Bill Text: NY A05753 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes guidelines for carryout bag waste reduction.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 49-2)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - referred to environmental conservation [A05753 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-A05753-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5753 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY February 14, 2019 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. ENGLEBRIGHT, SIMON, ORTIZ, CARROLL, LAVINE, LIFTON, THIELE, ABINANTI, DE LA ROSA, LUPARDO, STECK, HYNDMAN, SEAWRIGHT, FAHY, L. ROSENTHAL, GOTTFRIED, PEOPLES-STOKES, JAFFEE, COLTON, SOLAGES, EPSTEIN, TAYLOR, PAULIN, ARROYO, GLICK, SANTABARBARA, WILLIAMS, GALEF, QUART, WOERNER, MAGNARELLI, ROZIC, BARRON, BLAKE, D'URSO, OTIS, MOSLEY, NIOU, DINOWITZ, RICHARDSON, BARRETT, STIRPE, RYAN -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. BRONSON, BUCHWALD, CYMBROWITZ, MONTESANO -- read once and referred to the Committee on Environmental Conservation AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, the alcoholic bever- age control law and the state finance law, in relation to establishing guidelines for carryout bag waste reduction The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "New York 2 state bring your own bag act". 3 § 2. Article 27 of the environmental conservation law is amended by 4 adding a new title 28 to read as follows: 5 TITLE 28 6 CARRYOUT BAG WASTE REDUCTION 7 Section 27-2801. Definitions. 8 27-2802. Charges. 9 27-2803. Additional obligations for stores. 10 27-2804. Deposit and disposition of fees. 11 27-2805. Violations. 12 27-2806. Preemption of local law. 13 § 27-2801. Definitions. 14 As used in this article: 15 1. "Carryout bag" means a bag made of plastic, paper, or other materi- 16 al that is intended for the purpose of carrying purchased items and is EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD02045-01-9A. 5753 2 1 provided by a store to a customer at the point of sale and that is not a 2 reusable grocery bag; 3 2. "Exempt bag" means a bag intended to directly contain food, includ- 4 ing, but not limited to sandwich bags, handleless produce bags and bags 5 provided by a pharmacy to carry prescription drugs; 6 3. "Store" means a general vendor, or a retail or wholesale establish- 7 ment engaged in the sale of personal, consumer or household items 8 including but not limited to drug stores, pharmacies, grocery stores, 9 supermarkets, convenience food stores or foodmarts that provide carryout 10 bags to consumers in which to place items purchased or obtained at such 11 establishments. Such term shall not include food service establishments, 12 mobile food service establishments, or emergency food providers or 13 501(c)(3) organizations; 14 4. "Reusable grocery bag" means a bag with handles that is specif- 15 ically designed and manufactured for multiple reuse that is provided by 16 a store to a customer at the point of sale and capable of carrying twen- 17 ty-two pounds over a distance of one hundred and seventy-five feet for a 18 minimum of one hundred and twenty-five uses and is either (a) made of 19 cloth or other machine washable fabric, or (b) made of durable plastic 20 that is at least 2.25 mils thick, measured according to the ASTM stand- 21 ard D6988-13; 22 5. "Mobile food vendor" means a self-contained food service operation, 23 located in a readily movable pushcart, motorized wheeled or towed vehi- 24 cle, used to store, prepare, display or serve food intended for individ- 25 ual portion service. 26 § 27-2802. Charges. 27 1. (a) Stores shall charge a fee of no less than ten cents for each 28 carryout bag or reusable grocery bag provided to any person. No store 29 shall charge more than twenty-five cents for each carryout bag. This 30 charge shall be incurred by the customer at the point of sale, and will 31 appear as a separate charge on the receipt received by the customer for 32 the purchased items. 33 (b) The store collecting fees pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subdi- 34 vision shall retain twenty percent of all such fees and shall remit the 35 remaining eighty percent of all such fees to the commissioner of taxa- 36 tion and finance in accordance with the provisions of section 27-2804 of 37 this title for deposit to the credit of the environmental protection 38 fund established pursuant to section ninety-two-s of the state finance 39 law. All such funds shall be made available to localities for the 40 purpose of pollution reduction, cleanup, and education, and purchasing 41 and distributing reusable bags, with priority given to low and fixed-in- 42 come communities. 43 2. (a) No store shall charge a carryout bag fee for bags of any kind 44 provided by the customer in lieu of a carryout bag of any kind provided 45 by any such store. 46 (b) No store shall be required to charge such fee for an exempt bag. 47 3. No store shall prevent a person from using a bag of any kind that 48 they have brought to any such store for purposes of carrying goods from 49 such store. 