N.J. Admin. Code § 7:26-3A.8

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 19, October 7, 2024

Section 7:26-3A.8 - Registration and fees for regulated medical waste generators, and owners and operators of transporters, collection facilities, transfer stations, intermediate handlers, and destination facilities

(a) Any person that generated regulated medical waste in this State shall register with the Department as a regulated medical waste generator in accordance with (e) below, and shall pay annual fees in accordance with the following:

1. For computation of the annual regulated medical waste generator fee, generators of regulated medical waste are divided, according to the amount of waste generated, into five categories as explained in the following table:

Generator	Pounds Generated	Base Fee
Category	Per Year	Category
1	less than 50	$ 85.00
2	50-200	$ 255.00
3	greater than 200-300	$ 500.00
4	greater than 300-1,000	$ 1,000.00
5	greater than 1,000	$ 3,500.00

i. For annual regulated medical waste generator fee purposes only, quantities of body fluids and blood and blood products that are discharged or removed from a human and are disposed of into a sanitary sewer system, which shall be in compliance with all applicable Federal, State, and county and local statutes, rules and ordinances, shall not be included in a generator's annual calculation of regulated medical waste generated, but at a minimum, if the generator generates no other regulated medical waste, the generator shall be included in generator category 1.

(b) Any person that engages or continues to engage in the transportation of regulated medical waste in this State, except generators that transport their own waste and that meet the requirements of N.J.A.C. 7:26-3A.17(a), shall register with the Department as a regulated medical waste transporter in accordance with (e) below, and pay annual fees in accordance with the following:

1. All regulated medical waste commercial transporters shall pay an annual fee of $ 3,950.00.

2. All noncommercial generator transporters of RMW (except radiopharmacies listed at (b)3 below) shall pay an annual fee of $ 650.00.

3. All noncommercial generator transporters of RMW that transport solely spent radiopharmaceuticals back to a radiopharmacy to allow for the safe decay of the radioactive material prior to disposal as RMW shall pay an annual fee of $ 200.00.

(c) Commercial intermediate handlers, intermediate handlers treating, destroying or disposing of their RMW on-site and owners and operators of destination facilities shall register with the Department as a regulated medical waste intermediate handler or destination facility in accordance with (e) below, and pay annual fees in accordance with the following:

1. All regulated medical waste intermediate handlers and destination facilities shall register with the Department and pay an annual registration, compliance inspection, technical advisement and report analysis fee in accordance with the following:

i. A destination facility that treats and destroys less than 1,000 pounds of regulated medical waste produced shall pay a registration fee of $ 50.00 per year.

ii. A destination facility that treats and destroys from 1,000 pounds up to and including 10,000 pounds of, regulated medical waste produced per year shall pay a registration fee of $ 500.00 per year.

iii. A destination facility that treats and destroys more than 10,000 pounds of regulated medical waste per year shall pay a registration fee of $ 2,000 per year.

2. A commercial intermediate handler shall pay an annual registration fee of $ 1,500.

3. A noncommercial intermediate handler, or an intermediate handler treating only its own waste that treats any quantity of liquid regulated medical waste that is disposed of into the sanitary sewer system, and treats less than 10,000 pounds of nonliquid regulated medical waste per year and sends that waste off-site as RMW for treatment, destruction or disposal is exempt from the intermediate handler annual registration fee but shall register as an intermediate handler pursuant to this section.

4. Persons that only dispose of regulated medical waste that they generate by placing body fluids or blood and blood products into the sanitary sewer system, in compliance with all applicable Federal, State, county and local statutes, rules and ordinances, shall not be considered an intermediate handler or destination facility.

(d) Each person authorized by the Department pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:26-3A.39 to operate a collection facility for medical wastes shall pay fees in accordance with the following:

1. Commercial collection facilities shall pay an application fee of $ 500.00. The application fee shall be submitted with the application required pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:26-3A.39(c).

2. Commercial collection facilities shall pay an annual fee of $ 350.00 for the costs of registration, quarterly compliance monitoring, and review and maintenance of the quarterly reports submitted pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:26-3A.39(j) and the annual reports submitted pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:26-3A.44.

