Bill Text: NY S00095 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes guidelines for carryout bag waste reduction.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 17-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - REFERRED TO ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION [S00095 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S00095-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 95 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN SENATE (Prefiled) January 9, 2019 ___________ Introduced by Sens. KAMINSKY, KRUEGER, BAILEY, BRESLIN, BROOKS, HOYLMAN, KAVANAGH, MAYER, MONTGOMERY, PARKER, PERSAUD, SANDERS, SEPULVEDA, SERRANO, STAVISKY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Environmental Conservation AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, the alcoholic bever- age control law and the state finance law, in relation to establishing guidelines for carryout bag waste reduction The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "New York 2 state bring your own bag act". 3 § 2. Article 27 of the environmental conservation law is amended by 4 adding a new title 28 to read as follows: 5 TITLE 28 6 CARRYOUT BAG WASTE REDUCTION 7 Section 27-2801. Definitions. 8 27-2802. Charges. 9 27-2803. Additional obligations for stores. 10 27-2804. Deposit and disposition of fees. 11 27-2805. Violations. 12 27-2806. Preemption of local law. 13 § 27-2801. Definitions. 14 As used in this article: 15 1. "Carryout bag" means a bag made of plastic, paper, or other materi- 16 al that is intended for the purpose of carrying purchased items and is 17 provided by a store to a customer at the point of sale and that is not a 18 reusable grocery bag; 19 2. "Exempt bag" means a bag intended to directly contain food, includ- 20 ing, but not limited to sandwich bags, handleless produce bags and bags 21 provided by a pharmacy to carry prescription drugs; EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD02045-01-9S. 95 2 1 3. "Store" means a general vendor, or a retail or wholesale establish- 2 ment engaged in the sale of personal, consumer or household items 3 including but not limited to drug stores, pharmacies, grocery stores, 4 supermarkets, convenience food stores or foodmarts that provide carryout 5 bags to consumers in which to place items purchased or obtained at such 6 establishments. Such term shall not include food service establishments, 7 mobile food service establishments, or emergency food providers or 8 501(c)(3) organizations; 9 4. "Reusable grocery bag" means a bag with handles that is specif- 10 ically designed and manufactured for multiple reuse that is provided by 11 a store to a customer at the point of sale and capable of carrying twen- 12 ty-two pounds over a distance of one hundred and seventy-five feet for a 13 minimum of one hundred and twenty-five uses and is either (a) made of 14 cloth or other machine washable fabric, or (b) made of durable plastic 15 that is at least 2.25 mils thick, measured according to the ASTM stand- 16 ard D6988-13; 17 5. "Mobile food vendor" means a self-contained food service operation, 18 located in a readily movable pushcart, motorized wheeled or towed vehi- 19 cle, used to store, prepare, display or serve food intended for individ- 20 ual portion service. 21 § 27-2802. Charges. 22 1. (a) Stores shall charge a fee of no less than ten cents for each 23 carryout bag or reusable grocery bag provided to any person. No store 24 shall charge more than twenty-five cents for each carryout bag. This 25 charge shall be incurred by the customer at the point of sale, and will 26 appear as a separate charge on the receipt received by the customer for 27 the purchased items. 28 (b) The store collecting fees pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subdi- 29 vision shall retain twenty percent of all such fees and shall remit the 30 remaining eighty percent of all such fees to the commissioner of taxa- 31 tion and finance in accordance with the provisions of section 27-2804 of 32 this title for deposit to the credit of the environmental protection 33 fund established pursuant to section ninety-two-s of the state finance 34 law. All such funds shall be made available to localities for the 35 purpose of pollution reduction, cleanup, and education, and purchasing 36 and distributing reusable bags, with priority given to low and fixed-in- 37 come communities. 38 2. (a) No store shall charge a carryout bag fee for bags of any kind 39 provided by the customer in lieu of a carryout bag of any kind provided 40 by any such store. 41 (b) No store shall be required to charge such fee for an exempt bag. 42 3. No store shall prevent a person from using a bag of any kind that 43 they have brought to any such store for purposes of carrying goods from 44 such store. 45 4. All stores that provide carryout bags to customers shall provide 46 carryout bags free of charge for items purchased at such stores by any 47 person using the New York state supplemental nutritional assistance 48 program or the New York state special supplemental nutrition program for 49 women, infants and children as a full or partial payment. 