Bill Text: NY A03124 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Prohibits a manufacturer from labeling or advertising a nonwoven disposable product for sale as flushable without prior approval from the department of environmental conservation.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 10-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - referred to consumer affairs and protection [A03124 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A03124-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          3124
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                    January 28, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  M.  of A. COLTON, GOTTFRIED, SIMON, STECK, COOK, ARROYO,
          ZEBROWSKI -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. DILAN, ENGLEBRIGHT, LUPAR-
          DO -- read once and referred to the Committee on Consumer Affairs  and
          Protection
        AN  ACT  to amend the general business law, in relation to prohibiting a
          manufacturer from labeling or advertising a nonwoven disposable  prod-
          uct for sale as a flushable without prior approval
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. The general business law is amended by adding a new section
     2  391-u to read as follows:
     3    § 391-u.  Nonwoven  disposable  products.  1.  For  purposes  of  this
     4  section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
     5    (a) "Advertised" means representation made by statement, word, design,
     6  device, sound or any combination thereof in print or broadcast media.
     7    (b)  "Flushable", "septic safe", and "sewer safe" means with regard to
     8  a nonwoven disposable product, a product that  is:  (i)  able  to  clear
     9  toilets  and  properly  maintained  drainage pipe systems under expected
    10  product usage conditions; (ii) compatible  with  wastewater  conveyance,
    11  treatment,  reuse,  and disposal systems without causing blockage, clog-
    12  ging,  or  other  operational  problems;  and  (iii)  unrecognizable  in
    13  effluent  leaving on-site and municipal wastewater treatment systems and
    14  in digested sludge from wastewater treatment plants that are applied  to
    15  soil.
    16    (c)  "Label" means those representations made through statement, word,
    17  picture, design or emblem on a packaging of a nonwoven disposable  prod-
    18  uct.
    19    (d)  "Nonwoven  disposable product" means any product constructed from
    20  nonwoven sheets that is designed for, marketed for, or commonly used for
    21  personal hygiene purposes.
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD03602-01-9
        A. 3124                             2
     1    2. No nonwoven  disposable  product  for  sale  in  any  municipality,
     2  including a city with a population of a million or more, shall be adver-
     3  tised,  packaged  or labeled as flushable, sewer safe, or septic safe if
     4  such product has not first been approved as flushable by a  third  party
     5  according  to  rules  promulgated  by  the  department  of environmental
     6  conservation.
     7    3. Any person who violates this section shall be subject  to  a  civil
     8  penalty  of not more than five thousand dollars for each violation. Such
     9  penalties may be recovered in proceedings before a department  of  envi-
    10  ronmental  conservation  enforcement hearing, through prosecution by the
    11  bureau of consumer frauds and protection, or in any action in any  court
    12  of appropriate jurisdiction.
    13    4. Nothing in this section shall apply to:
    14    (a) A television or radio broadcasting station, or to any publisher of
    15  a  newspaper, magazine or other form of printed advertising, that broad-
    16  casts, publishes or prints an advertisement  that  features  a  nonwoven
    17  disposable  product  packaged  or  labeled  as flushable, sewer safe, or
    18  septic safe; or
    19    (b) a wholesaler or retailer that distributes or sells  but  does  not
    20  package or label a nonwoven disposable product that is advertised, pack-
    21  aged, or labeled as flushable, sewer safe or septic safe.
    22    §  2.  This  act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
    23  have become a law. Effective immediately, the commissioner  of  environ-
    24  mental  conservation shall promulgate rules and regulations necessary or
    25  appropriate to carry out the provisions of this act.