3. Collection facilities shall pay the costs of any other inspections or activities conducted by the Department for the authorization, inspection, and revocation of authorization to operate a collection facility. Such costs shall be in accordance with the fee schedule set forth at (f) below and N.J.A.C. 7:26-4.3.

4. Commercial collection facilities shall pay a fee of $ 250.00 for an authorization modification issued pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:26-3A.39(o), which shall be paid on issuance of the authorization modification.

5. Noncommercial collection facilities collecting up to 2,000 pounds of medical wastes per year shall not pay an annual fee.

6. Noncommercial collection facilities collecting more than 2000 pounds of medical wastes per year shall pay an annual fee of $ 150.00 for the cost of registration.

(e) Each person operating a transfer station and authorized by the Department to manage medical waste pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:26-3A.39 shall pay an annual fee of $ 2,000 in addition to all other solid waste transfer station facility-related fees pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:26-4, for the costs of registration under this subchapter, review and maintenance of reports, and compliance monitoring.

(f) Each generator, transporter, intermediate handler, collection facility, transfer station, and destination facility shall register with the Department on regulated medical waste registration forms prescribed by and available from the Department at the address listed below and shall state such information as necessary and proper to the enforcement of this subchapter, as the Department may require. No pro rata adjustment or refund for prior registration year payment of fees shall be made by the Department. Fees shall be payable to the Department 30 days after the beginning of each respective registration year in accordance with the following schedule:

1. The registration year for generators shall extend from July 22 through July 21 of each calendar year and fees shall be payable by August 20 of each calendar year;

2. The registration year for transporters shall extend from May 1 through April 30 of each calendar year and fees shall be payable by May 30 of each calendar year;

3. The registration year for intermediate handlers, collection facilities and destination facilities shall extend from January 1 through December 30 of each calendar year and fees shall be payable by January 29 of each calendar year; and

4. The Department's address for regulated medical waste is:

New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

Division of Sustainable Waste Management

Bureau of Recycling and Hazardous Waste Management

Mail Code 401-02C

PO Box 420

401 East State Street

Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0420

(g) The Department shall charge fees for regulated medical waste program services as follows:

1. Any person not registered for regulated medical waste activities in accordance with the requirements of this subchapter that requests a written interpretation of any solid waste regulation from the Department shall submit a fee of $ 150.00 with the request for interpretation.

2. Any person that requests the authorization of an alternative or innovative technology pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:26-3A.47(a) shall submit a fee of $ 1,500 with the request for the authorization; and

3. Any person that requests the authorization of an alternative or innovative technology demonstration program pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:26-3A.47(c) shall submit a fee of $ 2,000 with the request for authorization of the demonstration program.

(h) The omission of any type of Department service from the fee schedule set forth in (g) above, or if the Department determines that performing its services will exceed the fee the Department charges for a service listed at (g) above, shall not prevent the Department from assessing a reasonable fee for such service, at any time whether prior to, during or after the Department has performed its services. Any person that requests a Department service not listed at (g) above may request an initial review of the service for purposes of determining the fee for performing such service.

1. If the Department determines that the service is of a type listed in (g)1 through 3 above, the fee shall be the applicable fee specified at (g) above.

2. If the Department determines that the service is not one of those listed in (g)1 through 3 above, the fee shall be equal to the Department's estimate of the number of person-hours required to perform such activity, multiplied by the following hourly rates for regulated medical waste services:

i. For State fiscal year 2006, the hourly rate shall be $ 109.00; and

ii. For each State fiscal year after State fiscal year 2006, the hourly rate shall be annually adjusted pursuant to (n) and (o) below.

3. An estimated fee calculated under this subsection is not binding on the Department. The final fee to be charged by the Department will be based on actual hours worked multiplied by the hourly rate calculated pursuant to (h)2i and ii above.