50 4. All stores that provide carryout bags to customers shall provide 51 carryout bags free of charge for items purchased at such stores by any 52 person using the New York state supplemental nutritional assistance 53 program or the New York state special supplemental nutrition program for 54 women, infants and children as a full or partial payment. 55 5. The department shall promulgate all necessary or desirable rules 56 and regulations to effect the purposes set forth in this title andA. 5753 3 1 educate the general public about such purposes. The department shall 2 conduct outreach programs to educate the general public about such 3 purposes and shall publicize such rules and regulations on its website. 4 § 27-2803. Additional obligations for stores. 5 1. All stores subject to the provisions of this title shall post signs 6 provided or approved by the department at or near points of sale located 7 in such covered stores to notify customers of the provisions of this 8 section. 9 2. No store subject to the provisions of this title shall provide a 10 credit to any person specifically for the purpose of offsetting or 11 avoiding the carryout bag charge required by section 27-2802 of this 12 title. 13 3. A store may not charge a fee pursuant to subdivision one of section 14 27-2802 of this title, for a reusable grocery bag that meets the 15 requirements of subdivision four of section 27-2801 of this title and 16 which is distributed to a customer without charge during a limited dura- 17 tion promotional event, not to exceed fourteen days per year. 18 4. Paper carryout bags subject to provisions of this title shall 19 contain a minimum of forty percent post-consumer recycled content. 20 5. No store shall distribute any plastic carryout bags to its custom- 21 ers unless such bags are exempt bags as defined in subdivision two of 22 section 27-2801 of this title. 23 § 27-2804. Deposit and disposition of fees. 24 1. Each store collecting fees as provided in section 27-2802 of this 25 title shall deposit all such fees collected into a designated carryout 26 bag account. Such store shall hold the amounts in the carryout bag 27 account in trust for the state. A carryout bag account shall be an 28 interest-bearing account established in a banking institution located in 29 this state, the deposits in which are insured by an agency of the feder- 30 al government. Deposits of such amounts into the carryout bag account 31 shall be made not less frequently than every five business days. All 32 interest, dividends and returns earned on monies in the carryout bag 33 account shall be paid directly into said account. The monies in such 34 account shall be kept separate and apart from all other monies in the 35 possession of the store. The commissioner of taxation and finance may 36 specify a system of account and records to be maintained with respect to 37 accounts established under this subdivision. 38 2. Each store shall file quarterly reports with the commissioner of 39 taxation and finance on a form and in the manner prescribed by such 40 commissioner. The commissioner of taxation and finance may require such 41 reports to be filed electronically. The quarterly reports required by 42 this subdivision shall be filed for the quarterly periods ending on the 43 last day of May, August, November and February of each year, and each 44 such report shall be filed within twenty days after the end of the quar- 45 terly period covered thereby. Each such report shall include all infor- 46 mation such commissioner shall determine appropriate including but not 47 limited to the following information: 48 a. the balance in the carryout bag account at the beginning of the 49 quarter for which the report is prepared; 50 b. all such deposits credited to the carryout bag account and all 51 interest, dividends or returns received on such account, during such 52 quarter; 53 c. all service charges on the account, and all payments made pursuant 54 to subdivision three of this section; and 55 d. the balance in the carryout bag account at the close of such quar- 56 ter.A. 5753 4 1 3. a. An amount equal to eighty percent of the balance outstanding in 2 the carryout bag account at the close of each quarter shall be paid to 3 the commissioner of taxation and finance at the time the report provided 4 for in subdivision two of this section is required to be filed. The 5 commissioner of taxation and finance may require that the payments be 6 made electronically. The remaining twenty percent of the balance 7 outstanding at the close of each quarter shall be the monies of the 8 store and may be withdrawn from such account by the store. If the 9 provisions of this section with respect to such account have not been 10 fully complied with, each store shall pay to such commissioner at such 11 time, in lieu of the amount described in the preceding sentence, an 12 amount equal to the balance which would have been outstanding on such 13 date had such provisions been fully complied with. The commissioner of 14 taxation and finance may require that the payments be made electron- 15 ically. 