Provides that drugs shall only be disposed of by means of a drug manufacturer collection program

Title of bill

An act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to drug management and collection programs

Purpose of the bill

The bill would require manufacturers of both prescription and over:the-counter drugs to be responsible for establishing drug take-back programs for these drugs.

Summary of provisions

The bill prohibits the disposal of any drug as mixed solid waste in a landfill and only allows drug disposal through a drug collection program established by this bill. The bill would create a drug collection program which would be the responsibility of drug manufacturers who market their drugs in NYS. Each manufacturer would be required to hold at least one drug collection in each county of the state. Manufacturers would be authorized to contract with a public or private third party to conduct the drug collection program, but all costs would be borne by the manufacturer. No fees could be charged to the consumer for drug collection. Manufacturers would be required to report biannually to the DEC on their drug collection programs.

Justification

Many recent studies have demonstrated that drinking water is being contaminated with common medications. The presence of medications creates a -serious public health problem, with the exposure of drugs to the general populace, most importantly our infants and young children.

There have been a few drug collections in the Northeast, which although successful, have barely scraped the surface of this problem. The federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) exempts household waste (including prescription and ATC drugs) from hazardous waste regulation. Furthermore, EPA has made clear that reverse distributors may not accept already dispensed medication as part of that waste stream. However, individual states may determine that drugs are hazardous wastes and must be managed as such.

The creation of drug collection programs by manufacturers would immediately stop the dangerous practices of drug disposal by flushing down the drain or the toilet or throwing drugs into the garbage and subsequently the landfill. There have been successful drug collection programs in the State of Washington (2 years), Alberta Province. Canada (10 years), Wisconsin Clean Sweep funds local municipal drug collection programs, the EPA Great Lakes Earth Day Challenge of 2008, Cumberland County, PA, Salt Lake City, UT, Price Chopper 2008 collection program, and other locations across the country.

As important as these events are, they are not a replacement of a on-going, comprehensive collection effort to remove unwanted and expired drugs from our households. It is time to act now to eliminate this significant threat to our health and our environment.

Legislative history

A.8225, 2006. Similar bill introduced in 2007-08 as A.840.

Fiscal implications for state and local governments

DEC would be responsible to promulgate any necessary rules and relations, to assure compliance with the requirements of this bill, and to accept the biannual reports from manufacturers.

Effective date

The act would take effect immediately, except that section 2 of the bill would take effect 180 days after it becomes law.