The USEPA published a final rule, entitled, “Management Standards for Hazardous Waste Pharmaceuticals and Amendment to the P075 Listing for Nicotine” in the Federal Register on February 22, 2019. According to the USEPA announcement, the final rule establishes cost-saving, streamlined standards for handling hazardous waste pharmaceuticals to better fit the operations of the healthcare sector while maintaining protection of human health and the environment.
This final rule will help protect drinking and surface water reducing the amount of hazardous waste pharmaceuticals entering waterways by 1,644 to 2,300 tons on an annual basis. To accomplish this the rule will prohibit disposal of pharmaceuticals in the sanitary sewer by all facilities subject to the rule. This action will help address the issue highlighted by a growing body of publicly available studies documenting the presence of pharmaceuticals in drinking and surface waters as well as their negative impacts to aquatic and riparian ecosystems. In addition, FDA-approved, over-the-counter nicotine replacement therapies (i.e., nicotine patches, gums and lozenges) will no longer be considered hazardous waste when discarded. This will result in significant cost savings and burden reduction in the management of these types of nicotine wastes. Finally, the final rule reaffirms EPA’s long-standing policy that non-prescription pharmaceuticals and other unsold retail items that have a reasonable expectation of being legitimately used/reused or reclaimed are not solid waste. It also provides regulatory certainty that the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) applies when healthcare facilities send unused, unsaleable prescription hazardous waste pharmaceuticals to reverse distributors to receive manufacturer credit. Simultaneously, the rule incorporates flexibilities to accommodate current reverse distribution business practices to facilitate its implementation. SRM will keep you posted on this important development. Comments are closed.
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