| TO: | Honorable Patricia Harless, Chair, House Committee on Environmental Regulation |
| FROM: | Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | SB1176 by Deuell (Relating to the regulation of medical waste.), As Engrossed |
The bill would give the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) authority over regulating medical waste and change some of the requirements and regulations relating to medical waste. The bill would give the TCEQ the specific ability to require a permit or registration for the collection, treatment, storage, disposal, and transportation of medical waste. The bill would require that medical waste processing and transfer activities be located at least 25 feet from a facility boundary, with some exceptions.
The bill would take effect immediately if it receives a two-thirds vote in both houses; otherwise, it would take effect on September 1, 2013. The bill would exempt any medical waste facility with a current permit or registration from the bill's provisions.
This analysis assumes the Department of State Health Services (DSHS), which currently has rules in place governing definition, treatment, and disposition of special waste from health care-related facilities, would repeal those rules because the bill would authorize the TCEQ to control all aspects of medical waste regulation.
Passage of the bill is not expected to have a significant fiscal impact on the TCEQ or the DSHS.
| Source Agencies: | 537 State Health Services, Department of, 582 Commission on Environmental Quality
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| LBB Staff: | UP, SZ, TL, KKR, CL, CH, JTe
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