Bill Text: NY A02501 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended


Bill Title: Relates to the reduction of mercury in mercury-added lamps.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 15-0)

Status: (Passed) 2019-12-13 - approval memo.38 [A02501 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A02501-Amended.html


                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                         2501--A
                                                                 Cal. No. 61
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                    January 23, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced by M. of A. ENGLEBRIGHT, THIELE, COLTON, GALEF, L. ROSENTHAL,
          FAHY,  ABINANTI,  OTIS, PICHARDO, GOTTFRIED, GLICK, D'URSO, FERNANDEZ,
          WEPRIN -- read once and referred to  the  Committee  on  Environmental
          Conservation  --  reported  and  referred to the Committee on Codes --
          advanced to a third reading, passed by Assembly and delivered  to  the
          Senate,  recalled  from  the  Senate, vote reconsidered, bill amended,
          ordered reprinted, retaining its place on the order of third reading
        AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation  to  the
          reduction of mercury in mercury-added lamps
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1.  Section 27-2101 of the environmental conservation  law  is
     2  amended  by  adding five new subdivisions 30, 31, 32, 33, and 34 to read
     3  as follows:
     4    30. "Mercury-added lamp" means an electric lamp to  which  mercury  or
     5  mercury compounds are intentionally added during the manufacturing proc-
     6  ess,  including, but not limited to, compact fluorescent lamps, fluores-
     7  cent lamps and tubular fluorescent lamps with normal or long lifetime.
     8    31. "Producer of mercury-added lamps" means any person who:
     9    (a) manufactures and sells mercury-added lamps under its own brand;
    10    (b) resells under its own brand equipment produced by other suppliers,
    11  a reseller not being regarded as the producer of mercury-added lamps  if
    12  the  brand  of the producer of mercury-added lamps appears on the equip-
    13  ment, as provided for in paragraph (a) of this subdivision; or
    14    (c) serves as the importer or domestic distributor of a  mercury-added
    15  lamp if the brand name owner is located outside of the United States.
    16    32. "General purpose lights" means lamps, bulbs, tubes, or other elec-
    17  tric  devices  that  provide functional illumination for indoor residen-
    18  tial, indoor commercial, and outdoor use. General purpose  lights  shall
    19  not include special purpose lights.
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD07150-04-9

        A. 2501--A                          2
     1    33.  "Special  purpose lights" means the following specialty lighting:
     2  appliance, black light, germicidal,  colored,  plant  light,  reflector,
     3  reprographic,  shatter-resistant,  cold  temperature,  sign service, and
     4  preheat.
     5    34.  "Long  lifetime"  means more than twenty-four thousand hours when
     6  tested on a T8 instant start ballast, a T12 rapid start ballast, or a T5
     7  programmed start ballast, and  turned  on  and  off  every  three  hours
     8  ("three hour starts").
     9    §  2. Section 27-2107 of the environmental conservation law is amended
    10  by adding two new subdivisions 11 and 12 to read as follows:
    11    11. On and after January first, two thousand twenty-one,  no  producer
    12  of  mercury-added  lamps  shall sell, offer for sale, or distribute such
    13  lamps that fail to meet mercury content standards adopted by the depart-
    14  ment pursuant to rules and regulations.  Such  standards  shall  include
    15  what,  if  any, allowance should be granted for slight variations in the
    16  amount of mercury resulting from production variances.  For the  follow-
    17  ing general purpose lights, mercury content shall be no higher than:
    18    (a) 2.5 milligrams for screw-based compact fluorescent lamps less than
    19  thirty watts;
    20    (b)  3.5  milligrams  for  straight fluorescent T8 lamps with a normal
    21  lifetime (excluding 8-foot  models)  and  3.0  milligrams  for  straight
    22  fluorescent T5 lamps with a normal lifetime;
    23    (c)  5.0  milligrams  for  straight fluorescent T8 and T5 lamps with a
    24  long lifetime;
    25    (d) 15.0 milligrams for non-linear fluorescent T8, T5, and  T12  lamps
    26  and 8-foot linear fluorescent lamps (excluding very high output models);
    27    12.  On  or  before  December  thirty-first,  two thousand twenty-six,
    28  mercury content standards established in accordance  with  this  section
    29  shall not apply to special purpose lights.
    30    §  3.  Subdivision 1 of section 71-2724 of the environmental conserva-
    31  tion law, as added by chapter 145 of the laws of  2004,  is  amended  to
    32  read as follows:
    33    1. Any person who knowingly or intentionally violates any provision of
    34  or  fails  to  perform  any duty pursuant to title twenty-one of article
    35  twenty-seven of this chapter, except subdivision one of section  27-2105
    36  and  subdivision  eleven  of section 27-2107 of this chapter, shall upon
    37  the first finding of such a violation be liable for a civil penalty  not
    38  to  exceed  one  hundred  dollars.  Any  person convicted of a second or
    39  subsequent violation shall be liable for a civil penalty not  to  exceed
    40  five hundred dollars for each violation.
    41    §  4.  Subdivision 2 of section 71-2724 of the environmental conserva-
    42  tion law, as added by chapter 145 of the laws of  2004,  is  amended  to
    43  read as follows:
    44    2.  Any  person  who  knowingly  or intentionally violates or fails to
    45  perform any duty imposed by subdivision one of section 27-2105 or subdi-
    46  vision eleven of section 27-2107 of this chapter shall  upon  the  first
    47  finding  of  such  a  violation  be  provided with educational materials
    48  describing the requirements for mercury  disposal  and  the  effects  of
    49  improper  mercury  disposal,  and be warned that future violations shall
    50  result in the imposition of a fine. Any person  convicted  of  a  second
    51  violation  shall  be  liable  for  a  civil  penalty not to exceed fifty
    52  dollars. Any person convicted of a third violation shall be liable for a
    53  civil penalty not to exceed seventy-five dollars. Any  person  convicted
    54  of  a fourth or subsequent violation shall be liable for a civil penalty
    55  not to exceed one hundred dollars for each violation.

        A. 2501--A                          3
     1    § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.   Effective  immediately,
     2  the  addition,  amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation neces-
     3  sary for the implementation of  this  act  on  its  effective  date  are
     4  authorized to be made and completed on or before such date.
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