16 b. A store who ceases to do business in this state as a store shall 17 file a final report and remit payment of eighty percent of all amounts 18 remaining in the carryout bag account as of the close of the store's 19 last day of business. The commissioner of taxation and finance may 20 require that the payments be made electronically. The store shall indi- 21 cate on the report that it is a "final report". The final report is due 22 to be filed with payment twenty days after the close of the quarterly 23 period in which the store ceases to do business. 24 4. All monies collected or received by the department of taxation and 25 finance pursuant to this title shall be deposited to the credit of the 26 comptroller with such responsible banks, banking houses or trust compa- 27 nies as may be designated by the comptroller. Such deposits shall be 28 kept separate and apart from all other monies in the possession of the 29 comptroller. The comptroller shall require adequate security from all 30 such depositories. The comptroller must, by the tenth day of each month, 31 pay into the state treasury to the credit of the environmental 32 protection fund established pursuant to section ninety-two-s of the 33 state finance law the revenue deposited under this subdivision during 34 the preceding calendar month and remaining to the comptroller's credit 35 on the last day of that preceding month. 36 5. The commissioner and the commissioner of taxation and finance shall 37 promulgate, and shall consult each other in promulgating, such rules and 38 regulations as may be necessary to effectuate the purposes of this 39 title. The commissioner and the commissioner of taxation and finance 40 shall provide all necessary aid and assistance to each other, including 41 the sharing of any information that is necessary to their respective 42 administration and enforcement responsibilities pursuant to the 43 provisions of this title. 44 6. a. Any store in operation prior to the effective date of this 45 title, must apply within three months of the effective date of this 46 title to the commissioner of taxation and finance for registration to 47 collect fees as provided in section 27-2802 of this title. Any store 48 commencing operations on or after three months from the effective date 49 of this title shall apply for registration prior to collecting any fees. 50 Such application shall be in a form prescribed by the commissioner of 51 taxation and finance and shall require such information deemed to be 52 necessary for proper administration of this title. The commissioner of 53 taxation and finance may require that applications for registration must 54 be submitted electronically. The commissioner of taxation and finance 55 shall electronically issue a store registration certificate in a form 56 prescribed by the commissioner of taxation and finance within fifteenA. 5753 5 1 days of receipt of such application or may take an additional ten days 2 if the commissioner of taxation and finance deems it necessary to 3 consult with the commissioner before issuing such registration certif- 4 icate. A registration certificate issued pursuant to this subdivision 5 may be issued for a specified term of not less than three years and 6 shall be subject to renewal in accordance with procedures specified by 7 the commissioner of taxation and finance. The commissioner of taxation 8 and finance shall furnish to the commissioner a complete list of regis- 9 tered stores and shall continually update such list as warranted. The 10 commissioner shall share any information with the commissioner of taxa- 11 tion and finance that is necessary for the administration of this subdi- 12 vision. 13 b. The commissioner of taxation and finance shall have the authority 14 to revoke or refuse to renew any registration issued pursuant to this 15 subdivision when he or she has determined or has been informed by the 16 commissioner that any of the provisions of this title or rules and regu- 17 lations promulgated thereunder have been violated. Such violations shall 18 include, but not be limited to, the failure to file quarterly reports, 19 the failure to make payments pursuant to this subdivision, the providing 20 of false or fraudulent information to either the department of taxation 21 and finance or the department, or knowingly aiding or abetting another 22 person in violating any of the provisions of this title. A notice of 23 proposed revocation or non-renewal shall be given to the store in the 24 manner prescribed for a notice of deficiency of tax and all the 25 provisions applicable to a notice of deficiency under article twenty- 26 seven of the tax law shall apply to a notice issued pursuant to this 27 paragraph, insofar as such provisions can be made applicable to a notice 28 authorized by this paragraph, with such modifications as may be neces- 29 sary in order to adapt the language of such provisions to the notice 30 authorized by this paragraph. All such notices issued by the commission- 31 er of taxation and finance pursuant to this paragraph shall contain a 32 statement advising the store that the revocation or non-renewal of 33 registration may be challenged through a hearing process and the peti- 34 tion for such a challenge must be filed with the commissioner of taxa- 35 tion and finance within ninety days after such notice is issued. A store 36 whose registration has been so revoked or not renewed shall cease to do 37 business in this state, until this title has been complied with and a 38 new registration has been issued. 