50 5. The department shall promulgate all necessary or desirable rules 51 and regulations to effect the purposes set forth in this title and 52 educate the general public about such purposes. The department shall 53 conduct outreach programs to educate the general public about such 54 purposes and shall publicize such rules and regulations on its website. 55 § 27-2803. Additional obligations for stores.S. 95 3 1 1. All stores subject to the provisions of this title shall post signs 2 provided or approved by the department at or near points of sale located 3 in such covered stores to notify customers of the provisions of this 4 section. 5 2. No store subject to the provisions of this title shall provide a 6 credit to any person specifically for the purpose of offsetting or 7 avoiding the carryout bag charge required by section 27-2802 of this 8 title. 9 3. A store may not charge a fee pursuant to subdivision one of section 10 27-2802 of this title, for a reusable grocery bag that meets the 11 requirements of subdivision four of section 27-2801 of this title and 12 which is distributed to a customer without charge during a limited dura- 13 tion promotional event, not to exceed fourteen days per year. 14 4. Paper carryout bags subject to provisions of this title shall 15 contain a minimum of forty percent post-consumer recycled content. 16 5. No store shall distribute any plastic carryout bags to its custom- 17 ers unless such bags are exempt bags as defined in subdivision two of 18 section 27-2801 of this title. 19 § 27-2804. Deposit and disposition of fees. 20 1. Each store collecting fees as provided in section 27-2802 of this 21 title shall deposit all such fees collected into a designated carryout 22 bag account. Such store shall hold the amounts in the carryout bag 23 account in trust for the state. A carryout bag account shall be an 24 interest-bearing account established in a banking institution located in 25 this state, the deposits in which are insured by an agency of the feder- 26 al government. Deposits of such amounts into the carryout bag account 27 shall be made not less frequently than every five business days. All 28 interest, dividends and returns earned on monies in the carryout bag 29 account shall be paid directly into said account. The monies in such 30 account shall be kept separate and apart from all other monies in the 31 possession of the store. The commissioner of taxation and finance may 32 specify a system of account and records to be maintained with respect to 33 accounts established under this subdivision. 34 2. Each store shall file quarterly reports with the commissioner of 35 taxation and finance on a form and in the manner prescribed by such 36 commissioner. The commissioner of taxation and finance may require such 37 reports to be filed electronically. The quarterly reports required by 38 this subdivision shall be filed for the quarterly periods ending on the 39 last day of May, August, November and February of each year, and each 40 such report shall be filed within twenty days after the end of the quar- 41 terly period covered thereby. Each such report shall include all infor- 42 mation such commissioner shall determine appropriate including but not 43 limited to the following information: 44 a. the balance in the carryout bag account at the beginning of the 45 quarter for which the report is prepared; 46 b. all such deposits credited to the carryout bag account and all 47 interest, dividends or returns received on such account, during such 48 quarter; 49 c. all service charges on the account, and all payments made pursuant 50 to subdivision three of this section; and 51 d. the balance in the carryout bag account at the close of such quar- 52 ter. 53 3. a. An amount equal to eighty percent of the balance outstanding in 54 the carryout bag account at the close of each quarter shall be paid to 55 the commissioner of taxation and finance at the time the report provided 56 for in subdivision two of this section is required to be filed. TheS. 95 4 1 commissioner of taxation and finance may require that the payments be 2 made electronically. The remaining twenty percent of the balance 3 outstanding at the close of each quarter shall be the monies of the 4 store and may be withdrawn from such account by the store. If the 5 provisions of this section with respect to such account have not been 6 fully complied with, each store shall pay to such commissioner at such 7 time, in lieu of the amount described in the preceding sentence, an 8 amount equal to the balance which would have been outstanding on such 9 date had such provisions been fully complied with. The commissioner of 10 taxation and finance may require that the payments be made electron- 11 ically. 12 b. A store who ceases to do business in this state as a store shall 13 file a final report and remit payment of eighty percent of all amounts 14 remaining in the carryout bag account as of the close of the store's 15 last day of business. The commissioner of taxation and finance may 16 require that the payments be made electronically. The store shall indi- 17 cate on the report that it is a "final report". The final report is due 18 to be filed with payment twenty days after the close of the quarterly 19 period in which the store ceases to do business. 