Bill Text: NY A04129 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Prohibits a manufacturer from labeling or advertising a nonwoven disposable product for sale as flushable without prior approval from the department of environmental conservation.

Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 10-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-05-11 - print number 4129a [A04129 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-A04129-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          4129

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    February 1, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by M. of A. COLTON, GOTTFRIED, SIMON, STECK, COOK, ZEBROWSKI
          -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. DILAN, ENGLEBRIGHT, LUPARDO --  read
          once and referred to the Committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection

        AN  ACT  to amend the general business law, in relation to prohibiting a
          manufacturer from labeling or advertising a nonwoven disposable  prod-
          uct for sale as a flushable without prior approval

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. The general business law is amended by adding a new section
     2  391-v to read as follows:
     3    § 391-v.  Nonwoven  disposable  products.  1.  For  purposes  of  this
     4  section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
     5    (a) "Advertised" means representation made by statement, word, design,
     6  device, sound or any combination thereof in print or broadcast media.
     7    (b)  "Flushable", "septic safe", and "sewer safe" means with regard to
     8  a nonwoven disposable product, a product that  is:  (i)  able  to  clear
     9  toilets  and  properly  maintained  drainage pipe systems under expected
    10  product usage conditions; (ii) compatible  with  wastewater  conveyance,
    11  treatment,  reuse,  and disposal systems without causing blockage, clog-
    12  ging,  or  other  operational  problems;  and  (iii)  unrecognizable  in
    13  effluent  leaving on-site and municipal wastewater treatment systems and
    14  in digested sludge from wastewater treatment plants that are applied  to
    15  soil.
    16    (c)  "Label" means those representations made through statement, word,
    17  picture, design or emblem on a packaging of a nonwoven disposable  prod-
    18  uct.
    19    (d)  "Nonwoven  disposable product" means any product constructed from
    20  nonwoven sheets that is designed for, marketed for, or commonly used for
    21  personal hygiene purposes.
    22    2. No nonwoven  disposable  product  for  sale  in  any  municipality,
    23  including a city with a population of a million or more, shall be adver-

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD05617-01-1
        A. 4129                             2

     1  tised,  packaged  or labeled as flushable, sewer safe, or septic safe if
     2  such product has not first been approved as flushable by a  third  party
     3  according  to  rules  promulgated  by  the  department  of environmental
     4  conservation.
     5    3.  Any  person  who violates this section shall be subject to a civil
     6  penalty of not more than five thousand dollars for each violation.  Such
     7  penalties  may  be recovered in proceedings before a department of envi-
     8  ronmental conservation enforcement hearing, through prosecution  by  the
     9  bureau  of consumer frauds and protection, or in any action in any court
    10  of appropriate jurisdiction.
    11    4. Nothing in this section shall apply to:
    12    (a) A television or radio broadcasting station, or to any publisher of
    13  a newspaper, magazine or other form of printed advertising, that  broad-
    14  casts,  publishes  or  prints  an advertisement that features a nonwoven
    15  disposable product packaged or labeled  as  flushable,  sewer  safe,  or
    16  septic safe; or
    17    (b)  a  wholesaler  or retailer that distributes or sells but does not
    18  package or label a nonwoven disposable product that is advertised, pack-
    19  aged, or labeled as flushable, sewer safe or septic safe.
    20    § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day  after  it  shall
    21  have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or
    22  repeal  of  any  rule  or regulation necessary for the implementation of
    23  this act on its effective date are authorized to be made  and  completed
    24  on or before such effective date.