Bill Text: NY S03419 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
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: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-1)

Status: (Engrossed) 2024-01-03 - REFERRED TO ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION [S03419 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S03419-Introduced.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          3419

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                    January 31, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen. MANNION -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed 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.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD07104-01-3

        S. 3419                             2

     1    (c) Members of the task force shall receive no compensation for  their
     2  services  but  shall be reimbursed for their actual expenses incurred in
     3  the performance of their duties in the work of the task force.
     4    (d)  Appointed  members shall, to the greatest extent practicable have
     5  by education or experience, knowledge of organized retail theft.
     6    (e) The task force is authorized to audit any reverse vending machine.
     7    § 3. Appointments shall be made within 60 days of the  effective  date
     8  of  this act. Any vacancies in the membership of the task force shall be
     9  filled in the same manner provided for in the initial appointment.
    10    § 4. The task force may  consult  with  any  organization,  government
    11  entity,  or  person,  in  the  development  of its report required under
    12  section five of this act.
    13    § 5. On or before one year after the effective date of this  act,  the
    14  task  force shall submit to the governor, the temporary president of the
    15  senate and the speaker of the assembly  a  report  containing,  but  not
    16  limited to, the following information based on available data:
    17    (a)  A  review  of  laws  and regulations regarding the New York state
    18  returnable container act  and  relevant  civil  and  criminal  penalties
    19  related to the act;
    20    (b)  The  need  for  interagency  coordination  of  public  education,
    21  outreach, and prevention programs for retail stores, redemption centers,
    22  municipalities, agents acting on behalf of the deposit  initiators  that
    23  provide pickup services, and any other identified entities;
    24    (c) The fiscal impact of fraudulent bottle redemptions and deposits in
    25  the state of New York;
    26    (d)  The  status of current enforcement efforts and recommendations on
    27  what could be done to improve enforcement,  including  the  addition  of
    28  more employees;
    29    (e) A review of inter-state bottle redemption fraud, including, to the
    30  extent  practicable, information on the number of containers that origi-
    31  nate from out-of-state shipments and a review of the practice of redeem-
    32  ing beverage containers purchased out-of-state; and
    33    (f) Recommended legislative, regulatory and enforcement  solutions  to
    34  address  fraudulent  bottle redemptions and deposits, including, but not
    35  limited to, inter-state initiatives.
    36    § 6. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire 24 months
    37  after it shall have become a law when upon such date the  provisions  of
    38  this act shall be deemed repealed.
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