Pharmaceutical waste management: exemption: over-the-counter drugs and nutritional supplements.

(1) Existing law, the Medical Waste Management Act, administered by the State Department of Public Health, regulates the management, handling, and disposal of medical waste, as defined, including pharmaceutical waste. Existing law, for purposes of the act, defines "pharmaceutical waste" as a prescription or over-the counter human or veterinary drug, as specified, that is waste, as defined, but excludes from that definition certain pharmaceuticals being sent out of state to a reverse distributor, or being sent by a reverse distributor offsite for treatment and disposal, as prescribed. This bill would additionally exclude from the definition of "pharmaceutical waste," for purposes of regulation under the act, any over-the-counter human or veterinary drug or dietary supplement that is, among other things, characterized and managed as a hazardous or solid waste and, with respect to an over-the-counter human or veterinary drug, is not disposed of on land within the state. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.