§ 23-19.12-3 - Definitions.
SECTION 23-19.12-3
§ 23-19.12-3 Definitions. – The following words and phrases have the following meanings ascribed to them inthis chapter unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
(1) "Body fluids" means liquids emanating or derived fromhumans and limited to blood; cerebrospinal, synovial, pleural, peritoneal andpericardial fluids; dialysate and amniotic fluids; and semen and vaginalsecretions but excluding feces, urine, nasal secretions, sputum, sweat, tears,vomitus, saliva, and breast milk, unless any excluded substance containsvisible blood or is isolation waste.
(2) "Director" means the director of the department ofenvironmental management or his or her designee. The designee may be anyemployee of the department of environmental management or from the departmentof health.
(3) "Disposal" means the discharge, deposit, injection,dumping, spilling, leaking, abandoning, or placing of any regulated medicalwaste in, on, into, or onto any land, other surface, or building or vehicle, ortrailer, or other containment structure, or into any water, watercourse,stormwater system, or sewer system.
(4) "Generator" means any person whose act or processproduces regulated medical waste or whose act first causes a regulated medicalwaste to become subject to regulation. In the case where more than one person(e.g. doctors with separate medical practices) is located in the same building,each individual business entity is a separate generator. The universe ofmedical waste generators includes, but is not limited to, hospitals,physician's offices, dental offices, veterinary practices, funeral homes,research laboratories that perform health related analysis or services, nursinghomes, and hospices.
(5) "Medical waste tracking form" means the form used foridentifying the quantity, composition, and the origin, routing, and destinationof regulated medical waste during its transportation from the facility ofgeneration to the point of transfer, disposal, treatment, destruction, orstorage.
(6) "Person" means an individual, trust, firm, joint stockcompany, corporation (including a government corporation), partnership,association, state, municipality, commission, political subdivision of a state,any interstate body, or any department, agency, or instrumentality of theUnited States.
(7) "Regulated medical waste" means a special category ofsolid waste that includes specific types of medical waste subject to thehandling and tracking requirements. Regulated medical wastes mixed withnonhazardous solid wastes are considered regulated medical wastes for thepurposes of this chapter.
(ii) A regulated medical waste is any waste, as defined inthis subdivision (7), generated in the diagnosis (including testing andlaboratory analysis), treatment, (e.g., provision of medical services), orimmunization of human beings or animals, in research pertaining thereto, or inthe preparation of human remains for burial or cremation, or in the productionor testing of biologicals, or in the development of pharmaceuticals, that islisted in this section but is not excluded or exempted in subdivision (7)(iv)of this section. Regulated medical waste becomes subject to the regulations inthis chapter at the time and in the location that the materials become waste.
(iii) The following categories of medical wastes areregulated medical waste:
(A) Cultures and stocks. Cultures and stocks ofinfectious agents and associated biologicals, including: cultures from medicaland pathological laboratories; cultures and stocks of infectious agents fromresearch and industrial laboratories; wastes from the production ofbiologicals; discarded live and attenuated vaccines; and culture dishes anddevices used to transfer, inoculate, and mix cultures.
(B) Pathological wastes. Human pathological wastes,including tissues, organs, and body parts that are removed during surgery orautopsy, or other medical procedures.
(C) Human blood, blood products and body fluids. (I) Liquid waste human blood or body fluids;
(II) Products of blood;
(III) Items saturated and/or dripping with human blood;
(IV) Items that were saturated and/or dripping with humanblood that are caked with dried human blood; including, but not limited to,serum, plasma, and other blood components and their containers; or
(V) Specimens of body fluids and their containers.
(D) Sharps. Sharps that have been used in animal orhuman patient care or treatment (including sharps generated from thepreparation of human and animal remains for burial or cremation), or inmedical, research, or industrial laboratories, including, but not limited to,hypodermic needles, syringes (with or without the attached needle), pasteurpipettes, scalpel blades, blood vials, needles with attached tubing, glasscarpules, and glass culture dishes (regardless of presence of infectiousagents). Also included are other types of broken or unbroken glassware that hasbeen used in animal or human patient care or treatment, such as used slides andcover slips.
