Requires flooring contractor to remove used carpeting from the premises of a customer's property

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:; Section 1 of the bill amends Section 770 of the General Business Law to define carpeting, flooring, floor covering, and flooring and floor covering contractor.

Section 2 of the bill adds a new Section 771-b to the General. Business Law requiring flooring and floor covering contractors to remove used carpeting from residential premises and to manage this carpeting according to the state solid waste management hierarchy defined in Section 27-0106 of the ECL. A customer may request to keep all or part of the used carpeting by signing a form describing the customer's responsibility to properly dispose of the used carpeting. Alternatively, a contractor is not responsible for the used carpeting removal if the customer's municipality operates a carpeting recovery program which recycles or reuses a minimum of 50 percent of the used carpeting it collects.

Section 3 of the bill amends Section 773 of the General Business Law to establish penalties for contractor violations of the requirements of Section 771-b.

Section 4 of the bill amends Article 27 of the Environmental Conservation Law to require any planning unit, municipality, entity acting on behalf of a municipality, or waste hauler which collects used carpeting from curbside or roadside to have 1) a carpeting reuse or recycling program which recovers a minimum of 50 percent of all used carpeting collected; or 2) another means of Promoting used carpet recovery approved by DEC. The bill would take effect immediately, provided that Sections one, two and three of this act shall take effect January 1, 2014.

Justification

Carpeting constitutes a significant portion by weight of the waste stream, estimated at over 3 million tons yearly in the U.S. A DEC waste composition study estimated that approximately 260,000 tons were generated in New York State in 2010, representing 1.4 percent by volume of the municipal solid waste stream.

Fortunately, demand is steadily rising for used carpeting and its many components because a number of carpet recyclers are collecting and processing these materials. Recyclers are economically and competitively collecting carpeting from commercial sources. However, they have encountered obstacles to competitively recycling residential carpeting.

A major obstacle to recycling residential carpeting is the availability of carpeting curbside collections at no charge to the resident by many of the largest municipalities which are seldom recycling the carpeting. The true cost of used carpeting management is subsidized by the municipality, so residents have no or little incentive to recycle. However, commercial establishments facing the true costs of disposal vs. recycling carpeting find it increasingly favorable to recycle.

Carpet recovery has clear environmental benefits, indicated in one aspect by its significant reduction of greenhouse gas(GHG) emissions. The EPA Waste Reduction Model (WARM) estimates that for every short ton of carpet that is diverted from landfilling by reuse 4.00 metric tons of CO2 equivalent (MTCO2E) are eliminated; while for every short ton of carpet diverted by recycling 2.41 MTCO2E are eliminated.

Prior legislative history

New bill.

Fiscal implications

There are no fiscal implications to the State.

Effective date

This bill takes effect immediately, except that sections one, two and three shall take effect January 1, 2014.