Senate Bill S642

                                BILL NUMBER:S642

TITLE OF BILL:
An act
to amend the public health law, in relation to establishing the drug
manufacturer collection program

PURPOSE OF THE BILL:
The bill would require manufacturers of both
prescription and over the counter drugs to be responsible for
establishing drug take-back programs for these drugs from hospitals
and residential health care facilities.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
The bill prohibits the disposal of any drug by
hospitals and residential health care facilities as mixed solid waste
in a landfill; and only allows drug disposal through a drug
collection program established by this bill. The bill would create a
drug collection program which would be the responsibility of drug
manufacturers who market their drugs in NYS. Each manufacturer would
be responsible for all costs and the security of its drug collection
program.

Manufacturers would be authorized to contract with a public or private
third party to conduct the drug collection program, but all costs
would be borne by the manufacturer No fees could be charged to
              

hospitals and residential health care facilities for drug collection.
Such facilities would be required to dispose of all unused and
expired drugs through the drug collection programs. Manufacturers
would be required to dispose of all collected drugs in an
environmentally sound manner, pursuant to rules and regulations
promulgated by the Department of Health. All manufacturers would be
required to report bi-annually to the DEC on their drug collection
programs.

JUSTIFICATION:
Health care facilities have been using guidance from
the Department of Health that requires disposal of unwanted and
expired drugs by flushing them This process has contributed to the
contamination of the State's waters, because municipal treatment
plants are not capable of removing these chemicals. Many recent
studies have demonstrated that drinking water is being contaminated
with common medications. The presence of medications creates a
serious public health problem, with the exposure to drugs by the
general population, most importantly our infants and young children.

The Federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) exempts
household waste (including prescription and OTC drugs) from hazardous
waste regulations. Furthermore, EPA has made clear that reverse
distributors may not accept already dispensed medication as part of
that waste stream.
However, individual states may determine that drugs are hazardous
wastes and must be managed as such.

The creation of drug collection programs by manufacturers would
immediately stop the dangerous drug disposal practices of hospitals


and residential health care facilities, There have been successful
drug collection programs such as those in the State of Washington (4
years; Alberta Province, Canada (12 years); the Wisconsin Clean Sweep
which funds local municipal drug collection programs; the EPA Great
Lakes Earth Day Challenge of 2008; and those in Cumberland County,
PA; Salt Lake City, UT; the Price Chopper 2008 collection program;
and other programs in locations across the country.

New York has implemented several "voluntary" drug collection programs
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation lists New
York's Western Region, Central and Finger Lakes Region, Upper Hudson
Valley, Southeastern and Catskills, Western Adirondacks, Eastern
Adirondacks, and Long Island as having drug collections sites.

As important as these events are, they are not a replacement for an
on-going, comprehensive collection effort to prevent unwanted and
expired drugs from hospitals and residential health care facilities
from ending up in our water, These facilities use significant
quantities of drugs, which are not being properly handled when they
expire or are no longer useful It is time to act now to eliminate
this significant threat to public health and our environment.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
Previously introduced.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
DEC would be
responsible to promulgate any necessary rules and regulations, to
assure compliance with the requirements of this bill, and to accept
the biannual reports from manufacturers.

EFFECTIVE DATE:
The act would take effect on the first day of January
next succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law.