20 4. All monies collected or received by the department of taxation and 21 finance pursuant to this title shall be deposited to the credit of the 22 comptroller with such responsible banks, banking houses or trust compa- 23 nies as may be designated by the comptroller. Such deposits shall be 24 kept separate and apart from all other monies in the possession of the 25 comptroller. The comptroller shall require adequate security from all 26 such depositories. The comptroller must, by the tenth day of each month, 27 pay into the state treasury to the credit of the environmental 28 protection fund established pursuant to section ninety-two-s of the 29 state finance law the revenue deposited under this subdivision during 30 the preceding calendar month and remaining to the comptroller's credit 31 on the last day of that preceding month. 32 5. The commissioner and the commissioner of taxation and finance shall 33 promulgate, and shall consult each other in promulgating, such rules and 34 regulations as may be necessary to effectuate the purposes of this 35 title. The commissioner and the commissioner of taxation and finance 36 shall provide all necessary aid and assistance to each other, including 37 the sharing of any information that is necessary to their respective 38 administration and enforcement responsibilities pursuant to the 39 provisions of this title. 40 6. a. Any store in operation prior to the effective date of this 41 title, must apply within three months of the effective date of this 42 title to the commissioner of taxation and finance for registration to 43 collect fees as provided in section 27-2802 of this title. Any store 44 commencing operations on or after three months from the effective date 45 of this title shall apply for registration prior to collecting any fees. 46 Such application shall be in a form prescribed by the commissioner of 47 taxation and finance and shall require such information deemed to be 48 necessary for proper administration of this title. The commissioner of 49 taxation and finance may require that applications for registration must 50 be submitted electronically. The commissioner of taxation and finance 51 shall electronically issue a store registration certificate in a form 52 prescribed by the commissioner of taxation and finance within fifteen 53 days of receipt of such application or may take an additional ten days 54 if the commissioner of taxation and finance deems it necessary to 55 consult with the commissioner before issuing such registration certif- 56 icate. A registration certificate issued pursuant to this subdivisionS. 95 5 1 may be issued for a specified term of not less than three years and 2 shall be subject to renewal in accordance with procedures specified by 3 the commissioner of taxation and finance. The commissioner of taxation 4 and finance shall furnish to the commissioner a complete list of regis- 5 tered stores and shall continually update such list as warranted. The 6 commissioner shall share any information with the commissioner of taxa- 7 tion and finance that is necessary for the administration of this subdi- 8 vision. 9 b. The commissioner of taxation and finance shall have the authority 10 to revoke or refuse to renew any registration issued pursuant to this 11 subdivision when he or she has determined or has been informed by the 12 commissioner that any of the provisions of this title or rules and regu- 13 lations promulgated thereunder have been violated. Such violations shall 14 include, but not be limited to, the failure to file quarterly reports, 15 the failure to make payments pursuant to this subdivision, the providing 16 of false or fraudulent information to either the department of taxation 17 and finance or the department, or knowingly aiding or abetting another 18 person in violating any of the provisions of this title. A notice of 19 proposed revocation or non-renewal shall be given to the store in the 20 manner prescribed for a notice of deficiency of tax and all the 21 provisions applicable to a notice of deficiency under article twenty- 22 seven of the tax law shall apply to a notice issued pursuant to this 23 paragraph, insofar as such provisions can be made applicable to a notice 24 authorized by this paragraph, with such modifications as may be neces- 25 sary in order to adapt the language of such provisions to the notice 26 authorized by this paragraph. All such notices issued by the commission- 27 er of taxation and finance pursuant to this paragraph shall contain a 28 statement advising the store that the revocation or non-renewal of 29 registration may be challenged through a hearing process and the peti- 30 tion for such a challenge must be filed with the commissioner of taxa- 31 tion and finance within ninety days after such notice is issued. A store 32 whose registration has been so revoked or not renewed shall cease to do 33 business in this state, until this title has been complied with and a 34 new registration has been issued. 