What's happening
This bill restricts restaurants in New York from providing single-use plastic straws and stirrers except upon customer request, with enforcement and penalties for violations.
Why it matters
Addresses plastic waste. by limiting the routine distribution of single-use plastic straws and completely banning plastic stirrers, aiming to reduce environmental pollution and the burden on landfills and waterways.
Makes sustainable alternatives the default. restaurants can still offer straws and stirrers, but they must be made from materials like paper, bamboo, or compostable substances, encouraging a market shift toward greener products.
Protects customer choice and accessibility. by allowing anyone to request a plastic straw without having to explain their needs, which is especially important for people with disabilities who may require them.
Enforces compliance through health inspections and escalating fines. , but allows a one-year grace period with warnings and education before penalties begin, giving businesses time to adapt and avoid immediate financial penalties.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Limit Plastic Straws in Restaurants
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
4 Co-sponsors
History
- Print number 1477a
- Amend (t) and recommit to environmental conservation
- Referred 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.
Limit Plastic Straws in Restaurants
In Assembly Committee · Codes · Sponsor Linda Rosenthal
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
1477--A
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 15, 2019
Introduced by Sens. HOYLMAN, KRUEGER, METZGER, SALAZAR, SERRANO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Environmental Conservation -- recommitted to the Committee on Environmental Conservation in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law and the general business law, in relation to prohibitions on single-use plastic straws and stirrers in restaurants
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Article 27 of the environmental conservation law is amended by adding a new title 30 to read as follows:
TITLE 30
PLASTIC STRAW AND STIRRER RESTRICTIONS Section 27-3001. Definitions.
27-3003. Single-use plastic straws and stirrers.
27-3005. Enforcement. § 27-3001. Definitions.
For the purposes of this title, "restaurant" means any diner or other eating or beverage establishment, which offers for sale food or beverages to the public, guests, members, or patrons, whether consumption occurs on or off the premises. § 27-3003. Single-use plastic straws and stirrers.
1. (a) Restaurants shall only provide single-use plastic straws to customers when explicitly requested by the customer.
(b) No inquiry into the reason for the request shall be made by a food service establishment or any of its employees in carrying out the request authorized by paragraph (a) of this subdivision.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01864-15-0
S. 1477--A 2
2. Restaurants are prohibited from providing customers with single-use plastic stirrers.
3. (a) Nothing in this section shall preclude a restaurant from providing customers with non-plastic straws or stirrers as an alternative to single-use plastic straws and stirrers, including, but not limited to, straws and/or stirrers made from paper, sugar cane, bamboo or compostable materials.
(b) Restaurants that provide compostable straws or stirrers to customers are required to have access to curbside collection of food waste for composting.
4. Single-use plastic straws provided by a food service establishment, pursuant to subdivision one of this section, shall not be individually wrapped in plastic, except for prepackaged individual serving beverages where a plastic straw is included in the packaging. § 27-3005. Enforcement.
Every local department of health shall ensure compliance with this title as part of an inspection of a food place pursuant to section thirteen hundred fifty-one of the public health law, the provisions of the sanitary code and provisions of local ordinances or regulations. Any establishment that violates this title shall be liable for a civil penalty in the amount of two hundred dollars for the first violation, three hundred dollars for the second violation committed on a different day within a period of twelve months, and five hundred dollars for the third and each subsequent violation committed on different days within a period of twelve months, except that the local department of health shall not issue a notice of violation, but shall issue a warning and provide information on compliance with such section, for any violation that occurs within one year of the effective date of this section.
§ 2. The general business law is amended by adding a new section 399- tt to read as follows:
§ 399-tt. Single-use plastic straws. Restaurants shall only provide single-use plastic straws to customers where explicitly requested by the customer pursuant to title thirty of article twenty-seven of the environmental conservation law.
§ 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after it shall have become a law.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the environmental conservation law and the general busi- ness law, in relation to prohibitions on single-use plastic straws and stirrers in restaurants
Purpose
This bill will reduce plastic pollution by prohibiting bars and restau- rants from providing single-use plastic straws unless requested by the customer.
Summary of specific provisions
Section one amends article 27 of the environmental conservation law by adding a new title 30.
Section two amends the general business law by adding a new section 399-tt.
Section three sets forth the effective date.
Justification
According to the United States National Park Service, Americans use 500 million plastic drinking straws each day. A majority of these straws come from restaurants and other food service establishments where it is common for a single-use plastic straw to be provided with each beverage served. Plastic straws and plastic beverage stirrers are quickly disposed of and end up in our landfills and waterways, where they are often ingested by land and marine animals.
Plastic straws and stirrers, typically made of a material called poly- propylene, may break down into smaller pieces over long periods of time, but never completely biodegrade. It is said that nearly every plastic straw ever used still exists in some form. While some plastics are able to be recycled, plastic straws and stirrers are too small to be proc- essed by recycling equipment.
By prohibiting restaurants from habitually handing out straws with every beverage served and switching over to a straws "upon request only" system, these establishments will be able to markedly reduce the number of straws and stirrers that end up in landfills and waterways each year, creating a cleaner and safer environment for humans and animals alike. Further, this legislation will also prohibit restaurants from providing plastic stirrers, instead requiring that they use wood, paper or other compostable materials.
Legislative history
2019: S.1477 (Hoylman) - Died in Environmental Conservation
2018: S.8726-B (Hoylman) - Died in Environmental Conservation
Fiscal implications
None to the State.
Effective date
This act shall take effect in 120 days.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.