California Health and Safety Code CHAPTER 2 - Definitions

• Section 117625.
  Unless the context requires otherwise, the definitions in this article govern the construction of this part.(Added by Stats. 1995, Ch. 415, Sec. 6. Effective January...
• Section 117630.
  (a) “Biohazard bag” means a disposable film bag used to contain medical waste. Notwithstanding subdivision (b) of Section 117605, the film bags that are used to...
• Section 117636.
  “Chemotherapeutic agent” means an agent that kills or prevents the reproduction of malignant cells. Chemotherapeutic agent excludes anti-inflammatory and antibiotic medications used to treat malignant...
• Section 117637.
  “Common carrier” means either of the following:(a) A person or company that has a United States Department of Transportation number issued by the Federal Motor Carrier...
• Section 117640.
  “Common storage facility” means any designated accumulation area that is onsite and is used by small quantity generators otherwise operating independently for the storage of...
• Section 117645.
  “Container” means the rigid container in which the medical waste is placed prior to transporting for purposes of storage or treatment.(Added by Stats. 1995, Ch....
• Section 117647.
  “Empty” means a condition achieved when tubing, a container, or inner liner removed from a container that previously contained liquid or solid material, including, but...
• Section 117650.
  “Enforcement agency” means the department or the local agency administering this part.(Added by Stats. 1995, Ch. 415, Sec. 6. Effective January 1, 1996.)
• Section 117655.
  “Enforcement officer” means the director, or agents or registered environmental health specialists appointed by the director, and all local health officers, directors of environmental health,...
• Section 117657.
  “Fund” means the Medical Waste Management Fund created pursuant to Section 117885.(Added by Stats. 1996, Ch. 1023, Sec. 347. Effective September 29, 1996.)
• Section 117660.
  “Hazardous waste hauler” means a person registered as a hazardous waste hauler pursuant to Article 6 (commencing with Section 25160) and Article 6.5 (commencing with...
• Section 117662.
  “Health care professional” means any person licensed or certified pursuant to Division 2 (commencing with Section 500) of the Business and Professions Code; any person...
• Section 117665.
  “Highly communicable diseases” means diseases, such as those caused by organisms classified by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as risk group 3...
• Section 117670.
  “Household waste” means any material, including garbage, trash, and sanitary wastes in septic tanks and medical waste, that is derived from households, farms, or ranches....
• Section 117671.
  “Home-generated sharps waste” means hypodermic needles, pen needles, intravenous needles, lancets, and other devices that are used to penetrate the skin for the delivery of...
• Section 117672.
  “Industrial hygienist” means a person who has met the educational requirements of an industrial hygiene certification organization, as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 20700...
• Section 117675.
  “Infectious agent” means a type of microorganism, bacteria, mold, parasite, or virus, including, but not limited to, organisms managed as Biosafety Level II, III, or...
• Section 117680.
  “Large quantity generator” means a medical waste generator, other than a trauma scene waste management practitioner, that generates 200 or more pounds of medical waste...
• Section 117685.
  “Local agency” means the local health department, as defined in Section 101185, or the local comprehensive environmental agency established in accordance with Section 101275, of...
• Section 117690.
  (a) “Medical waste” means any biohazardous, pathology, pharmaceutical, or trace chemotherapy waste not regulated by the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (Public Law...
• Section 117695.
  Medical waste that has been treated in accordance with the provisions of the Medical Waste Management Act, Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 118215), and that...
• Section 117700.
  Medical waste does not include any of the following:(a) Waste generated in food processing or biotechnology that does not contain an infectious agent, as defined in...
• Section 117705.
  “Medical waste generator” means any person whose act or process produces medical waste and includes, but is not limited to, a provider of health care,...
• Section 117710.
  “Medical waste management plan” means a document that is completed by generators of medical waste that describes how the medical waste generated at their facility...
• Section 117715.
  “Medical waste permit” means a permit issued by the enforcement agency to a medical waste treatment facility.(Added by Stats. 1995, Ch. 415, Sec. 6. Effective...
• Section 117720.
  “Medical waste registration” means a registration issued by the enforcement agency to a medical waste generator.(Added by Stats. 1995, Ch. 415, Sec. 6. Effective January...
• Section 117725.
  (a) “Medical waste treatment facility” means all land and structures, and other appurtenances or improvements on the land under the control of the treatment facility, used...
• Section 117730.
  “Mixed waste” means mixtures of medical and nonmedical waste. Mixed waste is medical waste, except for all of the following:(a)  Medical waste and hazardous waste...
• Section 117735.
  “Offsite” means any location that is not onsite.(Added by Stats. 1995, Ch. 415, Sec. 6. Effective January 1, 1996.)
• Section 117740.
  (a)  “Onsite” means a medical waste treatment facility, or common storage facility on the same or adjacent property as the generator of the medical waste...
• Section 117742.
  “Parent organization” means an organization that employs or contracts with health care professionals who provide health care services at a location other than at a...
• Section 117745.
  “Person” means an individual, trust, firm, joint stock company, business concern, partnership, association, limited liability company, and corporation, including, but not limited to, a government...
• Section 117747.
  (a) “Pharmaceutical” means a prescription or over-the-counter human or veterinary drug, including, but not limited to, a drug as defined in Section 109925 of the Federal...
• Section 117750.
  (a) “Sharps container” means a rigid puncture-resistant container used in patient care or research activities meeting the standards of, and receiving approval from, the United States...
• Section 117760.
  “Small quantity generator” means a medical waste generator, other than a trauma scene waste management practitioner, that generates less than 200 pounds per month of...
• Section 117765.
  “Storage” means the holding of medical wastes, in compliance with the Medical Waste Management Act, including Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 118275), at a designated...
• Section 117770.
  “Tracking document” means the medical waste tracking document specified in Section 118040.(Added by Stats. 1995, Ch. 415, Sec. 6. Effective January 1, 1996.)
• Section 117771.
  “Shipping document” means the medical waste shipping document required by the United States Department of Transportation pursuant to Section 172.200 et seq. of Title 49...
• Section 117775.
  (a) “Transfer station” means an offsite location permitted by the department where medical waste is loaded, unloaded, stored, or consolidated by a registered hazardous waste hauler...
• Section 117776.
  (a)  “Trauma scene” means a location soiled by, or contaminated with, human blood, human body fluids, or other residues from the scene of a serious...
• Section 117778.
  “Trauma scene waste management practitioner” means a person who undertakes as a commercial activity the removal of human blood, human body fluids, and other associated...
• Section 117780.
  “Treatment” means any method, technique, or process designed to change or destroy the biological character or composition of any medical waste so as to eliminate...

Last modified: October 22, 2018