STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5844--A
Cal. No. 221
2015-2016 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 5, 2015
___________
Introduced by M. of A. KAVANAGH, COLTON, JAFFEE, ABINANTI, ROSENTHAL,
OTIS, ROZIC, ORTIZ, ENGLEBRIGHT, FAHY, STIRPE, DINOWITZ, LINARES,
SKOUFIS -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. GALEF, GLICK, PAULIN,
THIELE, WALKER -- read once and referred to the Committee on Environ-
mental Conservation -- advanced to a third reading, amended and
ordered reprinted, retaining its place on the order of third reading
AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to the
reduction of mercury in mercury-added lamps
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 27-2101 of the environmental conservation law is
2 amended by adding five new subdivisions 30, 31, 32, 33, and 34 to read
3 as follows:
4 30. "Mercury-added lamp" means an electric lamp to which mercury or
5 mercury compounds are intentionally added during the manufacturing proc-
6 ess, including, but not limited to, compact fluorescent lamps, fluores-
7 cent lamps and tubular fluorescent lamps with normal or long lifetime.
8 31. "Producer of mercury-added lamps" means any person who:
9 (a) manufactures and sells mercury-added lamps under its own brand;
10 (b) resells under its own brand equipment produced by other suppliers,
11 a reseller not being regarded as the producer of mercury-added lamps if
12 the brand of the producer of mercury-added lamps appears on the equip-
13 ment, as provided for in paragraph (a) of this subdivision; or
14 (c) serves as the importer or domestic distributor of a mercury-added
15 lamp if the brand name owner is located outside of the United States.
16 32. "General purpose lights" means lamps, bulbs, tubes, or other elec-
17 tric devices that provide functional illumination for indoor residen-
18 tial, indoor commercial, and outdoor use. General purpose lights shall
19 not include special purpose lights.
20 33. "Special purpose lights" means the following specialty lighting:
21 appliance, black light, germicidal, bug, colored, infrared, left-hand
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01925-04-6
A. 5844--A 2
1 thread, marine, marine's signal service, mine service, plant light,
2 reflector, reprographic, rough service, shatter-resistant, cold temper-
3 ature, sign service, silver bowl, showcase, three-way, traffic signal,
4 and vibration service.
5 34. "Long lifetime" means more than twenty-four thousand hours when
6 tested on a T8 instant start ballast, a T12 rapid start ballast, or a T5
7 programmed start ballast, and turned on and off every three hours
8 ("three hour starts").
9 § 2. Section 27-2107 of the environmental conservation law is amended
10 by adding two new subdivisions 11 and 12 to read as follows:
11 11. On and after January first, two thousand seventeen, no producer of
12 mercury-added lamps shall sell, offer for sale, or distribute such lamps
13 that fail to meet mercury content standards adopted by the department,
14 and for the following general purpose lights, mercury content shall be
15 no higher than:
16 (a) 2.5 milligrams for compact fluorescent lamps less than thirty
17 watts;
18 (b) 3.5 milligrams for straight fluorescent T8 lamps with a normal
19 lifetime (excluding 8-foot models) and 3.0 milligrams for straight
20 fluorescent T5 lamps with a normal lifetime;
21 (c) 5.0 milligrams for straight fluorescent T8 and T5 lamps with a
22 long lifetime;
23 (d) 15.0 milligrams for non-linear fluorescent T8, T5, and T12 lamps
24 and 8-foot linear fluorescent lamps (excluding very high output models);
25 12. On or before December thirty-first, two thousand seventeen, mercu-
26 ry content standards established in accordance with this section shall
27 not apply to special purpose lights.
28 § 3. Subdivision 1 of section 71-2724 of the environmental conserva-
29 tion law, as added by chapter 145 of the laws of 2004, is amended to
30 read as follows:
31 1. Any person who knowingly or intentionally violates any provision of
32 or fails to perform any duty pursuant to title twenty-one of article
33 twenty-seven of this chapter, except subdivision one of section 27-2105
34 and subdivision eleven of section 27-2107 of this chapter, shall upon
35 the first finding of such a violation be liable for a civil penalty not
36 to exceed one hundred dollars. Any person convicted of a second or
37 subsequent violation shall be liable for a civil penalty not to exceed
38 five hundred dollars for each violation.
39 § 4. Subdivision 2 of section 71-2724 of the environmental conserva-
40 tion law, as added by chapter 145 of the laws of 2004, is amended to
41 read as follows:
42 2. Any person who knowingly or intentionally violates or fails to
43 perform any duty imposed by subdivision one of section 27-2105 or subdi-
44 vision eleven of section 27-2107 of this chapter shall upon the first
45 finding of such a violation be provided with educational materials
46 describing the requirements for mercury disposal and the effects of
47 improper mercury disposal, and be warned that future violations shall
48 result in the imposition of a fine. Any person convicted of a second
49 violation shall be liable for a civil penalty not to exceed fifty
50 dollars. Any person convicted of a third violation shall be liable for a
51 civil penalty not to exceed seventy-five dollars. Any person convicted
52 of a fourth or subsequent violation shall be liable for a civil penalty
53 not to exceed one hundred dollars for each violation.
54 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately. Effective immediately,
55 the department of environmental conservation shall promulgate any regu-
56 lations necessary to implement the provisions of this act.
