Bill Text: NY A02158 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires that a city with a population of one million or more shall provide at least one curbside composting collection site for every five thousand people with bi-weekly collection days.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - referred to cities [A02158 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-A02158-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2158 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 23, 2023 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. L. ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to the Committee on Cities AN ACT to amend the general city law, in relation to requiring that a city with a population of one million or more shall provide curbside composting collection sites The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The general city law is amended by adding a new section 2 20-h to read as follows: 3 § 20-h. Curbside composting collection. 1. For the purpose of this 4 section, the following terms shall have the following meanings: 5 (a) "Compostable waste" and "organic waste" shall mean materials, 6 including but not limited to food scraps, plant trimmings, food-soiled 7 paper and certified compostable products, that will: 8 (i) undergo degradation by biological processes during composting to 9 yield carbon dioxide, water, inorganic compounds, and biomass at a rate 10 consistent with other known compostable materials; and 11 (ii) leave no visible, distinguishable or toxic residue, including no 12 adverse impact on the ability of composts to support plant growth once 13 the finished compost is placed in soil. 14 (b) "Organics recycler" means a facility, permitted by the department, 15 that recycles organic waste through use as animal feed or a feed ingre- 16 dient, rendering, land application, composting, aerobic digestion, anae- 17 robic digestion, fermentation, or ethanol production. Animal scraps, 18 food soiled paper, and post-consumer food scraps are prohibited for use 19 as animal feed or as a feed ingredient. The proportion of the product 20 created from organic waste by a composting or digestion facility, 21 including a wastewater treatment plant that operates a digestion facili- 22 ty, or other treatment system, must be used in a beneficial manner as a 23 soil amendment and shall not be disposed of or incinerated. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD05800-01-3A. 2158 2 1 (c) "Incinerator" shall have the same meaning as provided in section 2 72-0401 of the environmental conservation law. 3 (d) "Landfill" shall have the same meaning as provided in section 4 72-0401 of the environmental conservation law. 5 (e) "Transfer facility" means a solid waste management facility, 6 whether owned or operated by a private or public entity, other than a 7 recyclables handling and recovery facility, used oil facility, or a 8 construction and demolition debris processing facility, where solid 9 waste is received for the purpose of subsequent transfer to another 10 solid waste management facility for processing, treating, disposal, 11 recovery, or further transfer. 12 2. Within one year after the effective date of this section, any city 13 with a population of one million or more shall establish curbside 14 composting collection sites in the city. For every five thousand people, 15 there shall be at least one curbside composting collection site. Such 16 curbside composting collection sites shall: 17 (a) encourage residents to separate compostable waste from garbage and 18 other recyclables and place the compostable waste in labeled containers; 19 (b) consistent with the best waste collection practices to avoid odor 20 and vermin, establish requirements for composting containers, labels and 21 liner bags; and 22 (c) provide collection and education resources for the public, includ- 23 ing regular periodical guidance, training, updates, signage and flyers 24 for the purposes of teaching and retaining effective procedures for 25 sorting materials for organics and other recycling. 26 3. Each city subject to the provisions of this section shall: 27 (a) arrange for bi-weekly collection days for such curbside composting 28 collection sites; 29 (b) arrange for compostable waste to be transported and/or processed 30 separately from garbage and recycling; and 31 (c) regulate organics recyclers to ensure that their activities do not 32 impair water quality or otherwise harm human health and the environment. 33 4. (a) Any waste transporter that collects organic waste from such 34 curbside composting collection sites shall: 35 (i) deliver organic waste to a transfer facility that will deliver 36 such organic waste to an organics recycler; or 37 (ii) deliver such organic waste directly to an organics recycler. 38 (b) Any waste transporter that transports organic waste from a resi- 39 dential facility shall take all reasonable precautions to not deliver 40 the organic waste to an incinerator or a landfill nor commingle the 41 material with any other solid waste unless such commingled waste can be 42 processed by an organics recycler. 43 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
