Senate Bill S6228

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S6228A

 TITLE OF BILL :
An act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to the
disposal of pharmaceutical drugs and controlled substances


 PURPOSE :
This bill would create an obligation of each county in the state to
have a pharmaceutical drug collection program implemented by the
sheriffs department of the county for the purpose of providing proper
disposal of both pharmaceutical drugs and controlled substances in a
regulated solid waste incinerator, in order to decrease the amount of
drugs that end up in either the solid waste system or the sewage
system.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :
Section 1 amends the environmental conservation law as to the disposal
of pharmaceutical drugs and controlled substances, first, by defining
the language of pharmaceutical drugs and controlled substances, and
secondly by providing that each county's sheriffs department must
implement and operate, by April 19, 2010, a permanent program for
residential citizens of pharmaceutical drugs and controlled substance
acceptance and collection to be disposed of in a department regulated
waste incinerator that excludes collection and acceptance from
hospitals, healthcare facilities and pharmacies.
              

 JUSTIFICATION :
Federal law prohibits anyone other than law enforcement from taking
possession of drugs once they are prescribed and dispensed. Therefore,
nearly all unused pharmaceuticals enter either our solid waste system
or our sewage system. Pharmaceuticals flushed down the toilet pass
through our sewage treatment plants, many of which are not designed to
screen for these chemicals. Likewise, Pharmaceuticals discarded in
landfills can seep into the surrounding water-table and the New York
State Great Lakes. A 2002 sampling of 139 streams across 30 states
found that 80 percent had measureable concentrations of prescription
and nonprescription drugs. Exposure, even to low levels of
pharmaceutical drugs, has been shown to have a negative effect on fish
and other aquatic species and may have a negative effect on human
health.

Proper disposal is defined of as disposal in a NYSDEC regulated NYCRR
Part 360 regulated solid waste incinerator. If enacted, this bill
would provide a safe and environmentally sound method for the disposal
of unused prescription drugs. Controlled substances are included in
this action as there presently is no other legal method in the State
of New York of managing controlled substances in unwanted
pharmaceutical drug waste. Implementation of this bill would greatly
decrease the amount of pharmaceutical drugs and controlled substances
in both the sewage systems and the solid waste systems.

In fact, in 2008 a coalition of 8 counties, 2 local municipalities,
law enforcement agencies and local organizations participates in 26
regional collection events in the Western New York Area, where they
collected over 3,236 pounds of drugs from 1516 residents.

The costs for implementation by each county is minimum, if at all. The
materials that are collected are disposed of the same way that regular
garbage collection is. In some pilot programs, the incinerator
companies did not charge the county for the use of the incinerator for
disposal of the materials. If they do charge, however, the cost would
be very negligible; the county would be charged the normal rate of
garbage collection, and on average the county would only accumulate
about half a ton at an event, costing roughly $25 to dispose of the
materials.
Without a safe and effective method for disposal, prescription drugs
are left in either the sewage or solid waste systems, where there are
harmful effects to the environment and potentially to human health, or
they may be left indefinitely in medicine cabinets. If left in
medicine cabinets, they pose a major threat of potential prescription
drug misuse and abuse.

The importance of providing a safe method of disposal to both the
environment and people cannot be understated. If enacted, this bill
would provide a safe measure to all citizens of the state to securely
dispose all prescription drugs and controlled substances.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY HISTORY :
None.

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :
None.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This bill shall take effect immediately.