| | Emergency preamble. Whereas, Acts of the Legislature do not become | effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as | emergencies; and |
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| | Whereas, Maine hospitals presently dispose of biomedical waste | either by incineration at their own facilities or by shipping the | waste out of state; and |
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| | Whereas, the 5 hospitals that presently dispose of their | biomedical waste by incineration face imminent shutdown of their | incinerators due to requirements of the federal Clean Air Act; | and |
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| | Whereas, these hospitals must seek other methods to dispose of | their biomedical waste since they are unable to bring their | incinerators into compliance with the federal Clean Air Act | without the expenditure of substantial sums of money, and | compliance still is not guaranteed; and |
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| | Whereas, the other Maine hospitals face increasing costs to | dispose of their biomedical waste at out-of-state facilities; and |
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| | Whereas, increasing disposal costs for biomedical waste will | further increase hospital costs, thereby contributing to the cost | of health care in the State; and |
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| | Whereas, present law needs to be amended to allow commercial | biomedical waste treatment facilities that do not meet present | limited exemptions to operate; and |
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| | Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create | an emergency within the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and | require the following legislation as immediately necessary for | the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, | therefore, |
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: |
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| | Sec. 1. 38 MRSA §1310-X, sub-§4, ¶¶A and B, as enacted by PL 1995, c. | 588, §1, are amended to read: |
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| A. A commercial biomedical waste disposal or treatment | facility, if at least 51% of the facility is owned by a | hospital or hospitals as defined in Title 22, section 382, | subsection 7, or an affiliated interest or interests as | defined in Title 22, section 396-L, subsection 1, paragraph | A; and |
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| B. Expansion of a commercial solid waste disposal facility, if | the expansion will not result in an increase in the |
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