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Senate committee debates, then withdraws, scaled‑down infectious‑waste penalties amendment amid stakeholder concerns
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Summary
Senator Pappas offered an amendment (A35) that would add civil‑penalty clarity and an annual audit requirement for infectious‑waste producers; MPCA staff supported clearer penalty caps while hospital representatives and some senators urged more study and stakeholder input, and Pappas withdrew the amendment for further work.
Senator Pappas introduced an A35 amendment April 22 to add clarity and limited civil penalties for infectious‑waste violations and to require annual audits of generators. The amendment proposed aligning infectious‑waste civil penalties with the hazardous‑waste penalty framework (a $30,000/day civil penalty reference was discussed) and creating an interim step while the MPCA develops a dedicated enforcement unit.
Kirk Koudelka, assistant commissioner at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, told the committee the agency appreciates legislative clarity about penalty caps and believes infectious waste has higher stakes that merit clear statutory treatment. "Infectious waste does have some higher stakes ... lifetime of exposures," Koudelka said, adding that the agency has limited dedicated staff for infectious‑waste enforcement and that the amendment would help guide its enforcement approach.
Hospital representative Ms. Benson told the committee hospitals support the study and collaborative development of best practices and opposed imposing new statutory penalties now. She said hospitals and other health providers are already adjusting internal procedures and that the study would help turn lessons into statewide best practices. "Hospitals being medical‑waste generators are not the only people who generate infectious waste," Benson said, noting surgical centers, tattoo artists and others also generate regulated infectious waste.
Debate ranged across the committee. Senator Pratt and others urged caution and preferred stakeholder engagement and a report due Jan. 1, 2027, arguing that a study would produce a more sustainable enforcement path. Senator Pappas said the scaled‑down amendment was meant to provide clarity and to prepare stakeholders for next year; she moved the amendment but, after hearing concerns about process and potential unintended consequences, withdrew it so she could continue negotiations with hospitals and the MPCA.
The committee accepted the withdrawal and will proceed with the study and further discussion next session.
No new civil penalties were enacted at this hearing; the study language in the bill remains the committee’s preferred near‑term approach.
