Bill Text: NY S00901 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Relates to supermarkets providing excess edible food to food relief organizations.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2021-02-16 - SIGNED CHAP.63 [S00901 Detail]
Download: New_York-2021-S00901-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 901 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN SENATE (Prefiled) January 6, 2021 ___________ Introduced by Sen. HARCKHAM -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to supermarkets providing excess edible food to food relief organiza- tions; to amend a chapter of the laws of 2020 amending the environ- mental conservation law relating to requiring supermarkets to make excess food available to qualifying entities, as proposed in legisla- tive bills numbers S. 4176-A and A.4398-A, in relation to the effec- tiveness thereof; to repeal certain provisions of the environmental conservation law relating thereto; and providing for the repeal of certain provisions upon expiration thereof The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Legislative intent. An estimated fifty million Americans, 2 including nearly sixteen million children, do not have sufficient food. 3 An estimated 2.8 million New Yorkers face hunger and food insecurity. 4 This legislation is designed to increase food donations to food banks 5 and other providers who feed the needy while reducing food waste in 6 solid waste landfills which create dangerous emissions. 7 § 2. Title 30 of article 27 of the environmental conservation law, as 8 added by a chapter of the laws of 2020, amending the environmental 9 conservation law relating to requiring supermarkets to make excess food 10 available to qualifying entities, as proposed in legislative bills 11 numbers S. 4176-A and A. 4398-A, is REPEALED. 12 § 3. Section 27-2201 of the environmental conservation law is amended 13 by adding two new subdivisions 9 and 10 to read as follows: 14 9. "Excess edible food" means edible food that is not sold or used by 15 a designated food scrap generator and is still safe to be consumed but 16 is being disposed of by the generator, but shall not include unpackaged 17 fresh meat, fish or poultry, food damaged by pests, mold, bacteria or EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD07193-01-1S. 901 2 1 other contamination, food subject to governmental or producer recall due 2 to food safety and food returned to a supplier. 3 10. "Food relief organization" means a religious organization or other 4 not-for-profit that provides food for free to needy individuals, includ- 5 ing, but not limited to, a food pantry, food bank, or soup kitchen or 6 community-based organization that provides food for free to needy indi- 7 viduals. 8 § 4. The environmental conservation law is amended by adding a new 9 section 27-2218 to read as follows: 10 § 27-2218. Supermarket excess edible food. 11 1. For the purpose of this section, "supermarket" means a physical 12 retail store which has at the subject location more than ten thousand 13 square feet devoted to offering food for human consumption for sale to 14 the general public. 15 2. Every supermarket shall from time to time make excess edible food 16 available to food relief organizations. No supermarket shall be required 17 to make available a particular quantity or level of excess edible food 18 or to transport or distribute any excess edible food. 19 3. A supermarket shall be deemed in compliance with this section if it 20 in good faith arranges with a food relief organization that has 21 requested in writing to collect excess edible food from the supermarket 22 for the collection of such excess edible food. The rights, liabilities 23 or immunity of any party under this section shall be governed pursuant 24 to the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act (42 U.S.C. § 1791 25 et seq.), as of January seventh, two thousand eleven. 26 4. A supermarket may impose reasonable restrictions as to the time and 27 manner of collection by a food relief organization so as not to inter- 28 fere with its business operations. 29 5. A supermarket may, in accordance with any applicable laws, dispose 30 of any excess edible food which is not picked up by a food relief organ- 31 ization within a reasonable time. 32 6. Nothing in this section shall be construed to supersede any state 33 or federal health laws or regulations regarding the handling of excess 34 edible food. 35 7. A supermarket that does not meet the requirements of this section 36 shall not be subject to the penalties specified in title twenty-seven of 37 article seventy-one of this chapter. 38 § 5. Section 2 of a chapter of the laws of 2020, amending the environ- 39 mental conservation law relating to requiring supermarkets to make 40 excess food available to qualifying entities, as proposed in legislative 41 bills numbers S. 4176-A and A. 4398-A, is amended to read as follows: 42 § 2. This act shall take effect [on the one hundred eightieth day43after it shall have become a law. Effective immediately the addition,44amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the45implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be46made and completed on or before such date] immediately. 47 § 6. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however that 48 sections one, two, three and four of this act shall take effect on the 49 same date and in the same manner as a chapter of the laws of 2020, 50 amending the environmental conservation law relating to requiring super- 51 markets to make excess food available to qualifying entities, as 52 proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 4176-A and A. 4398-A, takes 53 effect, provided, further, that section four of this act shall expire 54 and be deemed repealed on December 31, 2021.