ILLINOIS

POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

December 18,

1980

In The Matter Of~

)

Hazardous Hospital Wastes,

)

R80—19

Sections

3(jj)

and 21(h) of the

Environmental Protection Act

FINAL ORDER.

EMERGENCY RULE.

ORDER OF

THE

BOARD

(by J. Anderson)

Section 21(h)(formerly g)

of the Environmental

ProtectiorL

Act (Act),

P.A.

81—1186

(H.B.

1919), was signed by the Governor.

on November 29, 1979~

It states that no person shall~

“Deposit any hazardous hospital waste in any landfill

on or after January

1,

1981.

All such waste

shall be

properly incinerated or processed by an alternative

method pursuant to regulations adopted by the Board.

This requirement shall take effect January

1,

1981.”

As no draft rules

to implement this legislation had been

submitted to the Board, on October

2, 1980 the Board on its own

motion authorized the scheduling of inquiry hearings.

Two such

inquiry hearings were held, the first in Springfield on November

14 and the second in Chicago on November 17.

The emergency rule

being adopted today

is based on information generated during

these hearings and written comments received pursuant to the

hearings.

It has come to the Board’s attention that,

due to confusior

concerning the scope of the term “hazardous hospital

waste”,

t~hat

some landfill operators may refuse to accept any medical care

wastes,

beginning January

1,

1981, to avoid acting unlawfully.

Pursuant to Section 27(c)

of the Act, the Board finds that

a

severe public health emergency will exist if medical care wastes,

not intended to be covered by Section 21(h), are stored by their

non-hospital generators rather than properly disposed of.

The Board hereby adopts emergency Part IX to Chapter

9:

Special Waste.

Part IX will become effective January 1,

1981

and is being filed with the Secretary of State without notice or

comment as provided by Rule 5.01 of the Secretary of State’s

Puics

on Rules and Section 5(a)

of the Illinois Administrative Procedu•re~

Act

Ill.

Rev.

Stat.

1979,

Ch. 127,

Section 1005(h).

40—159

---

Hearings shall be scheduled and held for the

purpose

of

developing a

permanent

Part IX

Rule 901 Definitions

‘HAZARDOUS

HOSPITAL

WASTE’

means

waste

which

has

been

generated in connection

with

patient care that is contaminated

with

or

may

be

contaminated

with

an infectious agent that has the

potential of inducing an infection and

which

has not been rendered

innocuous by sterilization or incineration.

‘HAZARDOUS HOSPITAL

WASTE’ includes,

but

is not limited to, medical and patient care

products contaminated with blood,

sputum

or

other

human

excreta

from

a patient in strict or enteric isolation; medical supplies

or

patient

care

items

that

are

contaminated

by

or

have

been

in

contact

with

a

wound

or

the

skin

of

a

patient

in

wound

and

skin

or

strict

isolation; medical supplies or patient contact items

that

are

contaminated

with

or

have

been

in

contact

with

mucous

or

other

respiratory

fluids

from

a

patient

in

respiratory

or

strict

isolation; medical supplies and patient care products that are

contaminated during surgery when the case is septic; all tissues

and

pathological

waste

and

items

that

are

contaminated

by

patho-

logical

waste; bacteriological cultures generated anywhere within

the

facility;

blood

or

other

excreta

that

are

waste

products

fron

bacteriological testing; animals used in research with pathological

organisms.

‘HOSPITAL’

means any institution, place, building, or agency

public or private, whether organized for profit or not, devoted

primarily to the maintenance and operation of facilities for the

diagnosis

and

treatment

or

care

of

two

or

more

unrelated

persons

admitted

for

overnight

stay

or

longer

in

order

to

obtain

medical,

including obstetric, psychiatric and nursing, care of illness,

disease, injury, infirmity, or deformity.

‘HOSPITAL’ includes

general and specialized hospitals, tuberculosis sanitaria, mental

or psychiatric hospitals and sanitaria, maternity homes, lying-in

homes, and homes for unwed mothers in which care is given during

delivery.

‘HOSPITAL’ does not include, for example, nursing hones,

offices of human or animal health care providers, out—patient

clinics,

or

veterinary

hospitals.

‘INFECTIOUS

AGENT’

means

pathogenic

microorganisms

capable

of

causing

infection to human beings,

and

includes, but is not

limited to, pathogens of disease listed by the Illinois Department

of Public Health as ‘Reportable Diseases and Conditions’ in its

Rules and

Regulations for the Control of Communicable Diseases,

Chapter

I.

‘INNOCUOUS

HOSPITAL

WASTE’

means

any

hazardous

hospital

waste

which

has

been

properly

sterilized,

or

incinerated

so

as

to

render

incapable

of

causing

40—160

---

‘NORMAL

HOSPITAL

WASTE’

means

any

waste containing

only

microorganisms which

are

normal,

indigenous

microorganisms

of

the

human

body

and

which

are

not

usually

found

to

be

pathogenic.