(i) The Department shall charge an excess fee for regulated medical waste services at the following hourly rates for excess person-hours required to perform any service for which a fee is established pursuant to (a) through (g) above. The Department shall notify the applicant or permittee of such excess fee in writing before performing the additional work:

1. For State fiscal year 2006, the hourly rate shall be $ 89.00; and

2. For each State fiscal year after State fiscal year 2006, the hourly rate shall be annually adjusted pursuant to (n) and (o) below.

(j) The determination of an estimated fee pursuant to (h) above shall expire 90 days after the date such determination was issued, unless the applicant or permittee has paid such fee to the Department in full before expiration. If the applicant or permittee desires to continue to pursue the request for services for which the fee determination has expired, such applicant or permittee may request a redetermination of the fee in writing, and the Department shall redetermine the fee in accordance with (h) above, as applicable.

(k) The Department may refrain from commencing work on the service for which a fee is established pursuant to (g) through (i) above until the Department receives full payment of such fee. If the Department has commenced work on the service the Department may suspend such work until it receives full payment of such fee.

(l) Any generator that fails to register pursuant to this section and that submits the annual fee pursuant to (a) above later than August 20 of each calendar year shall pay a late fee in the amount of 25 percent of the annual fee up to 15 days, 50 percent up to six months, and 100 percent up to one year, in addition to the annual fee. Neither the assessment of a late fee nor the payment of a late fee shall prevent the Department from taking any appropriate enforcement action.

(m) Any generator that submits the annual generator report required by N.J.A.C. 7:26-3A.21(d), 30 or more days after such report is due to be submitted to the Department shall pay a late fee of $ 267.00. Neither the assessment nor the payment of a late fee shall prevent the Department from taking any appropriate enforcement action.

(n) The Department shall annually determine, during the month of October, the hourly rate for regulated medical waste services, as well as the hourly rate for excess hours. These hourly rates shall be determined using the following formulas:

Hourly Rate = (AS+FB+IC+OE+LS)

BH

Excess Hourly rate = (AS+FB+IC)

BH

Where:

AS = The average annual salary of the Direct Program staff assigned to the activity, plus a component that reflects the salaries for Direct Support and Division Overhead staff who perform functions related to the fee activity. To calculate AS, the Department divides the applicable number of Direct Support staff and Division Overhead staff salaries by the number of Direct Program staff and adds this figure to the average salary of the Direct Program staff.

FB = The average fringe benefits for an employee calculated as a percentage of the average salary. The New Jersey Department of Treasury sets the percentage based on costs associated with pensions, health benefits, workers compensation, disability benefits, unused sick leave and the employer's share of the Federal Income Compensation Act (FICA) contribution. The percentage is annually set by the New Jersey Department of Treasury.

IC = The indirect costs, which are calculated at a rate negotiated annually between the Department and the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Indirect costs are those costs incurred for a common or joint purpose, benefiting more than one objective and not readily assignable to the cost objective specifically benefited without effort disproportionate to the result achieved. Indirect costs consist of Department management salaries and operating expenses, divisional indirect salaries and related expenses (personnel, fiscal and general support staff), building rent and the Department allocation of indirect costs listed in the Statewide Allocation Plan prepared annually by the State Department of the Treasury. Indirect costs do not include the salaries for Division Overhead staff and Direct Support personnel. To calculate the IC, the current negotiated rate is multiplied by the sum of AS and FB.

OE = The average operational expenses attributable to a Direct Program Staff position. Operating expenses include costs incurred in connection with the program for such items as postage, telephone, training, travel, supplies, equipment maintenance, vehicle maintenance and data system management (internal systems such as the New Jersey Environmental Management System (NJEMS) and external mainframe applications through the Office of Information Technology).

LS = The budgeted annual costs of legal services performed in connection with each of the types of activities for which fees are assessed divided by the total number of Direct Program staff funded through the various fee programs.

BH = 1,428. The billable hours, which is the average number of hours each Direct Program Staff position spends annually performing activities for which fees are assessed, which is determined by starting with the total number of days in the calendar year, 365. Then weekends and holidays are subtracted. This figure is further reduced by subtracting days for an average number of used employee leave time (vacation, sick and administrative leave days). Finally, the figure is adjusted by subtracting days for training and other non-billable staff time (such as medical surveillance, time sheet preparation, staff meetings, and other general functions). This results in 204 working days annually that can be allocated to specific objectives (204 days multiplied by seven hours per workday equals the 1,428 billable hours used for most calculations).

