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.