Report 2016-127 Recommendations
When an audit is completed and a report is issued, auditees must provide the State Auditor with information regarding their progress in implementing recommendations from our reports at three intervals from the release of the report: 60 days, six months, and one year. Additionally, Senate Bill 1452 (Chapter 452, Statutes of 2006), requires auditees who have not implemented recommendations after one year, to report to us and to the Legislature why they have not implemented them or to state when they intend to implement them. Below, is a listing of each recommendation the State Auditor made in the report referenced and a link to the most recent response from the auditee addressing their progress in implementing the recommendation and the State Auditor's assessment of auditee's response based on our review of the supporting documentation.
Recommendations in Report 2016-127: Home-Generated Sharps and Pharmaceutical Waste: By Designating a Lead Agency, the State Could Increase Proper Disposal (Release Date: May 2017)
| Recommendations to Legislature | ||
|---|---|---|
| Number | Recommendation | Status |
| 1 | To foster consumers' proper disposal of sharps and pharmaceutical waste, the Legislature should provide CalRecycle statutory oversight responsibility for home-generated sharps and pharmaceutical waste disposal and provide CalRecycle additional resources to the extent that it can justify the need. This responsibility should include developing and implementing a public education campaign about home-generated sharps and pharmaceutical waste disposal. CalRecycle should coordinate this campaign with local, state, and, to the extent possible, federal agencies to ensure consumers receive consistent guidance regarding proper disposal methods. |
No Action Taken |
| 2 | To foster consumers' proper disposal of sharps and pharmaceutical waste, the Legislature should provide CalRecycle statutory oversight responsibility for home-generated sharps and pharmaceutical waste disposal and provide CalRecycle additional resources to the extent that it can justify the need. This responsibility should include maintaining an up-to-date, well-publicized, and accessible statewide list of free sharps and pharmaceutical waste collection sites. CalRecycle should create this list by either improving its FacIT database or by establishing a new database, potentially using Recyclewhere.org as a model. |
No Action Taken |
| 3 | To foster consumers' proper disposal of sharps and pharmaceutical waste, the Legislature should provide CalRecycle statutory oversight responsibility for home-generated sharps and pharmaceutical waste disposal and provide CalRecycle additional resources to the extent that it can justify the need. This responsibility should include increasing consumers' access to proper disposal methods in underserved locations. It could increase access by subsidizing prepaid mail-back options or by encouraging municipalities to include the collection of sharps and pharmaceutical waste in their contracts with waste haulers. |
No Action Taken |
| 4 | To foster consumers' proper disposal of sharps and pharmaceutical waste, the Legislature should provide CalRecycle statutory oversight responsibility for home-generated sharps and pharmaceutical waste disposal and provide CalRecycle additional resources to the extent that it can justify the need. This responsibility should include determining the characteristics of other government programs, such as New York State's consumer education program, that might benefit California. |
No Action Taken |
| 5 | To increase in-state options for processing California's home-generated pharmaceutical waste, the Legislature should expressly authorize municipal solid waste incinerators to burn limited quantities of home-generated pharmaceutical waste, but only after considering environmental impacts. |
No Action Taken |
| 6 | To ensure consistency throughout the State, the Legislature should adopt standard requirements for counties to follow when implementing EPR programs. These requirements should limit any additional costs the programs may impose on consumers. |
No Action Taken |