Tuesday
June 6, 1989
Part V
Environmental
Protection Agency
40 CFR Part 259
Standards for the Tracking and
Management of Medical Waste; Notice
Identifying Participating States, Delaying
Effective Date for Certain States, and
Extending Comment Period
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24310 Federal Register / Vol. 54, No. 107 /Tuesday, June 6, 1989 / Rules
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
40 CFR Part 259
ISW-FRL-3598-5J
Standards for the Tracking and
Management of Medical Waste
AGENCY: Environmental Protection
Agency.
ACTION: Notice identifying participating
states; delaying effective date for certain
slates; and extending the comment
period.
SUMMARY: The purpose of this Notice is
to specify the States in which the
medical waste tracking demonstration,
program, published in the Federal
Register on March 24,1989 (54 FR
12326), will be effective. The Medical
Waste Tracking Act of 1988 set up a
demonstration program to track medical
waste and allowed States 30 .days in
which to decide whether to participate
in the program. Medical wastes
generated in such "Covered States" are
subject to the tracking requirements
promulgated in the March 24 interim
final rule. EPA has now determined that
seven Stales will participate in the
demonstration program and is revising
the regulations to identify as Covered
States: Connecticut, Louisiana, New
Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, Rhode
Island, and the District of Columbia.
DATES: Effective Date: These
amendments are effective June 6,1989.
The tracking regulations under Part 259
will be effective June 22,1989, in New
York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, and
on July 24,1989, in Louisiana, Rhode
Island, Puerto Rico, and the District of
Columbia.
Comments: Comments will be
accepted on the March 24,1989 notice
through June 22,1989.
ADDRESSES: The public docket for this
rulemaking (Docket No. F-89-MTPF-
FFFFF) is located at Room LG-100,
RCRA Docket (OS-305), U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, 401M
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20460.
EPA's RCRA docket is open from 9:00
a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through
Friday, excluding Federal holidays. To
review docket materials, the public must
make an appointment by calling (202)
475-9327. A maximum of 100 pages may
be copied from any regulatory docket at
no cost. Additional copies cost $0.15 per
page.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
For general information, contact the
RCRA/Superfund Hotline toll free at
(800) 424-9348 (in Washington, DC, call
(202) 382-3000). For information on
specific aspects of today's notice,
contact Mike Petruska, Office of Solid
Waste (OS-332), U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, 401 M Street, SW.,
Washington, DC 20460.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Authority
This Notice is issued under the
authority of sections 2002,11001,11002,
11003,11004,11010,11011 of the Solid
Waste Disposal Act of 1970 as amended
by the Medical Waste Tracking Act of
1988, 42 U.S.C 6992 et seq.
II. Background
Recent incidents of medical waste
mismanagement resulted in enactment
of a two-year demonstration program for
tracking medical waste from the point of
its generation to its point of disposal.
The Medical Waste Tracking Act of
1988,42 U.S.C. 6992 et seq., requires this
demonstration program to be
established in a limited number of
States. Congress chose this option in
order to regulate medical waste on a
small scale.
In establishing the demonstration
program, Congress intended for
Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey
to participate or to have a State program
that is at least as stringent as the
Federal program. Congress also
intended for the Great Lakes States
(Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota,
Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin) to
participate unless the Governors of
those states decided not to participate.
Finally, any other States could
participate if their Governors wished.
Congress provided the States with a 30-
day period to decide whether or not to
participate (i.e. the opt out/petition in
period).
The opt out/petition in period began
with the date of the promulgation of the
interim final tracking regulations 54 FR
at 12326-12395 (March 24,1989), and
ended April 24,1989. The regulation
identified the 7 Great Lake States, New
York, New Jersey, and Connecticut as
"Covered States." 54 FR 12373.
EPA received several opt out and
petition in notifications. As provided in
Section 259.23, in this Notice EPA is
removing as "Cove.red States" the Great
Lakes States that chose not to
participate in the program and is adding
as "Covered States" those States which
have elected to join this program. 54 FR
12373 (March 24,1989). As explained in
the March 24 preamble (54 FR 12336),
now that the 30-day period has passed,
EPA will not consider any further
additions or deletions to the list of
States (id).
III. Participating States
The following States, identified as
Covered States in the Act, have elected
to remain in the program. They include
the States of Connecticut, New York,
and New Jersey. The Governors of New
York and New Jersey sent letters,
available in the public docket, affirming
their States' participation in the
program; Connecticut did not send a
letter.
