Bill Text: NY S01649 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requires the trustees of The State University of New York to develop a SUNY-wide zero waste action plan.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - REFERRED TO HIGHER EDUCATION [S01649 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S01649-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          1649

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                    January 13, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by Sen. HOYLMAN-SIGAL -- read twice and ordered printed, and
          when printed to be committed to the Committee on Higher Education

        AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to requiring the board of
          trustees of The State University of New York to  develop  a  SUNY-wide
          zero waste action plan

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section  355-f
     2  to read as follows:
     3    § 355-f. SUNY-wide zero waste action plan. 1. The board of trustees in
     4  consultation  with  faculty,  staff, students, the student assembly, any
     5  labor organization which has been selected by members of faculty, staff,
     6  or students to represent their interests, and any  designated  sustaina-
     7  bility staff member shall issue a report on or before one year after the
     8  effective  date  of this section creating a comprehensive SUNY-wide zero
     9  waste action plan including but  not  limited  to  the  following  focus
    10  areas:
    11    a.  source  reduction  also known as waste minimization, including but
    12  not limited to:
    13    (i) single use plastics elimination and reduction; and
    14    (ii) reforms to procurement resulting in waste minimization;
    15    b. materials reuse, including surplus property management and facility
    16  deconstruction;
    17    c. comprehensive  recycling,  including  construction  and  demolition
    18  materials;
    19    d. comprehensive composting or organics recycling;
    20    e. student, faculty, and staff engagement; and
    21    f. vendor and contractor requirements and engagement.
    22    2.  The  plan  shall  include metrics for tracking waste reduction and
    23  diversion across the system, establishing a  baseline,  interim  targets
    24  for goals and actions that will lead to zero waste, and publicly report-

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD04995-01-3
        S. 1649                             2

     1  ing  this  information.  Zero  waste  goals  must include both diversion
     2  through recycling and composting and reduction through  waste  minimiza-
     3  tion goals. The zero waste action plan must prioritize durable and reus-
     4  able  materials  over  single use materials, even if those materials are
     5  recyclable and/or compostable.
     6    3. The plan shall set a detailed project timeline for  the  system  to
     7  become zero waste by two thousand thirty-one.
     8    4.  Within  one  hundred  eighty days of the issuance of a system wide
     9  plan, each SUNY campus shall be required to  create  a  detailed  action
    10  plan,  in consultation with faculty, staff, students, student government
    11  associations, any labor organization which has been selected by  members
    12  of  faculty,  staff,  or  students to represent their interests, and any
    13  designated sustainability staff member.
    14    5. The board of trustees  shall  be  responsible  for  monitoring  the
    15  effectiveness  and  implementation  of such program in consultation with
    16  faculty, staff, students, the student assembly, and any labor  organiza-
    17  tion  which  has been selected by members of faculty, staff, or students
    18  to represent their interests, and shall annually report to the  legisla-
    19  ture  on the progress of the plan and post such report on the university
    20  website. Such report shall include a comprehensive audit  of  all  waste
    21  and  materials  diverted  and updates on inventory and shall review each
    22  campus action plan and include intermediate measures should a campus not
    23  be on track to meet the two thousand thirty-one deadline.
    24    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.