310 CMR 73.00: Amalgam Wastewater & Recycling Regulations for Dental Facilities

Final regulations, March 2006
Web page

Archive of proposed regulations
Web page

Agenda & Handouts from December 21, 2004, Meeting

Agenda
MS Word 26 KB | PDF 115 KB

Draft Regulations
MS Word 79 KB | PDF 99 KB

Memo on Certification Fee
MS Word 29 KB | PDF 124 KB

Draft Outline of Guidance/Workbook for Dentists
MS Word 29 KB | PDF 61 KB 

Other Documents For Review and Comment

Dental Amalgam Best Management Practices

As part of a broader effort to prevent and reduce releases of mercury to the environment, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) is currently developing Best Management Practices (BMPs) for facilities that use Dental Amalgam. Some of these will be mandatory and adopted as regulations. Others will be listed as "recommended" in outreach materials but strongly encouraged by the agency.

Rather than "reinvent the wheel" by attempting to develop a new set of BMPs from scratch, DEP hopes to build on the considerable work done and success achieved already in Massachusetts and other jurisdictions. Toward that end, the agency is seeking comment on the following BMP documents, which are generally consistent with the approach DEP has in mind:

• MassDEP and Massachusetts Water Resources Authority: Recommended Practices for Handling and Recycling Amalgam and Mercury Wastes
  Web page
  
• City of Boulder, Colorado: Best Management Practices for Dental Waste 
  PDF
  
• City of Palo Alto, California: Four Steps to Environmental Compliance for Dentists
  Web site
  
• Narragansett Bay Commission, Rhode Island: Environmental Best Management Practices for the Management of Waste Dental Amalgma
  PDF

As you review these documents, you will notice that some address other issues beyond Dental Amalgam. Please limit your comments to the sections that apply specifically to Amalgam and not the other waste streams (e.g. photographic waste, fluorescent lamps, etc). In preparing your comments, please tell MassDEP specifically which provisions you believe:

• Seem unnecessary or inappropriate
  
• Are missing and need to be added
  
• Should be provided as guidance or enforced by regulation

Please also explain your rationale for these observations. You may submit your comments electronically or by mail to:

James Paterson
MassDEP/BWP
Business Compliance Division
One Winter Street, 8th Floor
Boston, MA 02108
James.Paterson@state.ma.us

For additional information about Dental Amalgam management practices and wastewater separation technologies, visit:

Naval Dental Research Institute

New England Waste Management Officials Association (NEWMOA)

Web site