NY State Senate Bill 2021-S7481

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Environmental Conservation Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

Please enter your contact information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

A valid email address is required.

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 05, 2022	referred to environmental conservation
Oct 27, 2021	referred to rules

2021-S7481 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A3310
Current Committee:: Senate Environmental Conservation
Law Section:: Environmental Conservation Law
Laws Affected:: Add Art 27 Title 32 §§27-3201 - 27-3209, En Con L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2019-2020: S6814, A8878
2023-2024: A3820

2021-S7481 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Regulates the sale of plastic trash bags; requires plastic trash bags be made of 30% post-consumer materials.

2021-S7481 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S7481

SPONSOR: REICHLIN-MELNICK
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to the
sale of plastic trash bags

 
PURPOSE:

The purpose of this legislation is require plastic bags to contain a
minimum percentage of post-consumer material.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 - Amends Article 27 of the environmental conservation law
creating a new title 30 "Regulation of Plastic Trash bags".

Every plastic trash bag for sale in the state shall contain by weight,
at least thirty percent recycled post-consumer material. The Department
of Environmental Conservation may promulgate rules and regulations
requiring a higher percentage of post-consumer material.

Labeling requirements - Every plastic trash bad sold in the state shall
be labeled by the manufacturer indicating the post-consumer material
content.

Violations of this section will result in a warning for the first
violation, any subsequent violations will result in a $500 fine per
violation.

Section 2 - This act shall take effect January 1, 2022.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Single-use plastic products have become part of modern life. However, as
international recycling markets have changed it has become increasingly
difficult to find buyers of post-consumer plastics. The United Nations
estimates that since the 1950s the rate of plastic production has grown
faster than any other material. Plastic pollution is prevalent in all
segments of the environment but of particular concern in streams, rivers
and oceans. Since plastics do not degrade quickly they may persist in
the environment for centuries. Plastic products also poses a threat to
the climate. A recent study by the University of California Santa
Barbara estimated that in 2015 all emission from plastic amounted to
nearly 1.8 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide. To address this envi-
ronmental crisis more opportunities for post-consumer plastics must be
created. A California law requires at least ten percent of the weight of
plastic trash bags contain post-consumer materials. This legislation
would do the same but raise that threshold to thirty percent. By requir-
ing thirty percent post-consumer material in plastic trash bags, a new
market emerges for the reuse of plastics which contributes to an overall
reduction in plastic production.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

S6814 - Referred to Environmental Conservation

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
January 1, 2022

2021-S7481 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7481
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             October 27, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. REICHLIN-MELNICK -- read twice and ordered printed,
   and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
 
 AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation  to  the
   sale of plastic trash bags
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Article 27 of the environmental conservation law is amended
 by adding a new title 32 to read as follows:
                                 TITLE 32
                     REGULATION OF PLASTIC TRASH BAGS
 SECTION 27-3201. DEFINITIONS.
         27-3203. REGULATION OF THE SALE OF PLASTIC TRASH BAGS.
         27-3205. LABELING REQUIREMENTS.
         27-3207. VIOLATIONS.
         27-3209. REGULATIONS.
 § 27-3201. DEFINITIONS.
   AS USED IN THIS TITLE:
   1. "MANUFACTURER" SHALL MEAN ANY PERSON, FIRM,  ASSOCIATION,  PARTNER-
 SHIP,  OR  CORPORATION, WHICH MAKES PLASTIC TRASH BAGS TO BE USED IN THE
 DISPOSAL OF WASTE.
   2. "PLASTIC TRASH BAG" SHALL MEAN A BAG INTENDED TO  HOLD,  STORE,  OR
 TRANSPORT  MATERIALS  MEANT  TO  BE  DISCARDED,  COMPOSTED, OR RECYCLED,
 INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO GARBAGE BAGS, COMPOSTING BAGS,  YARD  BAGS,
 CAN-LINERS, AND RECYCLING BAGS.
   3.  "POST-CONSUMER  MATERIAL"  SHALL  MEAN THOSE PRODUCTS OR MATERIALS
 GENERATED BY A BUSINESS OR CONSUMER WHICH HAVE SERVED THEIR INTENDED END
 USE AS CONSUMER ITEMS AND WHICH HAVE BEEN SEPARATED OR DIVERTED FROM THE
 WASTE STREAM FOR THE PURPOSES OF COLLECTION AND RECYCLING AS A SECONDARY
 MATERIAL FEEDSTOCK.
   4. "RETAILER" SHALL MEAN ANY PERSON, FIRM OR CORPORATION THAT  ENGAGES
 IN THE SALE OF PLASTIC TRASH BAGS.

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD06998-01-1

 S. 7481                             2
 
 § 27-3203. REGULATION OF THE SALE OF PLASTIC TRASH BAGS.
   EVERY PLASTIC TRASH BAG OFFERED FOR SALE OR SOLD BY A RETAILER IN THIS
 STATE  SHALL  CONTAIN, BY WEIGHT, AT LEAST THIRTY PERCENT RECYCLED POST-
 CONSUMER MATERIAL. THE DEPARTMENT MAY PROMULGATE RULES  AND  REGULATIONS
 REQUIRING  A  HIGHER  PERCENTAGE  OF  POST-CONSUMER MATERIAL CONTENT FOR
 PLASTIC TRASH BAGS.
 § 27-3205. LABELING REQUIREMENTS.
   EVERY PACKAGE OF PLASTIC TRASH  BAGS  SOLD  IN  THIS  STATE  SHALL  BE
 LABELED  BY  THE  MANUFACTURER  INDICATING  THE  POST-CONSUMER  MATERIAL
 CONTENT OF THE PLASTIC TRASH BAGS BY WEIGHT.
 § 27-3207. VIOLATIONS.
   1. ANY RETAILER FOUND TO BE IN VIOLATION OF THIS TITLE SHALL RECEIVE A
 WARNING NOTICE FOR THE FIRST VIOLATION. ANY  RETAILER  FOUND  TO  SUBSE-
 QUENTLY  BE  IN VIOLATION OF THIS TITLE SHALL BE SUBJECT TO A PENALTY OF
 FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS PER VIOLATION.
   2. ANY MANUFACTURER FOUND IN VIOLATION OF THIS TITLE SHALL BE  SUBJECT
 TO A PENALTY OF FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS PER VIOLATION.
   3.  NO  RETAILER  SHALL  BE  FOUND  IN VIOLATION OF THIS TITLE IF SUCH
 RETAILER IN GOOD FAITH RELIES  ON  THE  LABEL  AS  REQUIRED  BY  SECTION
 27-3205 OF THIS TITLE.
 § 27-3209. REGULATIONS.
   THE  DEPARTMENT  IS AUTHORIZED TO PROMULGATE ANY RULES AND REGULATIONS
 NECESSARY TO IMPLEMENT THE PROVISIONS OF THIS TITLE.
   § 2. This act shall take effect January 1, 2024.

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Senate Bill S7481

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Environmental Conservation Committee

2021-S7481 (ACTIVE) - Details

2021-S7481 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2021-S7481 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2021-S7481 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

Senate Bill S7481

Share this bill

Sponsored By

Elijah Reichlin-Melnick

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Environmental Conservation Committee

2021-S7481 (ACTIVE) - Details

2021-S7481 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2021-S7481 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2021-S7481 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments