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A01616 Summary:

BILL NOA01616
 
SAME ASSAME AS S01000
 
SPONSORRosenthal L
 
COSPNSR
 
MLTSPNSR
 
Add §20-h, Gen City L
 
Requires that a city with a population of one million or more shall establish a residential composting program for all buildings with residential units.
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A01616 Actions:

BILL NOA01616
 
01/17/2023referred to cities
01/03/2024referred to cities
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A01616 Memo:

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A1616
 
SPONSOR: Rosenthal L
  TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the general city law, in relation to requiring that a city with a population of one million or more shall establish a residen- tial composting program for all buildings with residential units   PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL: To establish a universal composting program for residential buildings   SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS: Section 1 of the bill amends the general city law to require cities with a population over one million to establish a residential composting program for all buildings with residential units in the city. The city must establish standards for waste separation and collection to avoid odor and vermin and must provide guidance to the public on how to effec- tively sort waste. Each city subject to this law must arrange for the transportation and processing of the organic waste, regulate organics recyclers, and establish a fine program for non-compliant buildings. Composting collection areas must be reasonably accessible to residents and maintained by building owners or managers. The local government shall issue an annual report summarizing the progress of the program. The bill lays out requirements for waste transporters to ensure that the waste is appropriately handled. Cities shall be eligible to apply for state assistance for a waste management reduction project, pursuant to title seven or article fifty-four of the environmental conservation law. Section 2 provides for severability. Section 3 is the effective date.   JUSTIFICATION: One million tons of organic waste are generated annually from residents in New York City and thrown into a landfill: about 11 pounds of organic material per household, per week, from food waste, soiled paper, and yard waste. Landfilled trash from New York city generates about 1 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions each year, in large part due to the portion of organic waste in the system. When organic material decom- poses in the anaerobic environment of a landfill, methane, a harmful greenhouse gas is produced. A 2016 study from the Citizens Budget Commission predicts that if New York City's Department of Sanitation collected curbside residential organic waste from sanitation districts it already serves, the City could divert 83,812 tons of waste while saving $610, 800 per year. New York City has implemented a pilot composting program wherein residential buildings can opt-in to partic- ipate. A building owner must approve participation in the program, leav- ing many residents without an option for curbside composting. While this program is an important start, it is not an adequate response to the urgency of our climate crisis.   PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: 2021-22: A.9911 - Referred to Cities; S.8374 - Reported to Finance   FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None.   EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect immediately.
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A01616 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          1616
 
                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                    January 17, 2023
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by  M.  of  A. L. ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to the
          Committee on Cities
 
        AN ACT to amend the general city law, in relation to  requiring  that  a
          city  with a population of one million or more shall establish a resi-
          dential composting program for all buildings with residential units

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section  1.  The  general  city law is amended by adding a new section
     2  20-h to read as follows:
     3    § 20-h. Residential composting. 1. As used in this section:
     4    (a) "Compostable waste" and  "organic  waste"  shall  mean  materials,
     5  including  but  not limited to food scraps, plant trimmings, food-soiled
     6  paper and certified compostable products, that will:
     7    (i) undergo degradation by biological processes during  composting  to
     8  yield  carbon dioxide, water, inorganic compounds, and biomass at a rate
     9  consistent with other known compostable materials; and
    10    (ii) leave no visible, distinguishable or toxic residue, including  no
    11  adverse  impact  on the ability of composts to support plant growth once
    12  the finished compost is placed in soil.
    13    (b) "Latched container" means a solid container that can  be  fastened
    14  such that animals such as rats or pigeons cannot break into the contain-
    15  er.
    16    (c) "Organics recycler" means a facility, permitted by the department,
    17  that  recycles organic waste through use as animal feed or a feed ingre-
    18  dient, rendering, land application, composting, aerobic digestion, anae-
    19  robic digestion, fermentation, or  ethanol  production.  Animal  scraps,
    20  food  soiled paper, and post-consumer food scraps are prohibited for use
    21  as animal feed or as a feed ingredient. The proportion  of  the  product
    22  created  from  organic  waste  by  a  composting  or digestion facility,
    23  including a wastewater treatment plant that operates a digestion facili-
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD04081-01-3