35 7. The commissioner of taxation and finance may require the mainte- 36 nance of such accounts, records or documents relating to the collection 37 of fees for carryout bags, by any store as such commissioner may deem 38 appropriate for the administration of this section. Such commissioner 39 may make examinations, including the conduct of store inspections during 40 regular business hours, with respect to the accounts, records or docu- 41 ments required to be maintained under this subdivision. Such accounts, 42 records and documents shall be preserved for a period of three years, 43 except that such commissioner may consent to their destruction within 44 that period or may require that they be kept longer. Such accounts, 45 records and documents may be kept within the meaning of this subdivision 46 when reproduced by any photographic, photostatic, microfilm, micro-card, 47 miniature photographic or other process which actually reproduces the 48 original accounts, records or documents. 49 8. If any store fails or refuses to file a report or furnish any 50 information requested in writing by the department of taxation and 51 finance or the department, the department of taxation and finance with 52 the assistance of the department may, from any information in its 53 possession, make an estimate of the deficiency and collect such defi- 54 ciency from such store. 55 § 27-2805. Violations.S. 95 6 1 1. Any retailer who shall violate any provision of this title shall 2 receive a warning notice for the first such violation. A retailer shall 3 be liable to the state of New York for a civil penalty of two hundred 4 fifty dollars for the first violation after receiving a warning and five 5 hundred dollars for any subsequent violation in the same calendar year. 6 For purposes of this section, each commercial transaction shall consti- 7 tute no more than one violation. A hearing or opportunity to be heard 8 shall be provided prior to the assessment of any civil penalty. 9 2. It shall not be a violation of this title for a general vendor or 10 green cart to fail to provide a receipt to a customer with an itemized 11 charge for a carryout bag fee. 12 3. (a) The department, the department of agriculture and markets, the 13 department of health, and the attorney general are hereby authorized to 14 enforce the provisions of this title, and all monies collected shall be 15 deposited to the credit of the environmental protection fund established 16 pursuant to section ninety-two-s of the state finance law. 17 (b) The provisions of this section may also be enforced by a county, 18 city, town or village and the local legislative body thereof may adopt 19 local laws, ordinances or regulations consistent with this title provid- 20 ing for the enforcement of such provisions. 21 4. Any fines that are collected by the state during proceedings by the 22 state to enforce the provisions of this title shall be retained by the 23 state. Any fines that are collected by a municipality during proceedings 24 by the municipality to enforce the provisions of this title against a 25 retailer located in the municipality shall be retained by the munici- 26 pality. 27 § 27-2806. Preemption of local law. 28 Jurisdiction in all matters pertaining to carryout bags is vested 29 exclusively in the state. Any provision of any local law or ordinance, 30 or any rule or regulation promulgated thereto, governing charges or bans 31 related to carryout bags shall, upon the effective date of this title, 32 be preempted. Provided, however, nothing in this section shall preclude 33 a local law or ordinance, or any rule or regulation from implementing a 34 higher fee for carryout bags or reusable grocery bags, or a ban on addi- 35 tional types of carryout bags. 36 § 3. Subdivision 4 of section 63 of the alcoholic beverage control 37 law, as amended by chapter 360 of the laws of 2017, is amended to read 38 as follows: 39 4. No licensee under this section shall be engaged in any other busi- 40 ness on the licensed premises. The sale of lottery tickets, when duly 41 authorized and lawfully conducted, the sale of carryout bags as defined 42 in subdivision one of section 27-2801 of the environmental conservation 43 law and reusable grocery bags as defined in subdivision four of section 44 27-2801 of the environmental conservation law, the sale of corkscrews or 45 the sale of ice or the sale of publications, including prerecorded video 46 and/or audio cassette tapes, or educational seminars, designed to help 47 educate consumers in their knowledge and appreciation of alcoholic 48 beverages, as defined in section three of this chapter and allowed 49 pursuant to their license, or the sale of non-carbonated, non-flavored 50 mineral waters, spring waters and drinking waters or the sale of glasses 51 designed for the consumption of wine, racks designed for the storage of 52 wine, and devices designed to minimize oxidation in bottles of wine 53 which have been uncorked, or the sale of gift bags, gift boxes, or wrap- 54 ping, for alcoholic beverages purchased at the licensed premises shall 55 not constitute engaging in another business within the meaning of this 56 subdivision. Any fee obtained from the sale of an educational seminarS. 