
        and facilities for the treatment, storage and disposal of
        such wastes.
            (2)  The adequacy of the present number of facilities in
        this Commonwealth for the incineration or other disposal of
        infectious or chemotherapeutic wastes and the projected need
        for additional commercial facilities, including commercial
        incinerators.
            (3)  The geographical distribution of existing and
        currently, or subsequently, proposed commercial facilities
        for the incineration or other disposal of infectious or
        chemotherapeutic wastes, based on factors such as economic
        feasibility, transportation concerns and the proximity of
        other waste disposal facilities.
            (4)  The policy criteria required for siting of
        commercial facilities for the incineration or other disposal
        of infectious or chemotherapeutic wastes, including material
        demand, transportation access and an enforcement strategy
        addressing both the in-State and out-of-State sources.
        (b)  Regulations and standards.--In addition to preparing a
     comprehensive plan as provided for in subsection (a), the
     Department of Environmental Resources shall review and revise
     existing regulations and standards, under section 4, relating to
     infectious and chemotherapeutic wastes within one year of the
     effective date of this act and shall propose, under the
     authority of the act of January 8, 1960 (1959 P.L.2119, No.787),
     known as the Air Pollution Control Act, or the act of July 7,
     1980 (P.L.380, No.97), known as the Solid Waste Management Act,
     such additional regulations as may be necessary or appropriate
     to accomplish the purposes of this act. They shall include, but
     not be limited to:
            (1)  Regulations governing the collection,
        transportation, processing, storage and incineration and
        disposal of infectious and chemotherapeutic wastes and the
        siting of commercial infectious and chemotherapeutic waste
        management facilities.
            (2)  The best available technology standards for air
        quality control of emissions from new onsite facilities and
        commercial facilities and reasonably available technology
        control standards for air quality control of emissions from
        existing onsite facilities and commercial facilities to be
        used for the incineration of infectious or chemotherapeutic
        wastes.
            (3)  Regulations governing liability insurance
        requirements and emergency planning.
        (c)  Manifest system.--It is unlawful under the Solid Waste
     Management Act and this act for a person or municipality who
     generates, transports, stores, processes or disposes of
     infectious or chemotherapeutic wastes to fail to use a manifest
     system required by the department to assure that all infectious
     and chemotherapeutic wastes generated are designated for
     processing, storage or disposal facilities approved by the
     department. The transporter of infectious or chemotherapeutic
     wastes shall transport the waste to a facility permitted to
     receive the waste or to an out-of-State facility designated on
     the manifest.
        (d)  License for transporters.--It is unlawful under the
     Solid Waste Management Act and this act for a person or
     municipality to transport infectious or chemotherapeutic waste
     unless such person or municipality has first obtained a license
     from the department. The department may, by regulation, exempt
     persons or municipalities transporting small quantities of
     infectious or chemotherapeutic waste from the requirements of
     this subsection.
        (e)  Development of plan.--Within 14 months of the effective
     date of this act, the Department of Environmental Resources
     shall present the comprehensive plan referred to in subsection
     (a) to the Environmental Quality Board. This comprehensive plan
     shall be prepared only after the Department of Environmental
     Resources has conducted at least one public hearing on the
     issues to be addressed in the plan.

        Compiler's Note:  The Department of Environmental Resources,
            referred to in this section, was abolished by Act 18 of
            1995. Its functions were transferred to the Department of
            Conservation and Natural Resources and the Department of
            Environmental Protection.
     Section 3.  Permitting process.
        (a)  Compliance with plan.--Except as provided in subsection
     (b), the issuance of any permit under the act of January 8, 1960
     (1959 P.L.2119, No.787), known as the Air Pollution Control Act,
     or the act of July 7, 1980 (P.L.380, No.97), known as the Solid
     Waste Management Act, for the construction or operation of any
     commercial facility for the incineration or disposal of
     infectious or chemotherapeutic wastes by the Department of
     Environmental Resources shall take place only after the adoption
     of and shall be consistent with the Pennsylvania Infectious and
     Chemotherapeutic Wastes Plan.
        (b)  Interim permits.--After the effective date of this act
     and prior to the adoption of a plan by the Environmental Quality
     Board as provided for in section 4, the Department of
     Environmental Resources shall have the authority to issue or
     reissue any required permit or permits for the following
     purposes:
            (1)  The operation of any facility for the incineration
        of infectious or chemotherapeutic wastes, provided that the
        facility for which the permit or permits are issued or
        reissued was in existence and had been in operation on or
        before the effective date of this act or that the facility
        for which the permit or permits are issued or reissued is or
        will be an onsite facility managing wastes generated by that
        facility.
            (2)  An onsite incineration facility for infectious or
        chemotherapeutic wastes for which permits deemed complete by
        the department have been filed on the effective date of this
        act.