39 7. The commissioner of taxation and finance may require the mainte- 40 nance of such accounts, records or documents relating to the collection 41 of fees for carryout bags, by any store as such commissioner may deem 42 appropriate for the administration of this section. Such commissioner 43 may make examinations, including the conduct of store inspections during 44 regular business hours, with respect to the accounts, records or docu- 45 ments required to be maintained under this subdivision. Such accounts, 46 records and documents shall be preserved for a period of three years, 47 except that such commissioner may consent to their destruction within 48 that period or may require that they be kept longer. Such accounts, 49 records and documents may be kept within the meaning of this subdivision 50 when reproduced by any photographic, photostatic, microfilm, micro-card, 51 miniature photographic or other process which actually reproduces the 52 original accounts, records or documents. 53 8. If any store fails or refuses to file a report or furnish any 54 information requested in writing by the department of taxation and 55 finance or the department, the department of taxation and finance with 56 the assistance of the department may, from any information in itsA. 5753 6 1 possession, make an estimate of the deficiency and collect such defi- 2 ciency from such store. 3 § 27-2805. Violations. 4 1. Any retailer who shall violate any provision of this title shall 5 receive a warning notice for the first such violation. A retailer shall 6 be liable to the state of New York for a civil penalty of two hundred 7 fifty dollars for the first violation after receiving a warning and five 8 hundred dollars for any subsequent violation in the same calendar year. 9 For purposes of this section, each commercial transaction shall consti- 10 tute no more than one violation. A hearing or opportunity to be heard 11 shall be provided prior to the assessment of any civil penalty. 12 2. It shall not be a violation of this title for a general vendor or 13 green cart to fail to provide a receipt to a customer with an itemized 14 charge for a carryout bag fee. 15 3. (a) The department, the department of agriculture and markets, the 16 department of health, and the attorney general are hereby authorized to 17 enforce the provisions of this title, and all monies collected shall be 18 deposited to the credit of the environmental protection fund established 19 pursuant to section ninety-two-s of the state finance law. 20 (b) The provisions of this section may also be enforced by a county, 21 city, town or village and the local legislative body thereof may adopt 22 local laws, ordinances or regulations consistent with this title provid- 23 ing for the enforcement of such provisions. 24 4. Any fines that are collected by the state during proceedings by the 25 state to enforce the provisions of this title shall be retained by the 26 state. Any fines that are collected by a municipality during proceedings 27 by the municipality to enforce the provisions of this title against a 28 retailer located in the municipality shall be retained by the munici- 29 pality. 30 § 27-2806. Preemption of local law. 31 Jurisdiction in all matters pertaining to carryout bags is vested 32 exclusively in the state. Any provision of any local law or ordinance, 33 or any rule or regulation promulgated thereto, governing charges or bans 34 related to carryout bags shall, upon the effective date of this title, 35 be preempted. Provided, however, nothing in this section shall preclude 36 a local law or ordinance, or any rule or regulation from implementing a 37 higher fee for carryout bags or reusable grocery bags, or a ban on addi- 38 tional types of carryout bags. 39 § 3. Subdivision 4 of section 63 of the alcoholic beverage control 40 law, as amended by chapter 360 of the laws of 2017, is amended to read 41 as follows: 42 4. No licensee under this section shall be engaged in any other busi- 43 ness on the licensed premises. The sale of lottery tickets, when duly 44 authorized and lawfully conducted, the sale of carryout bags as defined 45 in subdivision one of section 27-2801 of the environmental conservation 46 law and reusable grocery bags as defined in subdivision four of section 47 27-2801 of the environmental conservation law, the sale of corkscrews or 48 the sale of ice or the sale of publications, including prerecorded video 49 and/or audio cassette tapes, or educational seminars, designed to help 50 educate consumers in their knowledge and appreciation of alcoholic 51 beverages, as defined in section three of this chapter and allowed 52 pursuant to their license, or the sale of non-carbonated, non-flavored 53 mineral waters, spring waters and drinking waters or the sale of glasses 54 designed for the consumption of wine, racks designed for the storage of 55 wine, and devices designed to minimize oxidation in bottles of wine 56 which have been uncorked, or the sale of gift bags, gift boxes, or wrap-A. 5753 7 1 ping, for alcoholic beverages purchased at the licensed premises shall 2 not constitute engaging in another business within the meaning of this 3 subdivision. Any fee obtained from the sale of an educational seminar 4 shall not be considered as a fee for any tasting that may be offered 5 during an educational seminar, provided that such tastings are available 6 to persons who have not paid to attend the seminar and all tastings are 7 conducted in accordance with section sixty-three-a of this article. 