Bill Text: NY A10390 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Establishes the bottle redemption fraud task force to provide the governor and the legislature with information on the fraud, enforcement, and reporting requirements related to the New York state returnable container act.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-05-13 - referred to environmental conservation [A10390 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-A10390-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          10390

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                      May 13, 2022
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Hyndman) --
          read once and referred to the Committee on Environmental Conservation

        AN ACT to establish the bottle redemption fraud task force; and  provid-
          ing for the repeal of such provisions upon the expiration thereof

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

     1    Section 1. The legislature hereby establishes  the  bottle  redemption
     2  fraud  task  force  (referred  to  hereinafter  as  the "task force") to
     3  conduct a comprehensive study of the fraud, enforcement,  and  reporting
     4  requirements related to the New York state returnable container act.
     5    §  2.  (a) Such task force shall consist of fifteen members that shall
     6  be appointed as follows:  the state attorney general or  his/her  desig-
     7  nee;  the  commissioner  of  the  department  of taxation and finance or
     8  his/her designee; the commissioner of the  department  of  environmental
     9  conservation  or  his/her  designee;  the  state  comptroller or his/her
    10  designee; the chairman of the state liquor authority or  his/her  desig-
    11  nee;  the  commissioner  of the department of agriculture and markets or
    12  his/her designee; one member shall be appointed by the  district  attor-
    13  neys  association  of  the  state  of  New  York;  two  members shall be
    14  appointed by the temporary president of the senate and two members shall
    15  be appointed by the speaker of the assembly, one shall be an  individual
    16  who represents a municipality, one shall be an individual who represents
    17  a deposit initiator, one shall be an individual who represents a redemp-
    18  tion  center,  and one shall be an individual who represents a wholesale
    19  distributor; and four members shall be appointed by  the  governor,  one
    20  shall  be an individual who represents a deposit initiator and one shall
    21  be an individual who represents a retailer.
    22    (b) The task force shall be chaired by the attorney general or his/her
    23  designee thereof.
    24    (c) Members of the task force shall receive no compensation for  their
    25  services  but  shall be reimbursed for their actual expenses incurred in
    26  the performance of their duties in the work of the task force.
    27    (d) Appointed members shall, to the greatest extent  practicable  have
    28  by education or experience, knowledge of organized retail theft.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD01249-03-1
        A. 10390                            2

     1    (e) The task force is authorized to audit any reverse vending machine.
     2    §  3.  Appointments shall be made within 60 days of the effective date
     3  of this act. Any vacancies in the membership of the task force shall  be
     4  filled in the same manner provided for in the initial appointment.
     5    §  4.  The  task  force  may consult with any organization, government
     6  entity, or person, in the  development  of  its  report  required  under
     7  section five of this act.
     8    §  5.  On or before one year after the effective date of this act, the
     9  task force shall submit to the governor, the temporary president of  the
    10  senate  and  the  speaker  of  the assembly a report containing, but not
    11  limited to, the following information based on available data:
    12    (a) A review of laws and regulations  regarding  the  New  York  state
    13  returnable  container  act  and  relevant  civil  and criminal penalties
    14  related to the act;
    15    (b)  The  need  for  interagency  coordination  of  public  education,
    16  outreach, and prevention programs for retail stores, redemption centers,
    17  municipalities,  agents  acting on behalf of the deposit initiators that
    18  provide pickup services, and any other identified entities;
    19    (c) The fiscal impact of fraudulent bottle redemptions and deposits in
    20  the state of New York;
    21    (d) The status of current enforcement efforts and  recommendations  on
    22  what  could  be  done  to improve enforcement, including the addition of
    23  more employees;
    24    (e) A review of inter-state bottle redemption fraud, including, to the
    25  extent practicable, information on the number of containers that  origi-
    26  nate from out-of-state shipments and a review of the practice of redeem-
    27  ing beverage containers purchased out-of-state; and
    28    (f)  Recommended  legislative, regulatory and enforcement solutions to
    29  address fraudulent bottle redemptions and deposits, including,  but  not
    30  limited to, inter-state initiatives.
    31    § 6. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire 24 months
    32  after  it  shall have become a law when upon such date the provisions of
    33  this act shall be deemed repealed.