Title HSC, California Health & Safety Code

(a) The Office of Perinatal Substance Abuse is hereby established within the State Department of Health Care Services. For purposes of this chapter, “office” means the Office of Perinatal Substance Abuse. (b) The office may do any of the following: (1) Coordinate pilot projects a…

(a) The office may provide or contract for training regarding alcohol and other drug dependency to providers of health, social, educational, and support services to women of childbearing age and their children. (b) The purpose of any training provided pursuant to subdivision (a) …

(a) Funds distributed under this chapter shall be used by counties to fund residential and nonresidential alcohol and other drug treatment programs for pregnant women, postpartum women, and their children and to fund other support services directed at bringing pregnant and postpa…

(a) A county that receives funds distributed under this chapter may establish a perinatal coordinating council that consists of persons who are experts in the areas of alcohol and other drug treatment, client outreach and intervention with women using alcohol and other drugs, chi…

Unless the context requires otherwise, the definitions in this article govern the construction of this part. (Added by Stats. 1995, Ch. 415, Sec. 6. Effective January 1, 1996.)

(a) “Biohazard bag” means a disposable film bag used to contain medical waste. Notwithstanding subdivision (b) of Section 117605, the film bags that are used to line the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT)-approved shipping containers for transport from the generat…

“Chemotherapeutic agent” means an agent that kills or prevents the reproduction of malignant cells. Chemotherapeutic agent excludes anti-inflammatory and antibiotic medications used to treat malignant cells in the practice of veterinary medicine. (Added by Stats. 2014, Ch. 564, S…

“Common carrier” means either of the following: (a) A person or company that has a United States Department of Transportation number issued by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and is registered with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration as a for-hire prop…

“Common storage facility” means any designated accumulation area that is onsite and is used by small quantity generators otherwise operating independently for the storage of medical waste for collection by a registered hazardous waste hauler. (Added by Stats. 1995, Ch. 415, Sec. …

“Container” means the rigid container in which the medical waste is placed prior to transporting for purposes of storage or treatment. (Added by Stats. 1995, Ch. 415, Sec. 6. Effective January 1, 1996.)

“Empty” means a condition achieved when tubing, a container, or inner liner removed from a container that previously contained liquid or solid material, including, but not limited to, a chemotherapeutic agent, is considered empty. The tubing, container, or inner liner removed fro…

“Enforcement agency” means the department or the local agency administering this part. (Added by Stats. 1995, Ch. 415, Sec. 6. Effective January 1, 1996.)

“Enforcement officer” means the director, or agents or registered environmental health specialists appointed by the director, and all local health officers, directors of environmental health, and their duly authorized registered environmental health specialists and environmental …

“Fund” means the Medical Waste Management Fund created pursuant to Section 117885. (Added by Stats. 1996, Ch. 1023, Sec. 347. Effective September 29, 1996.)

“Hazardous waste hauler” means a person registered as a hazardous waste hauler pursuant to Article 6 (commencing with Section 25160) and Article 6.5 (commencing with Section 25167.1) of Chapter 6.5 of Division 20 and Chapter 30 (commencing with Section 66001) of Division 4 of Tit…

“Health care professional” means any person licensed or certified pursuant to Division 2 (commencing with Section 500) of the Business and Professions Code; any person licensed pursuant to the Osteopathic Initiative Act, as set forth in Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 3600) of…

“Highly communicable diseases” means diseases, such as those caused by organisms classified by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as risk group 3 organisms or higher. (Amended by Stats. 2014, Ch. 564, Sec. 8. (AB 333) Effective January 1, 2015.)

“Household waste” means any material, including garbage, trash, and sanitary wastes in septic tanks and medical waste, that is derived from households, farms, or ranches. Household waste does not include trauma scene waste. (Amended by Stats. 1997, Ch. 732, Sec. 1.5. Effective Ja…

“Home-generated sharps waste” means hypodermic needles, pen needles, intravenous needles, lancets, and other devices that are used to penetrate the skin for the delivery of medications derived from a household, including a multifamily residence or household. (Added by Stats. 2006…

“Industrial hygienist” means a person who has met the educational requirements of an industrial hygiene certification organization, as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 20700 of the Business and Professions Code, and who has had at least one year in the comprehensive practice…

“Infectious agent” means a type of microorganism, bacteria, mold, parasite, or virus, including, but not limited to, organisms managed as Biosafety Level II, III, or IV by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that normally causes, or significantly contributes t…

“Large quantity generator” means a medical waste generator, other than a trauma scene waste management practitioner, that generates 200 or more pounds of medical waste in any month of a 12-month period. (Amended by Stats. 1997, Ch. 732, Sec. 3. Effective January 1, 1998.)

