La. Admin. Code tit. 33 § I-2721

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024

Section I-2721 - Best Management Practices for Health Care Facilities

A. Any health care facility using a formulated mercury-added product, a fabricated mercury-added product, or a mercury-added product must maintain a current and appropriate Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS), as defined in 42 U.S.C. 11049, for any elemental mercury used.

B. Any health care facility using a formulated mercury-added product, a fabricated mercury-added product, or a mercury-added product must maintain a statement signed by its authorized representative that certifies that its employees and other persons acting under its direction or control:

1. will use the mercury only for medical, dental, research, or manufacturing purposes;

2. understand that mercury is toxic, and will store, use, and otherwise handle such mercury in accordance with Subsection C of this Section; and

3. will dispose of the elemental mercury, formulated mercury-added product, fabricated mercury-added product, or mercury-added product in accordance with Subsection C or F of this Section.

C. Within 180 days of the effective date of these regulations, any health care facility using a formulated mercury-added product, a fabricated mercury-added product, or a mercury-added product shall develop, maintain, and comply with a Mercury Management Plan (MMP) that is designed to eliminate or capture mercury in waste. The MMP shall contain, at a minimum, the following requirements.

1. A baseline inventory of mercury-containing devices and substances at the facility shall be listed.

2. A timeline for the reduction and eventual elimination of mercury-containing equipment and chemicals, with the exception of dental amalgam, shall be established.

3. Mercury management protocols for safe handling, mercury spill cleanup procedures, disposal procedures, and education and training of employees shall be established.

4. Discarded mercury-containing devices and substances shall be recycled to the maximum extent practicable, and records associated with such recycling shall be maintained at the facility for at least three years. Discarded mercury-containing devices and substances:

a. shall only be offered for recycling to treatment, storage, or disposal facilities that, if located in the United States, are either:

i. permitted under 40 CFR 270, LAC 33:V.Subpart 1, or a RCRA-approved hazardous waste program of any other state; or

ii. authorized to manage hazardous waste by a state with a hazardous waste management program approved under 40 CFR 271 ; and

b. shall not be offered for disposal by incineration.

5. Management and storage of discarded mercury-containing devices and substances waste shall be protective of human health and the environment. Storage shall be in structurally sound, leak-proof, sealed, labeled containers that are impervious to mercury vapors. An example of a container meeting these criteria would be a clear glass container. Glass containers shall be secured inside a sturdy, padded box in order to prevent breakage of the glass and subsequent release of mercury.

6. An environmentally preferable purchasing (EPP) policy for mercury products and a process to regularly review mercury use reduction and elimination progress shall be established.

7. All other aspects of the MMP shall, at a minimum, conform to any best management practices (BMP) developed by the American Hospital Association or the American Medical Association or the American Dental Association or by Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E). The H2E BMP is known as the Mercury Waste Virtual Elimination Model Plan.

D. Use of Dental Amalgam. Within 180 days of the effective date of these regulations, any health care facility using dental amalgam shall develop, maintain, and comply with a Dental Amalgam Management Plan that is designed to capture mercury in dental amalgam waste and excess. This management plan shall contain, at a minimum, the following requirements.

1. Chair-side traps and vacuum pump filters shall be used for the purpose of waste amalgam capture. Such devices shall be operated according to the manufacturer's recommendations.

2. Disposal of elemental mercury, dental amalgam, and used, disposable amalgam capsules shall be minimized by implementing practices that reduce mercury in waste, such as use of a variety of amalgam capsule sizes to minimize non-contact amalgam waste.

3. Waste amalgam (amalgam sludge and contact and non-contact amalgam) shall be recycled to the maximum extent practicable, and records associated with such recycling shall be maintained at the facility for at least three years. Waste amalgam shall be disposed of in accordance with Paragraph C.4 of this Section.

4. Management and storage of amalgam waste shall be in accordance with Paragraph C.5 of this Section.

5. Water line cleaners shall be of a type that will minimize dissolution of amalgam. Only pH neutral, non-bleach, non-chlorine-containing suction line cleaners shall be used. Water lines shall be cleaned daily on chairs where restorative dentistry is performed and as necessary, or according to the vacuum pump manufacturer's recommendations, on other chairs.

6. All other aspects of the Dental Amalgam Management Plan shall, at a minimum, conform to the BMP for amalgam waste as developed by the American Dental Association (ADA) and effective on June 2, 2006. The ADA publishes BMPs for the disposal of dental amalgam waste. The ADA may be contacted through their website or at American Dental Association, 211 East Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL 60611-2678; phone 312-440-2500.

E. Manufacturers of mercury-containing devices and substances shall establish a convenient and accessible collection system for formulated mercury-added products, fabricated mercury-added products, and/or mercury-added products from medical facilities in accordance with LAC 33:I.2717.

F. Mercury-containing devices and substances that contain mercury in sufficient quantities to be considered a hazardous waste as defined in LAC 33:V.Subpart 1, Hazardous Waste Regulations shall be subject to that Subpart if such waste cannot be recycled in accordance with Subsection C of this Section.

La. Admin. Code tit. 33, § I-2721

Promulgated by the Department of Environmental Quality, Office of the Secretary, Legal Affairs Division, LR 35:455 (March 2009).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 30:2001 et seq. and, in particular, 2571.