[Pharmwaste] CVS Asks EPA To Ease Waste Rules On Nicotine Products

[Jeff Hollar]

Full story link:
http://www.law360.com/articles/542147/cvs-asks-epa-to-ease-waste-rules-on-ni
cotine-products

I thought it odd that the article indicates over half the CVS stores are
Large Quantity Generators due to the fact that they "sell" over 2.2 pounds
of acutely hazardous waste (nicotine) each month.  I'm sure they did not
mean to infer they actually "sell" hazardous waste.

Jeff Hollar

President

PharmWaste Technologies, Inc.

4164 NW Urbandale Dr., Ste A

Urbandale, IA 50322

515-276-5302 (general)

515-331-7310 (direct)

515-360-9785 (cell)

 <http://www.pwaste.com/> www.pwaste.com

When accessing the above link it may ask for a subscription, so I attached
the actual article below:

Law360, New York (May 28, 2014, 3:28 PM ET) --
<http://www.law360.com/companies/cvs-caremark-corporation> CVS Caremark
Corp. is urging the U.S.
<http://www.law360.com/agencies/environmental-protection-agency>
Environmental Protection Agency to ease waste disposal regulations for
nicotine patches and gum months before the pharmacy chain is scheduled to
stop selling cigarettes at its stores, saying current federal rules are
needlessly burdensome on retailers. 
In a letter sent to the EPA earlier this month, CVS requested that the
agency change how it regulates nicotine treatments under the Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act. The EPA is currently investigating whether it
should change hazardous waste disposal guidelines - which CVS says were
mostly intended for industrial and manufacturing operations - for the retail
industry.

CVS suggested that because of a current RCRA-related guideline, thousands of
its stores are unfairly subjected to increased regulation even though most
of its products in the future will contain relatively small amounts of
nicotine - a substance the government classifies as "acutely hazardous
waste."

Retail locations that sell at least 1 kilogram, or 2.2 pounds, of acutely
hazardous waste per month are considered 'large-quantity generators' by the
EPA and must adhere to heightened government rules. But when determining how
much hazardous weight is generated by a retail store, the EPA considers the
entire weight of a nicotine product and not just the nicotine itself.

CVS said thousands of its stores "quickly exceed" the 1 kilogram threshold
because the EPA includes this added weight in nicotine replacement
treatments. The pharmacy said these products contain such small amounts of
nicotine that they are "not acutely toxic" and do not pose any environmental
dangers when they are disposed of by customers.

According to CVS, nicotine patches typically contain 7, 14 or 21 milligrams
of nicotine, and lozenges and gum contain even less nicotine - typically
between 2 and 4 milligrams. CVS said the nicotine replacement products "have
very different composition from the materials available at the time of
initial regulatory review," the pharmacy said.

"Because nicotine gum and lozenges contain only low concentrations of
nicotine, it is difficult to understand how these products pose a
significant risk to the environment when disposed of," CVS said. "These
facts should support a determination that NRT products are not subject to
RCRA's most stringent generator hazardous waste management requirements."

Changes in how the EPA treats nicotine treatment products could have major
implications for CVS. Earlier this year, CVS announced that it would no
longer be selling tobacco products in its retail stores by October. In its
letter to the EPA, CVS said nicotine replacement products would be a key
component of its efforts to "help people on their path to better health."

CVS says that 4,450 of its U.S. pharmacies and stores, more than half of its
U.S. locations, are designated as large-quantity waste generators as a
direct result of waste generated from nicotine replacement products.

The EPA published its current request for information in February. In an
email, the agency said it is seeking to better understand stakeholder
concerns and problems regarding the applicability of RCRA to the retail
sector."

The public comment period ends on May 30.

--Editing by Philip Shea

 

 

 

 

 

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