(E) Animal waste. Contaminated animal carcasses, bodyparts, and bedding of animals that were known to have been exposed toinfectious agents during research, (including research in veterinaryhospitals), production of biologicals, or testing of pharmaceuticals.
(F) Isolation wastes. Biological waste and discardedmaterials contaminated with blood, excretion, exudates, or secretions fromhumans who are isolated to protect others from certain highly communicablediseases, or isolated animals known to be infected with highly communicablediseases. These diseases include:
SEE THE BOOK FOR THE PROPER TABLE.
(G) Any other diseases identified as Biosafety Level 4etiologic agents by the Center for Disease Control.
(H) The following diseases are included in the list of"highly communicable diseases" associated with animals. Unless otherwise notedby an asterisk, these diseases are part of the National Notifiable DiseaseSurveillances System list:
Anthrax
Botulism
Brucellosis
Eastern Equine Encephalitis
Leptospirosis
Lyme Disease
Plague
Psittacosis (Chlamydiosis)
Rabies
Salmonellosis
Trichinosis
Tuberculosis
Tularemia
*Cat-Scratch Fever Disease
*Ebola Virus
*Ehrlichia canis
*Encephalomyocarditis
*Monkey B-Virus
*Monkey Marburg Virus
*Poxvirus
*"Q" Fever
*Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
*Vesicular Stomatitis
(I) Unused sharps. Unused discarded sharps, includinghypodermic needles, suture needles, syringes, and scalpel blades.
(J) Spill/cleanup material. Any material collectedduring or resulting from the cleanup of a spill of regulated medical waste.
(K) Mixtures. Any waste which is a mixture ofregulated medical waste and some other type of waste which is neitherradioactive nor a hazardous waste of a type other than regulated medical waste.
(iv) Exclusions and exemptions. The followingcategories of medical waste are specifically excluded from the definition ofregulated medical waste:
(A) Hazardous waste identified or listed under DEM hazardouswaste regulations promulgated under § 23-19.1-6. Regulated medical wastethat is mixed with hazardous waste shall be defined as hazardous waste andshall be regulated in accordance with DEM hazardous waste regulations.
(B) Household medical waste, limited to medical wastegenerated by individuals on the premises of a single-family home orsingle-family dwelling unit or by members of households residing in single andmultiple residences, hotels, and motels which serve as a residence forindividuals, provided the dwelling is not serving as a commercial orprofessional office where individuals who are not members of the familyresiding at the dwelling are receiving medical care by a health careprofessional.
(C) This exemption includes the wastes generated by healthcare providers in private homes where medical services are provided toindividuals who reside there.
(D) Medical waste generated and disposed of with residentialsolid wastes from a single family residential premise or single-family dwellingunit shall be exempt from these regulations except where regulated medicalwaste is generated from commercial or professional offices.
(E) Incinerator ash and treatment/destruction residue. Regulated medical waste that has been both treated and destroyed is nolonger regulated medical waste; this includes ash from the incineration ofregulated medical waste (provided the ash meets the definition for treatedregulated medical waste and destroyed regulated medical waste) and residuesfrom wastes that have been both treated and destroyed (e.g., waste that hasbeen subjected to decontamination and grinding, or chemical disinfectionfollowed by grinding, or stream sterilization followed by shredding).
(F) Human remains, e.g., corpses and anatomical parts thatare stored, transported, or otherwise managed for purposes of interment orcremation. However, regulated medical waste attached to, or within, a corpse isnot exempt and must be removed and then managed as regulated medical waste.
(G) Etiologic agents that are being transported intrastateand/or interstate between facilities pursuant to regulations set by the U.S.department of transportation, the U.S. department of health and human services,and all other applicable shipping requirements.
(H) Enforcement samples, including samples of regulatedmedical waste obtained during enforcement procedures by authorized U.S.environmental protection agency personnel and the state of Rhode Island.
(8) "Storage" means the temporary holding of regulatedmedical wastes at a designated accumulation area before treatment, destruction,disposal, or transport to another location.
(9) "Transport" means the movement of regulated medical wastefrom the facility of generation to any intermediate points, and finally to thepoint of ultimate storage or disposal.