Comment submitted by Suzzette H. Carpenter, Dekalb Medical Center

Adding Pharmaceutical Waste to the Universal Waste Rule will be much less burdensome for Hospitals to comply with than the current RCRA regulations and will have a greater effect on preventing pharmaceuticals from ending up in landfills and the water supply. I feel that all pharmaceutical wastes (including controlled substances) should be treated as universal hazardous waste with the exception of Chemotherapy waste which should be separated from the other types of pharmaceutical wastes due to the special handling and precautions that it requires. I applaud the EPA for this regulation and I hope it will be implemented as soon as possible so that we can all do our part to fully protect the environment.