Senate Bill S513A

                                BILL NUMBER:S513

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:
S.6228A of 2009-2010; Referred to Environmental Conservation

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.

EFFECTIVE DATE:
This bill shall take effect immediately.