95 7 1 shall not be considered as a fee for any tasting that may be offered 2 during an educational seminar, provided that such tastings are available 3 to persons who have not paid to attend the seminar and all tastings are 4 conducted in accordance with section sixty-three-a of this article. 5 § 4. Subdivision 3 and paragraph (b) of subdivision 6 of section 92-s 6 of the state finance law, subdivision 3 as amended by section 1 of part 7 AA of chapter 58 of the laws of 2018 and paragraph (b) of subdivision 6 8 as amended by section 3 of part U of chapter 58 of the laws of 2016, are 9 amended to read as follows: 10 3. Such fund shall consist of the amount of revenue collected within 11 the state from the amount of revenue, interest and penalties deposited 12 pursuant to section fourteen hundred twenty-one of the tax law, the 13 amount of fees and penalties received from easements or leases pursuant 14 to subdivision fourteen of section seventy-five of the public lands law 15 and the money received as annual service charges pursuant to section 16 four hundred four-n of the vehicle and traffic law, all moneys required 17 to be deposited therein from the contingency reserve fund pursuant to 18 section two hundred ninety-four of chapter fifty-seven of the laws of 19 nineteen hundred ninety-three, all moneys required to be deposited 20 pursuant to section thirteen of chapter six hundred ten of the laws of 21 nineteen hundred ninety-three, repayments of loans made pursuant to 22 section 54-0511 of the environmental conservation law, all moneys to be 23 deposited from the Northville settlement pursuant to section one hundred 24 twenty-four of chapter three hundred nine of the laws of nineteen 25 hundred ninety-six, provided however, that such moneys shall only be 26 used for the cost of the purchase of private lands in the core area of 27 the central Suffolk pine barrens pursuant to a consent order with the 28 Northville industries signed on October thirteenth, nineteen hundred 29 ninety-four and the related resource restoration and replacement plan, 30 the amount of penalties required to be deposited therein by section 31 71-2724 of the environmental conservation law, all moneys required to be 32 deposited pursuant to article thirty-three of the environmental conser- 33 vation law, all fees collected pursuant to subdivision eight of section 34 70-0117 of the environmental conservation law, all moneys collected 35 pursuant to title thirty-three of article fifteen of the environmental 36 conservation law, beginning with the fiscal year commencing on April 37 first, two thousand thirteen, nineteen million dollars, and all fiscal 38 years thereafter, twenty-three million dollars plus all funds received 39 by the state each fiscal year in excess of the greater of the amount 40 received from April first, two thousand twelve through March thirty- 41 first, two thousand thirteen or one hundred twenty-two million two 42 hundred thousand dollars, from the payments collected pursuant to subdi- 43 vision four of section 27-1012 of the environmental conservation law and 44 all funds collected pursuant to section 27-1015 of the environmental 45 conservation law, all moneys required to be deposited pursuant to 46 section 27-2804 of the environmental conservation law, and all other 47 moneys credited or transferred thereto from any other fund or source 48 pursuant to law. All such revenue shall be initially deposited into the 49 environmental protection fund, for application as provided in subdivi- 50 sion five of this section. 51 (b) Moneys from the solid waste account shall be available, pursuant 52 to appropriation and upon certificate of approval of availability by the 53 director of the budget, for any non-hazardous municipal landfill closure 54 project; municipal waste reduction or recycling project, as defined in 55 article fifty-four of the environmental conservation law; for the 56 purposes of section two hundred sixty-one and section two hundredS. 95 8 1 sixty-four of the economic development law; any project for the develop- 2 ment, updating or revision of local solid waste management plans pursu- 3 ant to sections 27-0107 and 27-0109 of the environmental conservation 4 law; environmental justice projects and grants and for the development 5 of the pesticide sales and use data base pursuant to title twelve of 6 article thirty-three of the environmental conservation law; provided 7 that all funds collected pursuant to title twenty-eight of article twen- 8 ty-seven of the environmental conservation law shall be made available 9 to localities for the purpose of pollution reduction, cleanup, and 10 education, and purchasing and distributing reusable bags, with priority 11 given to low and fixed-income communities. 12 § 5. This act shall take effect on the two hundred seventieth day 13 after it shall have become a law. Effective immediately the addition, 14 amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the 15 implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be 16 made on or before such date.
