AB 333 Summary

• Requires the State Department of Public Health to submit a report by January 1, 2016, describing the interaction of federal and state law for transporting regulated medical waste and convening a stakeholder group for this purpose.

• Authorizes the department to update medical waste transportation standards through guidance documents exempt from the Administrative Procedure Act and to temporarily waive state transportation requirements while federal preemption determinations are pending.

• Revises medical waste definitions including "biohazard bag," "sharps container," and "pharmaceutical waste"; adds new definitions for "chemotherapeutic agent," "empty," and "shipping document"; and authorizes color coding of biohazard bags (red, yellow for trace chemotherapy, white for pathology).

• Modifies registration and record-keeping requirements for small and large quantity medical waste generators, permits them to generate waste at temporary events with 72-hour notice, and allows registered generators to transport limited quantities (up to 35.2 pounds) without hazardous waste hauler registration.

• Reduces medical waste treatment facility record retention from 3 to 2 years, authorizes electronic record-keeping, and expands the definition of regulated animals requiring medical waste treatment to include those euthanized due to suspected infectious disease exposure.