The Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Govt. of India has notified Biomedical Waste Management Rules, 2016 in supersession of the earlier Biomedical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1998 and amendment thereafter. This has come into effect from 28.03.2016.  Biomedical wastes are generated from health care activities and have potential to spread diseases.   The Board regulates biomedical waste as per the provisions of Biomedical Waste Management Rules, 2016.

Biomedical waste authorization is required for the generation, collection, reception, storage, transportation, treatment, processing, disposal or any other form of handling of biomedical waste listed in schedule-I of Biomedical Waste Management Rules, 2016.

In addition to obtaining authorization, all health care facilities and common biomedical waste treatment facilities coming under the purview of the Rules are required to submit annual report in Form-IV & accident  reporting in Form-I to the Board in stipulated time as per Rule.

As per Rule-10 of the Biomedical Waste Management Rules, 2016 every occupier or operator handling biomedical waste, irrespective of quantity is required to obtain authorization.

As per Rule-3 (m) of the said Rule, an occupier is a person having administrative control over the institution  and premises generating biomedical waste, which includes a hospital, nursing home, clinic, dispensary, veterinary institution, animal house and pathological laboratory, blood blank, health care facility and clinical establishments, irrespective of their system of medicine and by whatever name they are called.

As per Rule-3 (n) of the above said Rule, operator means a person who owns or controls a Common Biomedical Waste Treatment Facility (CBWTF).

NOTE:

All occupiers of bedded health care facilities and operators of Common Biomedical Waste Treatment Facilities are also required to obtain consent from the Board.