ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

May 7,

1992

IN THE MATTER OF:

)

POTENTIALLY INFECTIOUS MEDICAL

)

WASTE

(P1MW):

TREATMENT,

STORAGE,

)

R91-20

AND TRANSFER FACILITIES and

)

(Rulemaking)

TRANSPORTATION,

PACKAGING, AND

LABELLING

(35 ILL.

ADM. CODE 1420,

1430,

and 1440)

ORDER OF THE BOARD

(by R.

C. Flemal):

On April 27,

1992,

the Illinois Environmental Protection

Agency (Agency)

filed its proposal

in this docket.

Pursuant to

the Environmental Protection Act, the Board is to “adopt

regulations

*

*

*

prescribing design and operating standards and

criteria for all potentially infectious medical treatment,

storage, and transfer facilities”,

and to “adopt regulations

*

*

*

prescribing standards and criteria for transporting, packaging,

segregating,

labeling,

and marking potentially infectious medical

waste”.

(Ill.

Rev.

Stat.

1991

ch.

111½,

pars.

1056.2(a)

and

(c)

(Act).)

After a review of the proposal, the Board finds that the

proposal substantially meets the requirements

of the Act and the

Board’s procedural rules.

The proposal

is accepted.

Hearings

have been set by hearing officer order dated April 23,

1992.

This order starts the timeclock for the Board’s economic impact

study

(EcIS) determination.

(See

35 Ill.Adm.Code 102.160(b).)

The Board notes that the Agency has filed with its proposal

a

recommendation that an EcIS not be required.

The Agency has also filed

a motion with the proposal,

asking

that it not be required to file two costly documents it seeks

to

incorporate by reference.

The Agency states that the Board

already has these documents in its possession.

The Board notes

that these documents have been incorporated by reference

in other

Board rules.

The Agency’s motion is granted.

However, the

hearing officer is authorized and directed to require the Agency

to provide any additional information which may be necessary.

Finally,

and most critically,

the Board notes that pursuant

to the Act,

these regulations are to

be adopted no

later than

January

1,

1993.

Since this doc)~etwas opened and inquiry

hearings were held,

the Board has held this docket open pending

assurances

by

the

Agency that the proposal would be forthcoming.

The

Board

recognizes that the Agency has been actively working

44

343

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2

with the Medical Waste Tracking Study Group and othe:rs to develop

this proposal.

(See,

Statement of Reasons,

p.

3).

.However,

it

must be noted that the statutory timeframe for completion of this

rulemaking

is now very tight.

The task that lies ahead requires, at minimum,

~hearings in

two areas of the State,

each with

a twenty day notic~eby

publication.

Also, under the Illinois Administrativ~Procedure

Act, publication in the Illinois Register is require~d,with

a 45-

day public comment period,

after which the Board is

to consider

the comments received in making its determination be~.foresending

the proposed rules to the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules

(JCAR).

JCAR has another 45 days to review the rule~sand make

recommendations for changes.

The Board then would p;:roceed to

final adoption’.

(Section 28 of the Act.)

Therefore,

participants must be aware that they may not have

tb.~e

opportunity

to address all the issues apparent in this complex regulation to

the degree that would be possible were the statutory deadline not

so imminent.

The time crunch

is even more glaring in light of

the fact that changes to the

P1MW

legislation are currently being

sought that would affect the proposed regulations; these

legislative changes would need to be incorporated

ir~’tothe rule,

an endeavor that

in all likelihood will consume additional

time.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

I,

Dorothy M.

Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollu~tionControl

Board,

hereby certify that the above order was adopt~don the

7t~

day of ________________________,

1992,

by a vote of

1

Each step would also include necessary

lead time.

Ill

lerk~

Con~trolBoard

i

:3

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