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The Vermont Statutes Online



Title

10

:
Conservation and Development






Chapter

164

:
COMPREHENSIVE MERCURY MANAGEMENT











 

§

7110. Mercury-added products used in dental procedures

(a) Dental

amalgam, a formulated mercury-added product, shall not be regulated by any

other sections of this chapter.

(b) Vermont

dental offices and vocational dental education programs shall use and instruct

on the use of best management practices to minimize the presence of elemental

mercury, unused amalgam, and waste amalgam in their wastewater discharge and in

their solid waste. The agency shall develop best management practices that

include a requirement for an amalgam removal efficiency of at least 95 percent.

The required best management practices shall be defined by a procedure of the

agency by January 1, 2006, including reporting requirements to verify

compliance with best management practices. The agency shall consult with the

Vermont state dental society and other interested parties during the

development of best management practices. Dental offices shall comply with best

management practices.

(c) No later

than January 1, 2007, a dental office that in the course of treating its

patients places or removes dental amalgam must install an amalgam separator

system in the wastewater discharge line. For the purposes of this section, an

amalgam separator system means a device that removes dental amalgam from the

waste stream prior to discharge into either the local public wastewater system

or a private septic system located at the dental facility and that has been

certified as conforming to the standards of ISO 11143, Dental Equipment-Amalgam

Separators. A dental office must demonstrate proper installation, operation,

maintenance, and amalgam waste recycling or disposal in accordance with the

manufacturer's recommendations by maintaining annual records on waste shipment

and maintenance of the system and any other reporting required in subsection

(b) of this section. Records of the previous three years shall be maintained at

all times. Methods or technologies other than amalgam separators that achieve

equivalent or greater dental amalgam discharge reductions and that are approved

by the agency shall be deemed to comply with the requirements of this

subsection.

(d) Exemptions.

(1) The

following categories of dental offices are exempt from the requirement to

install an amalgam separator:

(A)

Orthodontists;

(B)

Periodontists;

(C)

Endodontists;

(D) Oral and

maxillofacial surgeons;

(E) A dental

office that is scheduled to no longer be used as a dental office after July 1,

2007;

(F) Any other

dental office that does not place or remove amalgam.

(2) A dental office

in subdivision (1) of this subsection shall be exempt only if all dentists

practicing at the site using a shared vacuum system qualify for an exemption.

(e) The agency

shall conduct a survey of dental offices once every five years, beginning July

1, 2006, to ascertain the use of dental amalgam. The survey results shall be

provided to the advisory committee on mercury pollution for inclusion in their

report to the general assembly. The agency shall consult with the Vermont state

dental society for assistance in conducting the survey.

(f) For the

purposes of this section:

(1) "Dental

amalgam" or "amalgam" means a mixture of mercury and silver

alloy that forms a hard solid metal dental restorative material. For purposes

of this section, dental amalgam or amalgam shall include mercury and silver

alloy precapsulated and ready for mixing.

(2) "Dental

office" means any dental clinic, dental office, or dental practice. (Added

2005, No. 13, § 1.)