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History
- Referred to environmental conservation
- Print number 747a
- Amend and recommit to environmental conservation
- Referred to environmental conservation
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Provides for a prohibition on the use of certain disposable food service ware
In Assembly Committee · Environmental Conservation · Sponsor Brian Kavanagh
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to prohibiting the use of certain food packaging and plastic food service ware
Purpose
To prohibit the use of food service ware that contains polystyrene foam by food service providers, including state departments, contractors, and lessees of the state, as well as restaurants and retail food vendors. Polystyrene, commonly known as styrofoam (Styrofoam is a registered trademark of Dow Chemical Company; this memorandum uses "styrofoam" to refer generically to polystyrene foam products regardless of brand), is used as a means to package prepared food that can be "taken out" by consumers. This bill would re quire food service providers to use alternate products that are compostable or recyclable, unless no affordable alternative exists. The Department of Environmental Conservation would create a list of affordable compostable or recyclable products available.
Summary of provisions
Article 27 is amended to add a new Title 25 Food Service Waste Reduction.
Read the full memo (625 words)
27-2501 - Definitions. Including: "affordable" which means purchasable at a maximum cost of 15 percent more than the purchase cost of the nonbiodegradable, non-recyclable alternative, "compostable" meaning that all materials in the product or package will break down in a safe and timely manner and "recyclable" meaning material that can be sorted, cleansed and reconstituted using available collect ion programs to manufacture a new product.
27-2503 Prohibited disposable food service ware. Retail food venders and municipal facility food service providers, municipal contractors and lessees shall not sell prepared food in disposable food service ware that contains polystyrene foam.
27-2505 - Required compostable or recyclable disposable food service ware. All food vendors using any disposable food service ware shall use a suitable, affordable alternative compostable or recyclable product unless there is no suitable, affordable compostable or recyclable product available. The Commission of Environmental Conservation will adopt a list of suitable, affordable, compostable or recyclable alternatives for each produce type.
27-2507 - Powers of municipalities will include the creation of regulations, ordinances or laws to implement and enforce this title.
71-2728 - Enforcement of provisions will be the responsibility of the municipality. A first violation will result in a written warning and any subsequent violation will result in a monetary fine.
JUSTIFICATION Styrofoam is a liquid hydrocarbon that is commercially manufactured from petroleum, a quickly disappearing commodity. Each year Americans throwaway 25,000,000 styrofoam cups, or 1,369 tons of styrofoam product every day. A single styrofoam cup can take up to 500 years to fully disintegrate.
Styrofoam is a notorious pollutant that is Very difficult to recycle due to its light weight and low scrap value. It is generally not accepted in curbside programs, is seldom able to be reused, takes up a considerable amount of space in landfills, and takes a very long time to fully decompose. Due to the Physical properties of styrofoam, the United States Environmental Protection Agency states "that such materials can have serious impact on human health, wildlife, and the aquatic environment" because the product breaks down an d can clog waterways, or be mistaken for food by wildlife.
One of the components of styrofoam, styrene, is a known hazardous substance which is a suspected carcinogen and neurotoxin. Many people do not realize that when they re-heat food in a styrofoam product using a microwave, toxins may be released into their food.
This bill would address the environmental impacts of styrofoam while allowing for exceptions in cases where there is no viable alternative product of comparable cost.
Legislative history
2008: A.9420 (Kavanagh) - Environmental Conservation 2007: A.9420 (Kavanagh) - Environmental Conservation
Fiscal impact on the state
Undetermined.
Effective date
This act shall take effect one year from the date after it shall have become law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.