        A. 1616                             2
 
     1  ty, or other treatment system, must be used in a beneficial manner as  a
     2  soil amendment and shall not be disposed of or incinerated.
     3    (d)  "Incinerator"  shall have the same meaning as provided in section
     4  72-0401 of the environmental conservation law.
     5    (e) "Landfill" shall have the same  meaning  as  provided  in  section
     6  72-0401 of the environmental conservation law.
     7    (f)  "Transfer  facility"  means  a  solid  waste management facility,
     8  whether owned or operated by a private or public entity,  other  than  a
     9  recyclables  handling  and  recovery  facility,  used oil facility, or a
    10  construction and demolition  debris  processing  facility,  where  solid
    11  waste  is  received  for  the  purpose of subsequent transfer to another
    12  solid waste management  facility  for  processing,  treating,  disposal,
    13  recovery, or further transfer.
    14    2.  Within one year after the effective date of this section, any city
    15  with a population of one million or more shall establish  a  residential
    16  composting program for all buildings with residential units in the city.
    17  Such program shall:
    18    (a) encourage residents to separate compostable waste from garbage and
    19  other recyclables and place the compostable waste in labeled containers;
    20    (b)  consistent with the best waste collection practices to avoid odor
    21  and vermin, establish requirements for composting containers, labels and
    22  liner bags, including a requirement that containers be capable of  being
    23  latched; and
    24    (c) provide collection and education resources for the public, includ-
    25  ing  regular  periodical guidance, training, updates, signage and flyers
    26  for the purposes of teaching  and  retaining  effective  procedures  for
    27  sorting materials for organics and other recycling.
    28    3. Each city subject to the provisions of this section shall:
    29    (a)  arrange  for compostable waste to be transported and/or processed
    30  separately from garbage and recycling;
    31    (b) regulate organics recyclers to ensure that their activities do not
    32  impair water quality or otherwise harm human health and the environment;
    33  and
    34    (c) establish a fine program for building owners and managers  who  do
    35  not comply with the requirements of this section.
    36    4.  Each  city subject to the provisions of this section shall promul-
    37  gate rules requiring, at a minimum, that within six months of  the  date
    38  of establishment of the program:
    39    (a)  residential  building  owners  or managers, including residential
    40  buildings managed by a municipal or state agency, must have one or  more
    41  composting  areas  for  the storage of designated organic waste prior to
    42  collection;
    43    (b) composting areas must be reasonably accessible to residents unless
    44  organic waste is collected directly from individual  dwelling  units  by
    45  building staff;
    46    (c) composting areas must be within the building, unless no reasonably
    47  accessible  area  is available, in which case the composting area can be
    48  in an accessible area behind the property line;
    49    (d) composting areas must be  maintained  by  the  building  owner  or
    50  manager  and designated organic waste materials must be stored so as not
    51  to create a nuisance or sanitary problem;
    52    (e) residential building owners or managers  must  post  and  maintain
    53  labels  and signs created by the municipality with instructions on iden-
    54  tifying and separating compostable waste from garbage  and  recyclables;
    55  and

        A. 1616                             3
 
     1    (f) building owners and managers must ensure containers are latched at
     2  the  time  of storage or set-out and that containers are consistent with
     3  regulations set forth by the municipality.
     4    5.  (a) Beginning one year after the establishment of the program, and
     5  annually thereafter, each local government subject to this section shall
     6  submit a report summarizing the progress of the  residential  composting
     7  program  to the department of environmental conservation, including, but
     8  not limited to:
     9    (i) the amount of compostable waste collected; and
    10    (ii) the costs associated with such program.
    11    (b) By the year two thousand twenty-four, and annually thereafter, the
    12  department of environmental conservation shall  post  a  report  on  its
    13  website  detailing  composting  programs in the state. Such report shall
    14  include an  evaluation  of  the  effectiveness  of  composting  programs
    15  required by this section, and information on costs and collection rates.
    16    6.  (a) Any waste transporter that collects organic waste from a resi-
    17  dential building shall:
    18    (i) deliver organic waste to a transfer  facility  that  will  deliver
    19  such organic waste to an organics recycler; or
    20    (ii) deliver such organic waste directly to an organics recycler.
    21    (b)  Any  waste transporter that transports organic waste from a resi-
    22  dential facility shall take all reasonable precautions  to  not  deliver
    23  the  organic  waste  to  an  incinerator or a landfill nor commingle the
    24  material with any other solid waste unless such commingled waste can  be
    25  processed by an organics recycler.
    26    7.  Every city having a population of one million or more which estab-
    27  lishes and implements an organic waste recovery program pursuant to this
    28  section shall be eligible to apply for  state  assistance  for  a  waste
    29  reduction  project pursuant to  title seven of article fifty-four of the
    30  environmental conservation law.
    31    § 2. Severability. If any clause,  sentence,  paragraph,  subdivision,
    32  section  or part of this act shall be adjudged by any court of competent
    33  jurisdiction  to  be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair, or
    34  invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in its operation
    35  to the clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section or part thereof
    36  directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment  shall  have
    37  been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of the legislature
    38  that  this  act  would have been enacted even if such invalid provisions
    39  had not been included herein.
    40    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
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