“Local agency” means the local health department, as defined in Section 101185, or the local comprehensive environmental agency established in accordance with Section 101275, of a county that has elected to adopt a local ordinance to administer and enforce this part, pursuant to …

(a) “Medical waste” means any biohazardous, pathology, pharmaceutical, or trace chemotherapy waste not regulated by the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (Public Law 94-580), as amended; sharps and trace chemotherapy wastes generated in a health care setting …

Medical waste that has been treated in accordance with the provisions of the Medical Waste Management Act, Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 118215), and that is not otherwise hazardous, shall thereafter be considered solid waste as defined in Section 40191 of the Public Resourc…

Medical waste does not include any of the following: (a) Waste generated in food processing or biotechnology that does not contain an infectious agent, as defined in Section 117675, or an agent capable of causing an infection that is highly communicable, as defined in Section 117…

“Medical waste generator” means any person whose act or process produces medical waste and includes, but is not limited to, a provider of health care, as defined in Section 56.05 of the Civil Code. All of the following are examples of businesses that generate medical waste: (a) M…

“Medical waste management plan” means a document that is completed by generators of medical waste that describes how the medical waste generated at their facility shall be segregated, handled, stored, packaged, treated, or shipped for treatment, as applicable, pursuant to Section…

“Medical waste permit” means a permit issued by the enforcement agency to a medical waste treatment facility. (Added by Stats. 1995, Ch. 415, Sec. 6. Effective January 1, 1996.)

“Medical waste registration” means a registration issued by the enforcement agency to a medical waste generator. (Added by Stats. 1995, Ch. 415, Sec. 6. Effective January 1, 1996.)

(a) “Medical waste treatment facility” means all land and structures, and other appurtenances or improvements on the land under the control of the treatment facility, used for treating medical waste offsite from a medical waste generator, including all associated handling and sto…

“Mixed waste” means mixtures of medical and nonmedical waste. Mixed waste is medical waste, except for all of the following: (a) Medical waste and hazardous waste is hazardous waste and is subject to regulation as specified in the statutes and regulations applicable to hazardous …

“Offsite” means any location that is not onsite. (Added by Stats. 1995, Ch. 415, Sec. 6. Effective January 1, 1996.)

(a) “Onsite” means a medical waste treatment facility, or common storage facility on the same or adjacent property as the generator of the medical waste being treated. (b) “Adjacent,” for purposes of subdivision (a), means real property within 400 yards from the property boundary…

“Parent organization” means an organization that employs or contracts with health care professionals who provide health care services at a location other than at a health care facility specified in subdivision (a) of Section 117705. (Added by renumbering Section 25025.9 by Stats.…

“Person” means an individual, trust, firm, joint stock company, business concern, partnership, association, limited liability company, and corporation, including, but not limited to, a government corporation. “Person” also includes any city, county, district, commission, the stat…

(a) “Pharmaceutical” means a prescription or over-the-counter human or veterinary drug, including, but not limited to, a drug as defined in Section 109925 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, as amended, (21 U.S.C.A. Sec. 321(g)(1)). (b) For purposes of this part, “pharma…

(a) “Sharps container” means a rigid puncture-resistant container used in patient care or research activities meeting the standards of, and receiving approval from, the United States Food and Drug Administration as a medical device used for the collection of discarded medical nee…

“Small quantity generator” means a medical waste generator, other than a trauma scene waste management practitioner, that generates less than 200 pounds per month of medical waste. (Amended by Stats. 1997, Ch. 732, Sec. 7. Effective January 1, 1998.)

“Storage” means the holding of medical wastes, in compliance with the Medical Waste Management Act, including Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 118275), at a designated accumulation area, offsite point of consolidation, transfer station, other registered facility, or in a vehicl…

“Tracking document” means the medical waste tracking document specified in Section 118040. (Added by Stats. 1995, Ch. 415, Sec. 6. Effective January 1, 1996.)

“Shipping document” means the medical waste shipping document required by the United States Department of Transportation pursuant to Section 172.200 et seq. of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations or the document required by the United States Postal Service pursuant to Dom…

(a) “Transfer station” means an offsite location permitted by the department where medical waste is loaded, unloaded, stored, or consolidated by a registered hazardous waste hauler during the normal course of transportation of the medical waste. (b) “Transfer station” does not in…

(a) “Trauma scene” means a location soiled by, or contaminated with, human blood, human body fluids, or other residues from the scene of a serious human injury, illness, or death. (b) For purposes of this section, a location may include, but is not limited to, a physical structur…

“Trauma scene waste management practitioner” means a person who undertakes as a commercial activity the removal of human blood, human body fluids, and other associated residues from the scene of a serious human injury, illness, or death, and who is registered with the department …

“Treatment” means any method, technique, or process designed to change or destroy the biological character or composition of any medical waste so as to eliminate its potential for causing disease or creating public or environmental harm, as specified in Chapter 8 (commencing with…