CHAPTER 9.5. Trauma Scene Waste Management [118321. - 118321.6.]

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC 9.5.

in effect

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 118321. Section 118321.

(a) This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the Trauma Scene Waste Management Act. (b) The Legislature hereby finds and declares that it is in the interests of the health and safety of the public and the solid waste industry to regulate the handling and treatment of waste that, but for contamination with large quantities of human blood or body fluids as a result of death, serious injury, or illness, would be solid waste. (c) The Legislature further finds and declares that, in the interest of safe and uniform management of trauma scene waste, practitioners of trauma scene management should be subject to regulation by the department.

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 118321.1. Section 118321.1.

(a) A trauma scene waste management practitioner shall register with the department on forms provided by the department. (b) The department shall register a trauma scene waste management practitioner and issue a trauma scene waste hauling permit to a trauma scene waste management practitioner who submits a completed application form and the registration fee, upon approval of the application by the department. (c) A registered trauma scene waste management practitioner is exempt from the registration requirements imposed pursuant to Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 118025) or Article 6.5 (commencing with Section 25167.1) of Chapter 6.5 of Division 20 upon haulers of medical waste. (d) Registered trauma scene waste management practitioners shall pay an annual fee of two hundred dollars ($200) to the department for deposit in the fund. The fee revenues deposited in the fund pursuant to this subdivision may be expended by the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the implementation of this chapter.

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 118321.2. Section 118321.2.

(a) The department shall maintain an inventory of registered trauma scene waste management practitioners. (b) The department shall submit a list of registered trauma scene waste management practitioners to all local agency health officers and directors of environmental health, county administrators, and county sheriffs, and shall make the list available, upon request, to other public agencies and to the public.

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 118321.3. Section 118321.3.

(a) Notwithstanding Section 117650, the department shall be the sole enforcement agency with regard to the management of trauma scene waste. (b) The department, working with the trauma scene waste management industry and the health care industry, shall establish the following standards: (1) Documentation of personal protection required to be provided for, and used by, workers in accordance with the California Occupational and Safety Administration’s bloodborne pathogen standards. (2) Technologies and chemicals appropriate to the task of cleanup and disinfecting. (c) The department may adopt regulations pursuant to which trauma scene waste management practitioners shall document both of the following: (1) Identification of trauma scene waste within the scope of this chapter. (2) Compliance with disposal requirements, including, but not limited to, tracking the transportation of trauma scene waste. (d) The department shall adopt procedures to provide information to trauma scene waste management practitioners recommending procedures for removing trauma scene waste from trauma scenes.

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 118321.4. Section 118321.4.

As specified in Section 117705, a trauma scene waste management practitioner who transports trauma scene waste shall be deemed the generator of the trauma scene waste for purposes of this part.

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 118321.5. Section 118321.5.

(a) Trauma scene waste shall be removed from the trauma scene immediately upon completion of the removal phase of a trauma scene waste removal operation. (b) Trauma scene waste shall be transported to a permitted medical waste transfer station or treatment facility pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 118000, or may be stored in a dedicated freezer at the business location of the trauma scene waste management practitioner for a period of not more than 14 days, or as otherwise approved by the department.

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 118321.6. Section 118321.6.

(a) This chapter does not limit or abridge the jurisdiction of the Division of Occupational Safety and Health of the Department of Industrial Relations. (b) This chapter does not prohibit a business from employing or contracting with a person to provide cleanup or consultative services, including those services provided by an industrial hygienist, with respect to trauma scene waste if those services are incidental to the principal course and scope of services provided by the person.

Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026