‘NORMAL HOSPITAL WASTE’ includes,but is not limited, to garbage,

refuse, such

as

packaging

materials

removed

before

a

product

reaches

patient

care

areas;

disposable

medical

and

patient

care

items such

as

basins

and

water

pitchers

which

have

not

come

in

contact with a patient in isolation; and facial tissue and other

patient contact items which have not

been

generated by a patient

in isolation.

‘STERILIZATION’ means the complete destruction of microorgan-

Rule 902

Disposal methods for hospital waste

a)

No person shall cause or allow hazardous hospital waste

to be deposited in any landfill.

b)

Hazardous hospital waste shall be disposed of by incin-

eration in an incinerator capable of rendering such waste

innocuous

or, where lawful, by deposit into a municipal

or

private

sewerage

system.

c)

Innocuous hospital waste

and

normal hospital waste may

be disposed of by incineration in an incinerator approp-

riate for such waste, and for which the Agency has issued

a permit, by deposit in any sanitary landfill or, where

lawful, by deposit into a municipal or private sewerage

903

Rendering hazardous hospital waste innocuous by

a)

Any hazardous hospital waste may be rendered an innocuous

hospital waste by:

1. sterilization of the waste in an autoclave provided that

the autoclave’s effectiveness is verified at least

weekly

with a biological spore assay containing B. stearothermo-

pjilus,

or

2. sterilization of the waste in a commercial ethylene oxide

unit that provides controlled temperature and humidity

conditions, provided that the unit is operated in accor-

dance with the manufacturer’s recommendations and the

unit’s effectiveness is verified during each use with

a biological spore assay containing B. subtilis.

b)

Wastes so treated shall be segregated from normal hospital

as innocuous hospital waste.

4O—161

---

Rule

904

Incinerator

Permit

Issuance

a)

The

Agency

shall

adopt

such

procedures

as

are

necessary

for

permit

issuance

under

this

Part.

Such

procedures

shall

be

included

in

an

Agency

Criteria

Document.

The

permit

required

under

this

Part

may

be

issued

as

a

condition

of

any

permit

issued

pursuant

to

Section

9(h)

of

the

Act

and

Chapter

2.

b)

The

Agency

shall

issue

a

permit

if

and

only

if

the

operator

submits

adequate

proof

that

the

incinerator

will

be

designed,

operated

and

maintained

so

as

not

to

cause

a

violation

of

the

Act

or

Chapter

9,

Part

IX.

c)

If an Agency Criteria Document is promulgated and if

it contains criteria with regard to any condition of a

permit,

then

for

purposes of permit issuance proof of

conformity with the Agency Criteria Document shall be

prima facie evidence of no violation.

However, non-

conformity with the Agency criteria document shall not

be grounds for permit denial if the condition of sub-

section (b) of this rule is met.

d)

Until permanent rules are promulgated by the Board to

replace this emergency rule,

incinerator permits issued

pursuant

to

Chapter

2

standards and procedures shall be

deemed permits issued pursuant to the standards and

procedures of this Part.

Rule 905

Agency Criteria

a)

The Agency may adopt criteria for the design, operation,

and maintenance of incinerators to be used to render

hazardous hospital waste innocuous.

Such criteria as

are

adopted

shall be set forth

in

an

Agency

Criteria

Document and shall be revised from time to tine to

reflect

current

engineering

judgment

and

advances

in

the

state

of

art.

b)

In adopting new or revised criteria or procedures, the

Agency shall comply with the requirements of the tilinois

Administrative Procedure Act,

Ill.

Rev. Stat. 1979,

th.

127, 51001 et seq~ To the extent the Agency adopts such

criteria, thefitill represent a formal Agency interpre-

tation of what is consistent with the Act and Chapter 9

and necessary to accomplish the purposes of the Act.

Rule

906

Recordkeeping

Requirements

for

Generators

of

Hazardous

Hospital

Waste

Generators of hazardous hospital waste who render such waste

into innocuous hospital waste pursuant to Rule 902 shall keep and

make

reasonably

available

for

Agency

inspection:

40—162

---

a)

Records of the required biological spore assay tests.

b)

Records describing the type and amounts of waste rendered

innocuous.

Rule 907

Defense_to Enforcement Action

Reasonable reliance on a waste generator’s identification of

waste as innocuous or normal hospital waste shall be a complete

defense to an action against a person other than the waste gener-

ator for violation of Rule 902(b).

Mr. Werner concurred.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

I, Christan

L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution

Control Board,

hereby c rtif

that the above Order was adopted

on the

Jj~’

day of

___________

1980,

by a vote of

~C.

Christan

L. Moffé~,~

Clerk

Illinois Pollution Control Board

40—163