Bill Text: NY S02461 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Establishes the sanitary retail food store grant program to provide funding to retail food stores that fail inspections to correct deficiencies if such stores are unable to sustain the costs to immediately correct critical deficiencies, are located in food deserts, and would otherwise be unable to stay in operation due to their inability to meet and maintain sanitary standards.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-1)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-04-16 - REPORTED AND COMMITTED TO FINANCE [S02461 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S02461-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          2461

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                    January 20, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sens.  PERSAUD,  BORRELLO,  MAY, MYRIE -- read twice and
          ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee  on
          Agriculture

        AN  ACT  to amend the agriculture and markets law, in relation to estab-
          lishing the sanitary retail food store grant program

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

     1    Section  1. The agriculture and markets law is amended by adding a new
     2  section 501 to read as follows:
     3    § 501. Sanitary  retail  food  store  grant  program.  1.  Legislative
     4  intent.    The  legislature  hereby finds, determines, and declares that
     5  retail food stores located in New York should maintain  proper  sanitary
     6  conditions  to  ensure  the health and safety of all patrons. Preserving
     7  stores that are unable to  meet  proper  sanitary  conditions,  and  are
     8  located in areas where low-income people have limited access to afforda-
     9  ble  and  nutritious  food, is in the best interest of those communities
    10  and the state. The legislature hereby declares that in order  to  ensure
    11  the  health  and safety of its citizens, and preserve retail food stores
    12  located in food deserts, the department shall create a  sanitary  retail
    13  food store grant program.
    14    2.  Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the following terms
    15  shall have the following meanings:
    16    (a) "Critical deficiencies" means factors that are leading  causes  of
    17  foodborne illnesses, including but not limited to the following:
    18    (i) insect, rodent, bird, or vermin activity likely to result in prod-
    19  uct contamination;
    20    (ii)  contact  surfaces are unclean or not properly sanitized, such as
    21  food contact equipment, utensils, or conveyances for potentially hazard-
    22  ous foods;
    23    (iii) employee handwashing facilities  inadequate  for  establishments
    24  handling exposed foods;

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD03193-01-3
        S. 2461                             2

     1    (iv) equipment cleaning or sanitizing facilities inadequate for estab-
     2  lishments handling potentially hazardous foods; and
     3    (v) potentially hazardous foods are not stored at safe temperatures.
     4    (b) "Food desert" shall mean an area with limited access to affordable
     5  and  nutritious  food,  particularly  such  an  area that is composed of
     6  predominately lower-income neighborhoods and communities.
     7    3. Sanitary retail food store grant program. Subject to the availabil-
     8  ity of funds, the commissioner shall establish a  sanitary  retail  food
     9  store grant program to ensure that retail food stores that are unable to
    10  sustain  the  costs  to  immediately  correct critical deficiencies, are
    11  located in food deserts, and would otherwise be unable to stay in opera-
    12  tion due to their inability to meet and maintain sanitary standards, may
    13  be awarded funds to correct such critical deficiencies to ensure  commu-
    14  nities  with  limited  food sources are held harmless and have access to
    15  retail food stores with proper sanitary conditions.
    16    4. Eligibility. To be eligible to receive sanitary retail  food  store
    17  grant  program  funding,  retail  food  stores  shall meet the following
    18  criteria:
    19    (a) found to have critical deficiencies that were not or could not  be
    20  corrected  at  the  time  of  inspection  creating  a need for immediate
    21  corrective action or fails for two consecutive inspections;
    22    (b) located in a food desert whereby closing  the  retail  food  store
    23  would have a substantial impact on the community it serves;
    24    (c)  the  retail food store is able to establish that it does not have
    25  adequate funding or resources to correct the critical deficiencies,  nor
    26  would  it  be  able to attain such funding within a reasonable amount of
    27  time to prevent a negative impact to the community;
    28    (d) the retail food store is able to establish that it  is  unable  to
    29  attain credit or loan for all or part of the costs needed to correct the
    30  critical deficiencies; and
    31    (e)  the  retail food store supplies the community with affordable and
    32  nutritious food, such as fresh produce, canned goods,  and  refrigerated
    33  foods.
    34    5.  Grants.  The  commissioner shall make grants to retail food stores
    35  located in food deserts and meet all eligibility criteria that submit  a
    36  plan to correct the critical deficiencies and maintain proper sanitation
    37  for  at  least  five  years.  The  grant shall be based on the scope and
    38  nature of the resources associated with correcting  the  critical  defi-
    39  ciencies  and  the  long-term  maintenance of the correction of critical
    40  deficiencies.  Grants shall be approved and released every six months in
    41  order to provide retail food stores with certainty on when they will  be
    42  able  to  attain funding and resources to correct the critical deficien-
    43  cies and failed inspections.
    44    § 2. Subdivision 4 of section 500 of the agriculture and markets  law,
    45  as amended by section 8 of part I1 of chapter 62 of the laws of 2003, is
    46  amended to read as follows:
    47    4.  (a)  The  department shall inspect each retail food store at least
    48  once in every twelve month period. Any store that fails two  consecutive
    49  inspections  shall  be inspected at least once in every six month period
    50  until [it has passed] no critical deficiencies were  found  or  critical
    51  deficiencies  were  found but remedied at the time of the inspection for
    52  two consecutive inspections. In the event that a retail food  store  was
    53  found  to  have  critical  deficiencies  that  were  not or could not be
    54  corrected creating a need for immediate corrective action or  fails  for
    55  three  consecutive inspections, the department [may, in its discretion,]
    56  shall order such establishment to cease all retail  operation  until  it
        S. 2461                             3

     1  passes inspection or suspend or revoke any license issued to such estab-
     2  lishment  pursuant  to  article  twenty-C  of this chapter. However, the
     3  department may, in its discretion allow such establishments to  maintain
     4  operation  even  if they would otherwise need to cease operation if they
     5  are able to establish that they qualified for the sanitary  retail  food
     6  store grant program, described in section five hundred one of this arti-
     7  cle,  and  would otherwise be able to remedy their critical deficiencies
     8  but were not awarded a grant in that calendar year due to exhaustion  of
     9  funds for the grant program.
    10    (b)  For  the  purposes  of  this subdivision, "critical deficiencies"
    11  means the same as such term is defined in section five  hundred  one  of
    12  this article.
    13    § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
    14  it shall have become a law.