(o) Each year, the Department shall prepare an Annual Regulated Medical Waste Hourly Rate Calculation Report detailing the factors used to calculate the hourly rate and the excess hourly rate. During the month of December, the Department shall publish in the New Jersey Register a notice that includes a summary of the report and the hourly rate and excess hourly rate. The notice shall state that the report is available, and shall direct interested persons to contact the Department for a copy of the report. The Department shall provide a copy of the report to each person requesting a copy and shall post a copy of the report on the Department's website at www.state.nj.us/dep.

N.J. Admin. Code § 7:26-3A.8

Amended by R.1990 d.358, effective 7/16/1990.
See: 22 N.J.R. 1478(a), 22 N.J.R. 2145(a).
Generator categories expanded to 5; fees restructured.
Amended by R.1996 d.578, effective 12/16/1996.
See: 28 N.J.R. 2114(a), 28 N.J.R. 5248(a).
In (a)1, amended base fees; in (a)1i, inserted "annual" preceding "regulated medical waste" and inserted reference to discharged fluids and blood; substantially amended (b) and (c), inserted new (d); recodified former (d) as (f); in (f), inserted references to collection facilities and transfer stations, and to refunds for prior years; in (f)2, deleted reference to 1989 registration year; rewrote (e) and (g) through (h); and added (i) through (m).
Amended by R.2001 d.86, effective 3/5/2001.
See: 32 N.J.R. 2536(a), 33 N.J.R. 880(a).
In (a)1, increased Pounds Generated Per Year for Generator Categories 3 and 4.
Amended by R.2002 d.181, effective 6/17/2002.
See: 33 N.J.R. 4218(a), 34 N.J.R. 2049(a).
In (b), inserted "(except radiopharmacies listed at (b)3 below)" following "RMW" in 2 and added 3; in (d)5, inserted "not" following "shall" and deleted "of $ 10.00 for the cost of registration"; in (f)4, inserted "Resource Recovery and" preceding "Technical" and substituted "Programs" for "Assistance".
Amended by R.2008 d.16, effective 1/7/2008.
See: 38 N.J.R. 5227(a), 40 N.J.R. 133(a).
In the "Base Fee Category" column of the table in (a)1, substituted "$ 500.00" for "$ 425.00", "$ 1,000.00" for "$ 850.00" and "$ 3,500" for "$ 2,950"; in the address in (f)4, inserted "401 East State Street"; in the introductory paragraph of (h), substituted "(g) above, or if the Department determines that performing its services will exceed the fee the Department charges for a service listed at (g) above," for "(f) above" and "(g) above may" for "(f) above shall", and inserted ", at any time whether prior to, during or after the Department has performed its services"; in the introductory paragraph of (h)2, substituted "following hourly rates for regulated medical waste services:" for "hourly rate of $ 74.73."; added (h)2i, (h)2ii and (h)3; in the introductory paragraph of (i), substituted "for regulated medical waste services at the following hourly rates" for "at the hourly rate of $ 55.88" and substituted a semicolon for the period at the end; added (i)1 and (i)2; in (j), substituted "an estimated" for "a" and "may" for the second occurrence of "shall"; in (m), inserted "to be submitted to the Department" and substituted "$ 267.00" for "$ 50.00"; and added (n) and (o).
Amended by R.2015 d.089, effective 5/18/2015.
See: 46 N.J.R 2305(a), 47 N.J.R. 991(a).
Section was "Registration and fees for regulated medical waste generators, and owners and operators of transporters, collection facilities, transfer stations, intermediate handlers and destination facilities". In the introductory paragraph of (f), inserted a comma following "station"; and in (f)4, updated the address.
Modified by Executive Order No. 103(2020), effective 4/9/2020.
See: 52 N.J.R. 977(a).

Administrative Change, 55 N.J.R. 1922(b), effective 7/31/2023