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<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" color="#000099" face="Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" color="#000099" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><a href="http://www2.epa.gov/hwgenerators/proposed-rule-management-standards-hazardous-waste-pharmaceuticals">http://www2.epa.gov/hwgenerators/proposed-rule-management-standards-hazardous-waste-pharmaceuticals</a></span><o:p></o:p></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" color="#000099" face="Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><b><font size="6" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:24.0pt;color:windowtext;font-weight:bold">EPA Seeks Input on Drug Flushing Ban<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><b><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext;font-weight:bold">All health care facilities would be banned from
flushing drugs among other changes in a proposed rule.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext">November 18, 2015<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext"><a href="http://www.hhnmag.com/authors/3586-paul-barr"><font color="blue"><span style="color:blue">Paul Barr</span></font></a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext"><a href="http://www.hhnmag.com/articles/6732-epa-seeks-input-on-drug-flushing-ban#disqus_thread"><font color="blue"><span style="color:blue">0
Comments</span></font></a> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext">Stop flushing pills down the toilet.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext">That’s the message behind a
<a href="http://www2.epa.gov/hwgenerators/proposed-rule-management-standards-hazardous-waste-pharmaceuticals#rule-summary">
<font color="blue"><span style="color:blue">proposed rule</span></font></a> from the Environmental Protection Agency that would ban health care facilities from disposing of hazardous pharmaceuticals by flushing them.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext">It might have surprised some people that the EPA allows it all, but
for those hospitals and other health care facilities currently using the disposal method, significant changes may be required if the rule is enacted.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext">The EPA estimates that the proposal is projected to prevent the flushing
of more than 6,400 tons of hazardous waste pharmaceuticals annually.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext">The rule would fall under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act,
and is open for comment from the public until Dec. 24.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext">Officials for the EPA are eager to hear from the field. “We urge you
to comment,” says Kristin Fitzgerald, an environmental protection specialist for the EPA, speaking at a Practice Greenhealth
<a href="https://practicegreenhealth.org/webinars/sharing-call-dea-disposal-regulations">
<font color="blue"><span style="color:blue">webinar</span></font></a> on the topic yesterday. She asked commenters to be specific about what they like and don’t like in their responses.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext">Though the new stricter rules apply to the roughly 20 percent of hazardous
drugs that are not eligible for manufacturers’ credit that are flushed down the toilet, the EPA encourages health care facilities to apply the strictures to all its hazardous waste pharmaceuticals.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext">A separate but related proposed rule would relax hazardous disposal
requirements that recognize that health care facilities are not manufacturers, and should be treated differently in that regard.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext"> “We’re proposing to remove the traditional manufacturing-based hazardous
waste generator requirements and instead provide a new set of regulations designed to be workable in a healthcare setting, while ensuring safe management and disposal of hazardous waste pharmaceuticals,” wrote Mathy Stanislaus, assistant administrator in the
EPA’s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, in a <a href="http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/d0cf6618525a9efb85257359003fb69d/4e6484bba71fe54985257eb20060fffb!OpenDocument">
<font color="blue"><span style="color:blue">blog posting</span></font></a> when the proposed rule was released.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext">The rule includes several technical changes regarding the classification
of health care facilities, and as to which drugs qualify, much of which is explained in a
<a href="http://www2.epa.gov/hwgenerators/frequent-questions-about-management-standards-hazardous-waste-pharmaceuticals-proposed">
<font color="blue"><span style="color:blue">Frequently Asked Questions section</span></font></a> of the EPA website.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" color="#000099" face="Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" color="#000099" face="Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="navy" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">Deborah L. DeBiasi</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:navy"><br>
</span></font><b><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy;font-weight:bold">Email: Deborah.DeBiasi@deq.virginia.gov</span></font></b><b><i><font size="2" color="red"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:red;font-weight:bold;font-style:italic"><br>
</span></font></i></b><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">WEB site address:
<a href="http://www.deq.virginia.gov/">www.deq.virginia.gov</a></span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:navy"><br>
</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">Virginia Department of Environmental Quality</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:navy"><br>
</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">Office of Water Permits
</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:navy"><br>
</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">Industrial Pretreatment/Whole Effluent Toxicity (WET) Program</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:navy"><br>
</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">PPCPs, EDCs, and Microconstituents<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="navy" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:navy"><a href="http://www.deq.virginia.gov/Programs/Water/PermittingCompliance/PollutionDischargeElimination/Microconstituents.aspx">http://www.deq.virginia.gov/Programs/Water/PermittingCompliance/PollutionDischargeElimination/Microconstituents.aspx</a></span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="navy" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">Mail: P.O. Box 1105, Richmond, VA 23218</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:navy"><br>
</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">Location: 629 E. Main Street, Richmond, VA 23219</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:navy"><br>
</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">PH: 804-698-4028 FAX: 804-698-4032<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" color="#000099" face="Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p></font></p>
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