Prior to September 30, 1998, the Vermont Hazardous Waste Management Regulations (HWMR) listed “infectious waste” as a Vermont regulated hazardous waste. Infectious waste was defined in the Vermont HWMR as “a waste capable of producing an infectious disease. For a waste to be infectious, it must contain pathogens with sufficient virulence and quantity so that exposure to the waste by a susceptible host could result in an infectious disease.” The definition contained a list of wastes that had to be managed as a hazardous waste when “the presence of an infectious disease was known or when exposure to or contamination by pathogens was known to have occurred.”

Regulated Medical Waste (RMW) means that portion of waste generated in the medical industry which requires special handling and treatment prior to disposal. (a) The following types of solid waste are considered RMW: (1) Pathological Waste: (2) Human blood, blood products and other body fluids: (A) All liquid waste human blood and blood products (B) Other potentially infectious liquid body fluids (C) Items saturated or dripping with blood or with potentially infectious body fluids (3) Cultures and stocks of infectious agents (4) Sharps (5) Animal Waste: animal carcasses, body parts, bedding, and other items from animals that are known or suspected by either the Department of Health or the Department of Agriculture of being contaminated with organisms that can produce disease in humans and that disposal by burial or other ordinarily acceptable means would not sufficiently reduce the risk of transmission of a disease to humans or other animals. (6) Chemotherapy waste (7) Infectious isolation waste (8) Biotechnological by-product effluents (9) Other: wastes not included above as determined by the Secretary.

Persons who store RMW must comply with the following requirements: (1) Waste received at a treatment or transfer facility must be date stamped upon receipt at the facility. (2) Waste must be stored in a manner and location that maintains the integrity of the packaging and prevents contact with water, precipitation, wind, and animals. (3) Storage areas must be locked to prevent unauthorized access. (4) Access to on-site storage areas must be limited to authorized personnel. (5) Areas used for the storage of RMW must be labeled to identify a “Universal Biohazard”. (6) Treated and non-treated RMW must be maintained such that there are no offsite odors. (7) Time limits for storage of untreated RMW, at a transfer, storage or treatment facility may not exceed: Room Temperature for up to 3 days of receipt Refrigerated at < 40 F for up to 7 days of receipt Frozen at < 0 F for up to 37 days of receipt