250 R.I. Code R. 250-RICR-140-20-3.4

Current through October 15, 2024

Section 250-RICR-140-20-3.4 - Definitions

A. For the purposes of these regulations, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

1. "Amalgam separator" means a device that removes dental amalgam from the waste stream prior to discharge into either the local public wastewater system or a private septic system located at the dental facility and that has been certified as conforming to the standards of ISO 11143, Dental Equipment - Amalgam Separators.

2. "Authorized senior management official" means a corporate official or the individual responsible for the overall operation of a facility (or designated authorized agent of the facility) or an operational unit of a facility, such as a plant manager, superintendent, manager of environmental programs, or person of equivalent responsibility.

3. "Capture rate" means the annual removal, collection, and recovery of mercury switches, as a percentage of the total number of mercury switches available for removal from end-of-life vehicles as determined by the Department of Environmental Management. Capture rate shall not include mercury switches that are inaccessible due to significant damage to the motor vehicle in the area where the mercury switch is located.

4. "Component" means a mercury-added product that is incorporated into another product to form a fabricated mercury-added product, including, but not limited to, electrical switches and lamps.

5. "Component manufacturer" means any person who produces a mercury-added product that is incorporated into another product, including but not limited to electrical switches, relays, and lamps.

6. "Department" means the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management.

7. "Director" means the Director of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management or his or her designee.

8. "Elemental mercury" means a heavy, silvery-white metal that is liquid at room temperature and is represented by the chemical symbol "Hg" with an atomic number of 80 and an atomic mass of 200.59.

9. "End-of-life motor vehicle" means any vehicle that is sold, given, or otherwise conveyed to a vehicle recycler or a scrap recycling facility for the purpose of recycling.

10. "Fabricated mercury-added product" means a product that consists of a combination of individual components that combine to make a single unit, including, but not limited to, mercury-added measuring devices, lamps and switches to which mercury or a mercury compound is intentionally added in order to provide a specific characteristic, appearance, or quality, or to perform a specific function or for any other reason.

11. "Fluorescent lamp" means a low-pressure mercury electric-discharge lamp in which a fluorescing coating (phosphor) transforms some of the ultraviolet energy generated by the discharge into light.

12. "Formulated mercury-added product" means a product that includes, but is not limited to, laboratory chemicals, cleaning products, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and coating materials that are sold as a consistent mixture of chemicals to which mercury or a mercury compound is intentionally added in order to provide a specific characteristic, appearance, or quality, or to perform a specific function or for any other reason.

13. "Healthcare facility" means any hospital, nursing home, extended care facility, long-term care facility, clinical or medical laboratory, state or private health or mental institution, clinic, physician's office or health maintenance organization.

14. "Interstate mercury education and reduction clearinghouse" or "IMERC" means the program established under the auspices of the Northeast Waste Management Officials' Association (NEWMOA) to facilitate tasks and serve as a single point of contact for the manufacturers, distributors, or importers of mercury-added products to facilitate compliance with state requirements for these products.

15. "Laboratory chemical standards" means a material or substance whose chemical properties are sufficiently homogeneous and that are intended for use in the calibration of analytical instruments or validating measurement techniques related to the assignment of mercury values, (emphasis added).

16. "Manufacturer" means manufacturer as defined in R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 23-24.9, namely any person, firm, association, partnership, corporation, governmental entity, organization, combination, or joint venture that produces a mercury-added product or an importer or domestic distributor of a mercury-added product produced in a foreign country. In the case of a multi-component mercury-added product, the manufacturer is the last manufacturer to produce or assemble the product. If the multi-component product is produced in a foreign country, the manufacturer is the importer or domestic distributor.

17. "Mercury-added button cell battery" means a button cell battery to which the manufacturer intentionally introduces mercury for the operation of the battery.

18. "Mercury-added component" or "mercury switch" means, for the purpose of § 3.12 of this Part, a mercury-added convenience light switch assembly or mercury containing capsule from a convenience light switch from an end-of-life motor vehicle.

19. "Mercury-added novelty" means a mercury-added product intended mainly for personal or household enjoyment or adornment. Mercury-added novelties include, but are not limited to, items intended for use as figurines, adornments, toys, games, cards, ornaments, yard statues and figures, candles, jewelry, holiday decorations, items of apparel (including footwear), or similar products.

20. "Mercury-added product" means a product, commodity, chemical or a product with a component that contains mercury or a mercury compound intentionally added to the product, commodity, chemical or component in order to provide a specific characteristic, appearance, or quality, or to perform a specific function or for any other reason. These products include formulated mercury-added products and fabricated mercury-added products.

21. "Mercury compound" means a substance composed of elemental mercury and one or more other chemical elements in fixed proportions.

22. "Mercury fever thermometer" means a mercury-added product that is used for measuring body temperature.

23. "Motor vehicle" means every vehicle which is self-propelled or propelled by electric power obtained from overhead trolley wires, but not operated upon rails, except vehicles moved exclusively by human power, an EPAMD, electric motorized bicycles and motorized wheelchairs (as defined in the R.I. Motor Vehicle Code R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-1-3).

24. "Offer for sale" or "use" means any presentation for acceptance or rejection made by any means, including those that are electronically conveyed.

25. "Person" means any individual, group of individuals, firm, joint stock company, association, partnership, private or municipal corporation, government or quasi-governmental corporation, state, commission, political subdivision of the state, any interstate body, or the federal government or any agency or subdivision thereof.

26. "Prescription" means a verbal or written order for drugs, medicines and devices by a licensed practitioner, to be compounded or dispensed by licensed pharmacists in a duly registered pharmacy, and to be kept on file for a period of four (4) years. Prescriptions may also apply to the finished products dispensed by the licensed pharmacists in the registered pharmacy, on order of a licensed practitioner.

27. "Product category" means a group of mercury-added products that have the same purpose for having the mercury in each unit, the same consumer or commercial use, and an amount of mercury per unit for all products that fall within the category.

28. "Provider of elemental mercury" means any person that offers elemental mercury for sale or use or otherwise distributes elemental mercury.

29. "Recipient of elemental mercury" means any person who purchases or otherwise receives elemental mercury.

30. "School" means any public or private kindergarten, elementary, secondary, or secondary vocation-technical school or Head Start facility or other institution for the teaching of children in Rhode Island.

31. "Scrap recycling facility" means a fixed location where machinery and equipment are utilized for processing and manufacturing scrap metal into prepared grades and whose principal product is scrap iron, scrap steel, or nonferrous metallic scrap for sale for re-melting purposes.

32. "Vehicle recycler" means an individual or entity required to be licensed under the provisions of R.I. Gen. Laws § 42-14.2-3 that engages in the business of acquiring, dismantling, parts recycling from, or destroying six (6) or more end-of-life vehicles in a calendar year.

250 R.I. Code R. 250-RICR-140-20-3.4