8 § 4. Subdivision 3 and paragraph (b) of subdivision 6 of section 92-s 9 of the state finance law, subdivision 3 as amended by section 1 of part 10 AA of chapter 58 of the laws of 2018 and paragraph (b) of subdivision 6 11 as amended by section 3 of part U of chapter 58 of the laws of 2016, are 12 amended to read as follows: 13 3. Such fund shall consist of the amount of revenue collected within 14 the state from the amount of revenue, interest and penalties deposited 15 pursuant to section fourteen hundred twenty-one of the tax law, the 16 amount of fees and penalties received from easements or leases pursuant 17 to subdivision fourteen of section seventy-five of the public lands law 18 and the money received as annual service charges pursuant to section 19 four hundred four-n of the vehicle and traffic law, all moneys required 20 to be deposited therein from the contingency reserve fund pursuant to 21 section two hundred ninety-four of chapter fifty-seven of the laws of 22 nineteen hundred ninety-three, all moneys required to be deposited 23 pursuant to section thirteen of chapter six hundred ten of the laws of 24 nineteen hundred ninety-three, repayments of loans made pursuant to 25 section 54-0511 of the environmental conservation law, all moneys to be 26 deposited from the Northville settlement pursuant to section one hundred 27 twenty-four of chapter three hundred nine of the laws of nineteen 28 hundred ninety-six, provided however, that such moneys shall only be 29 used for the cost of the purchase of private lands in the core area of 30 the central Suffolk pine barrens pursuant to a consent order with the 31 Northville industries signed on October thirteenth, nineteen hundred 32 ninety-four and the related resource restoration and replacement plan, 33 the amount of penalties required to be deposited therein by section 34 71-2724 of the environmental conservation law, all moneys required to be 35 deposited pursuant to article thirty-three of the environmental conser- 36 vation law, all fees collected pursuant to subdivision eight of section 37 70-0117 of the environmental conservation law, all moneys collected 38 pursuant to title thirty-three of article fifteen of the environmental 39 conservation law, beginning with the fiscal year commencing on April 40 first, two thousand thirteen, nineteen million dollars, and all fiscal 41 years thereafter, twenty-three million dollars plus all funds received 42 by the state each fiscal year in excess of the greater of the amount 43 received from April first, two thousand twelve through March thirty- 44 first, two thousand thirteen or one hundred twenty-two million two 45 hundred thousand dollars, from the payments collected pursuant to subdi- 46 vision four of section 27-1012 of the environmental conservation law and 47 all funds collected pursuant to section 27-1015 of the environmental 48 conservation law, all moneys required to be deposited pursuant to 49 section 27-2804 of the environmental conservation law, and all other 50 moneys credited or transferred thereto from any other fund or source 51 pursuant to law. All such revenue shall be initially deposited into the 52 environmental protection fund, for application as provided in subdivi- 53 sion five of this section. 54 (b) Moneys from the solid waste account shall be available, pursuant 55 to appropriation and upon certificate of approval of availability by the 56 director of the budget, for any non-hazardous municipal landfill closureA. 5753 8 1 project; municipal waste reduction or recycling project, as defined in 2 article fifty-four of the environmental conservation law; for the 3 purposes of section two hundred sixty-one and section two hundred 4 sixty-four of the economic development law; any project for the develop- 5 ment, updating or revision of local solid waste management plans pursu- 6 ant to sections 27-0107 and 27-0109 of the environmental conservation 7 law; environmental justice projects and grants and for the development 8 of the pesticide sales and use data base pursuant to title twelve of 9 article thirty-three of the environmental conservation law; provided 10 that all funds collected pursuant to title twenty-eight of article twen- 11 ty-seven of the environmental conservation law shall be made available 12 to localities for the purpose of pollution reduction, cleanup, and 13 education, and purchasing and distributing reusable bags, with priority 14 given to low and fixed-income communities. 15 § 5. This act shall take effect on the two hundred seventieth day 16 after it shall have become a law. Effective immediately the addition, 17 amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the 18 implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be 19 made on or before such date.