The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is developing a new proposal to establish appropriate standards for the management and disposal of hazardous waste pharmaceuticals generated by healthcare facilities, according to an article on the EPA website.

The effort is a continuation of a 2008 proposal to add hazardous waste pharmaceuticals to the Universal Waste Program. Public comment on the 2008 proposal revealed numerous concerns over the lack of notification requirements for those facilities that generate, handle or transport “universal waste” pharmaceuticals as well as for the lack of tracking requirements for the shipment of these wastes. 

The new proposal can more fully address these concerns as well as other hazardous waste pharmaceutical management issues that are more specific to healthcare facilities. 

Until the new rule is finalized and adopted, healthcare facilities must manage these wastes in accordance with the RCRA Subtitle C generator requirements.

Read the article.