BILL NUMBER: AB 333INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Wieckowski FEBRUARY 13, 2013 An act to repeal and add Section 117630 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to medical waste. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 333, as introduced, Wieckowski. Biohazard bags. Existing law regulates the disposal of medical waste and requires specified biohazard materials to be disposed of in biohazard bags. Existing law defines a biohazard bag as a disposable red bag that has the strength to preclude ripping, tearing, or bursting under normal conditions of usage and handling and that is constructed of material of sufficient single thickness strength to pass the 165-gram dropped dart impact resistance test, as specified, and certified by the bag manufacturer. This bill would change the definition of a biohazard bag to a film bag certified by the manufacturer as having passed specified tests for tear resistance and impact resistance. The bill would require a biohazard bag to be red unless other colors are used to further segregate the waste stream. If additional colors are used, the bill would require the color assignments to be designated in the facility' s medical waste management plan. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 117630 of the Health and Safety Code is repealed.117630. "Biohazard bag" means a disposable red bag that is impervious to moisture and has a strength sufficient to preclude ripping, tearing, or bursting under normal conditions of usage and handling of the waste-filled bag. A biohazard bag shall be constructed of material of sufficient single thickness strength to pass the 165-gram dropped dart impact resistance test as prescribed by Standard D 1709-85 of the American Society for Testing and Materials and certified by the bag manufacturer.SEC. 2. Section 117630 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read: 117630. "Biohazard bag" means a disposable film bag that is impervious to moisture. The film bags that are used for transport shall be marked and certified by the manufacturer as having passed the tests prescribed for tear resistence in the American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM) D1922, "Standard Test Method for Propagation Tear Resistance of Plastic Film and Thin Sheeting by Pendulum Method" and for impact resistence in ASTM D 1709, "Standard Test Methods for Impact Resistance of Plastic Film by the Free-Falling Dart Method," as those documents are published on January 1, 2014. The film bag shall meet an impact resistence of 165 grams and a tearing resistence of 480 grams in both parallel and perpendicular planes with respect to the length of the bag. The color of the bag shall be red, except when other colors are used to further segregate the waste stream, including for trace chemotherapy wastes, laboratory wastes, and other subsets of the waste stream. If additional colors are used other than the standard red bag, the color assignments shall be designated in the facility's medical waste management plan.