Published:  October 10, 2018

Previously the Department of Health Services had submitted to the Board of Supervisors to approve a Safe Drug and Sharps Disposal Ordinance. This ordinance would have added a Chapter 14A (Safe Drug and Sharps Disposal) to the Sonoma County Code to establish a Safe Drug and Sharps Stewardship Program within unincorporated Sonoma County.

The Department is no longer pursuing this request as Senate Bill (SB) 212 was signed into California law by the Governor on September 30, 2018 and eliminates the ability for the County to add the proposed ordinance due to the preemption language included in SB 212.

The passage of SB 212 establishes a Statewide stewardship program, under which a manufacturer or distributor of covered drugs or sharps, or other entity defined by the bill, would be required to establish and implement, either on its own or as part of a group of covered entities, a stewardship program for covered drugs or sharps, as applicable.

The Department will provide an update to the Board at a later date to explain how the newly passed legislation changes the need for an ordinance, what the differences are, and how it will be implemented in the County. For more information about SB 212 click here.