The Governors of the following States
identified as Covered States in the
statute and regulations have elected to
opt out of the demonstration tracking
program for medical waste. They
include: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan,
Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and
Wisconsin. The letters from the
Governors of each of these States,
indicating their decisions to opt out of
the demonstration tracking program, are
available in the public docket for this
Notice.
The Governors of the States of
Louisiana and Rhode Island and the
Mayor of the District of Columbia, and
Governor of the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico, have petitioned the
Administrator to be included in the
program. The letters from the Governors
of each of the several States petitioning
for inclusion into the demonstration
tracking program are available in the
public docket for this rulemaking. The
Administrator has reviewed the
petitions for inclusion and has
determined that inclusion of these States
would provide a broader range of
experience and information and
therefore, a more meaningful
demonstration program than if only New
York, New Jersey, and Connecticut were
included. Thus, this Notice amends the
list of Covered States in § § 259.10 and
259.20 to identify the following States as
Covered States: Connecticut, Louisiana,
New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico,
Rhode Island, and the District of
Columbia. The regulated medical waste
generated in these States will therefore
be subject to the regulations at 40 CFR
Part 259.
Finally, EPA has modified the
' effective date of the March 24 regulation
so that the regulated communities in the
four States that petitioned-in have until
July 24 to come into compliance. EPA
determined the extra time would be
necessary because the regulated parties
in those States are only now being .
officially notified that their States are
definitely in the new program, while
parties in New York, New Jersey, and
Connecticut have known for some time
they would be regulated under the new
EPA rules or equivalent State rules.
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Federal Register / Vol. 54, No. 107 / Tuesday. June 6. 1989 / Rules and Regulations 24311
Also, EPA has extended the comment
period until June 22 to give all parties,
including those in the new States further
opportunity for comment.
EPA notes that certain sections of the
regulations (e.g., § 259.61, § 259.78, and
the incinerator and transporter report
forms in Appendices II and HI of Part
259) refer to the June 22 date. Regulated
parties in Louisiana, Rhode Island,
Puerto Rico, arid the District of
Columbia, however, are not required to
keep the required records and report on
the period of June 22 to July 23. Their
first incinerator and transporter reports
then will cover the period July 24-
December 22,1989. After this first
reporting period all parties will be in the
same schedule and the demonstration
program will end in all States on June
22,1991.
IV. Regulatory Impact
Under Executive Order 12291, EPA
must determine whether a regulation is
"major" and therefore subject to the
requirements of a Regulatory Impact
Analysis. The Administrator determined -
in the Interim Final Rule that the
Medical Waste Demonstration Tracking
Program had a total estimated cost of
less than $100 million per year. The
estimated cost was based on expected
cost for management practices and
assumed that the 10 States identified in
the Medical Waste Tracking Act would
participate in the program. Since the
seven States bordering the Great Lakes
have opted out of the program and only
four States, Louisiana, Rhode Island,
Puerto Rico, and the District of
Columbia, have petitioned in, the
Agency believes that the program costs
will continue to be less than $100 million
per year. Therefore, no Regulatory
Impact Analysis is required.
Dated: May 26,1989.
Robert L. Duprey,
Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of
Solid Waste and Emergency Response.
PART 259—STANDARDS FOR THE
TRACKING AND MANAGEMENT OF
MEDICAL WASTE
1. The authority citation for Part 259
continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 6912, 6992, et. seq.
2. Section 259.10 is amended by
revising the definition for "Covered
States" in paragraph {b) to read as
follows:
§259.10 Definitions.
* * * * *
(b)**'*
"Covered States" means those States
that are participating in the
Demonstration Medical Waste Tracking
Program and includes: Connecticut;
Louisiana; New Jersey; New York;
Rhode Island; Puerto Rico; and the
District of Columbia. Any other State is
a Non-Covered State.
Subpart C—Covered States
3. Section 259,20 is revised to read as
follows:
§259.20 States Included tn the
demonstration program.
(a) The regulations of this part apply
to Regulated Medical Waste that is
generated in any Covered State.
(b) For purposes of this part, Covered.
States are the States of Connecticut,
Louisiana, New Jersey, New York,
Rhode Island, Puerto Rico, and the
District of Columbia.
§259.21 [Removed]
4. Section 259.21 is removed.
§259.22 [Removed]
5. Section 259.22 is removed.
§259.23 [Removed]
6. Section 259.23 is removed.
[FR Doc. 89-13278 Filed 6-5-89; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-SO-M •
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