Ways and Means Committee amends bill aimed at reducing improper disposal of infectious waste

Garbage is gross, and working at a garbage-sorting facility can’t be a very fun job.

But the job becomes exponentially worse if the garbage contains nasty stuff that’s not even supposed to be there, like severed human body parts, unidentified and rotting bits of flesh, bones, organs, used needles and other infectious medical waste.

That concerns Rep. Wayne Johnson (R-Cottage Grove) and it is the focus of HF4017 that he sponsors.

The main culprits are hospitals, Johnson said, which are only sporadically complying with a 1989 law mandating the separation and labeling of medical waste.

He’s spoken with workers at the Ramsey/Washington Recycling & Energy Center in Newport who are traumatized when they make these gruesome and increasingly more frequent discoveries. They also fear being stuck with a dirty needle.

“All of a sudden they look down and there’s a bag of blood, body parts, feet, to the point you don’t know if you’re calling the sheriff, 911, or what you’re doing. And it’s causing the facility to shut down,” Johnson said. “… People have walked off the job.”

Amended in House Ways and Means Committee

When before the House Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy Committee March 12, the bill would have penalized a facility that unlawfully arranges for the transport of infectious or pathological waste to solid waste management facilities that are not approved by the Pollution Control Agency to receive such waste.

It would have also required the PCA and Department of Health to conduct unannounced inspections of infectious or pathological waste generators to ensure state law compliance.

In Tuesday’s House Ways and Means Committee, however, Johnson successfully offered a delete-all amendment that fundamentally changed the bill by replacing all regulations and penalties with provisions requiring the PCA to undertake a study focusing on how infectious and pathological waste enters the garbage stream unlawfully, and what to do about it.

Approved, as amended, the bill’s next stop is the House Floor.

Per the amended bill, the PCA study must consider whether two measures would reduce unlawful transfers of infectious or pathological waste: imposing fines on those who unlawfully transport infectious or pathological waste to solid waste management facilities; and undertaking unannounced inspections of infectious or pathological waste generators.

The bill would appropriate $75,000 in Fiscal Year 2027 from the environmental fund for the study.