        Compiler's Note:  The Department of Environmental Resources,
            referred to in this section, was abolished by Act 18 of
            1995. Its functions were transferred to the Department of
            Conservation and Natural Resources and the Department of
            Environmental Protection.
     Section 4.  Powers and duties of the Environmental Quality
                    Board.
        (a)  Plan.--Within 90 days of the receipt of the
     comprehensive plan from the Department of Environmental
     Resources, the Environmental Quality Board shall have the power
     and its duty shall be to adopt a Pennsylvania Infectious and
     Chemotherapeutic Wastes Plan. The Environmental Quality Board
     shall conduct at least one public hearing prior to the adoption
     of a plan.
        (b)  Regulations.--The Environmental Quality Board shall have
     the power and its duty shall be to adopt any rules and
     regulations of the Department of Environmental Resources to
     accomplish the purposes and to carry out the provisions of this
     act.

        Compiler's Note:  Section 502(c) of Act 18 of 1995, which
            created the Department of Conservation and Natural
            Resources and renamed the Department of Environmental
            Resources as the Department of Environmental Protection,
            provided that the Environmental Quality Board shall have
            the powers and duties currently vested in it, except as
            vested in the Department of Conservation and Natural
            Resources by Act 18 of 1995, which powers and duties
            include those set forth in section 4(b).
     Section 5.  Civil penalties.
        For a violation of a provision of this act, a regulation or
     order of the Department of Environmental Resources or a term or
     condition of a permit issued by the department, the department
     may assess a civil penalty upon a person or municipality. A
     penalty may be assessed whether or not the violation was willful
     or negligent. In determining the amount of the penalty, the
     department shall consider the willfulness of the violation;
     damage to air, water, land or other natural resources of this
     Commonwealth or their uses; cost of restoration and abatement;
     savings resulting to the person in consequence of the violation;
     and other relevant factors. When the department proposes to
     assess a civil penalty, it shall inform the person or
     municipality of the proposed amount of the penalty. The person
     or municipality charged with the penalty shall then have 30 days
     to pay the proposed penalty in full or, if the person or
     municipality wishes to contest either the amount of the penalty
     or the fact of the violation, the person or municipality must,
     within the 30-day period, file an appeal of the action with the
     Environmental Hearing Board. Failure to appeal within 30 days
     shall result in a waiver of all legal rights to contest the
     violation or the amount of the penalty. The maximum civil
     penalty which may be assessed under this section is $25,000 per
     offense. Each violation for each separate day shall constitute a
     separate and distinct offense under this section.

        Compiler's Note:  The Department of Environmental Resources,
            referred to in this section, was abolished by Act 18 of
            1995. Its functions were transferred to the Department of
            Conservation and Natural Resources and the Department of
            Environmental Protection.
     Section 6.  Criminal penalties.
        (a)  Municipalities.--A municipality which violates a
     provision of this act, the regulations of the Department of
     Environmental Resources, an order of the department, or a term
     or condition of a permit commits a summary offense and shall,
     upon conviction, be sentenced to pay a fine of not less than
     $100 nor more than $1,000 and costs.
        (b)  Persons.--Any person, other than a municipal official
     exercising official duties, who violates a provision of this
     act, a regulation of the department, an order of the department,
     or a term or condition of a permit commits a misdemeanor of the
     third degree and shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to pay a
     fine of not less than $1,000 nor more than $25,000 per day for
     each violation or to imprisonment for not more than one year, or
     both. Any person other than a municipal officer exercising
     official duties who, within two years after being convicted of
     or pleading guilty or no contest to a misdemeanor under this
     subsection, violates a provision of this act, a regulation of
     the department, an order of the department, or a term or
     condition of a permit commits a misdemeanor of the second degree
     and shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to pay a fine of not
     less than $2,500 nor more than $50,000 for each violation or to
     imprisonment for not more than two years, or both.
        (c)  Knowing violations.--
            (1)  A person or municipality commits a misdemeanor of
        the third degree and shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to
        pay a fine of not less than $1,000 nor more than $25,000 per
        day for each violation if the person or municipality
        knowingly does any of the following:
                (i)  Transports infectious or chemotherapeutic waste
            to a facility which does not have a permit under this act
            to accept such waste for storage, treatment or disposal.
                (ii)  Makes a false statement or representation in an
            application label, manifest, record, report, permit or
            other document relating to infectious or chemotherapeutic
            waste generation, storage, transportation, treatment or
            disposal, which is filed, submitted, maintained or used
            for purposes of compliance with this act.
            (2)  A municipality which knowingly stores, treats or
        disposes of any hazardous waste without having obtained a
        permit for such storage, treatment or disposal commits a
        misdemeanor of the third degree and shall, upon conviction,
        be sentenced to pay a fine of not less than $1,000 nor more
        than $25,000 per day for each violation.
            (3)  A person or municipality that, within two years
        after being convicted of or pleading guilty or no contest to
        a misdemeanor for violation of this act, violates this
        subsection commits a misdemeanor of the second degree and
        shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to pay a fine of not
        less than $2,500 nor more than $50,000 for each violation or
        to imprisonment for not less than two years nor more than 20
        years, or both.

        Compiler's Note:  The Department of Environmental Resources,
            referred to in subsec. (a), was abolished by Act 18 of
            1995. Its functions were transferred to the Department of
            Conservation and Natural Resources and the Department of
            Environmental Protection.
     Section 7.  Effective date.
        This act shall take effect immediately.