Requires that companies contracting with the state do not contribute to tropical forest degradation or deforestation directly or through their supply chains.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8851
IN SENATE
January 9, 2026
___________
Introduced by Sens. KRUEGER, COONEY, MAY, BRISPORT, CLEARE, COMRIE,
FERNANDEZ, GONZALEZ, HARCKHAM, HINCHEY, JACKSON, KAVANAGH, SALAZAR,
SANDERS, SEPULVEDA, SERRANO, SKOUFIS, STAVISKY, WEBB -- read twice and
ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on
Procurement and Contracts
AN ACT to amend the state finance law, in relation to prohibitions on
the use of certain tropical hardwoods for state contracts
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraphs b, c, d and e of subdivision 1 of section 165 of
2 the state finance law, as added by chapter 83 of the laws of 1995, are
3 amended to read as follows:
4 b. (i) "Tropical hardwood" shall mean any and all hardwood, scientif-
5 ically classified as angiosperm, that grows in any tropical [moist]
6 forest. Tropical hardwoods shall [be] include but not be limited to the
7 following species:
8 Scientific Name Examples of Common [Name]
9 Names
10 Prunus africanaAfrican cherry, Red stinkwood
11 Caryocar costaricenseAjo, Aji
12 Calophyllum spp.Bintangor
13 Cedrela spp.Cedar
14 Neobalanocarpus heimii,Chengal
15 Balanocarpus heimii
16 Octomeles sumatrana Miq.Erima, benuang
17 Myroxylon balsamumEstoraque
18 Apuleia leiocarpaGarapa
19 Parastemon urophyllus, ParastemonMalas
20 spicatus Ridley
21 Hopea spp.Merawan
22 Araucaria araucanaMonkey Puzzle, Chilean pine
23 Pterocarpus tinctoriusMukula
24 Senna siameaSiamese senna
25 Pometia pinataTaun
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14124-03-5
S. 8851 5
1 cylindricum [Sapela] Sapele, Sapelli
2 Acanthopanax ricinofoliusSen, Castor Arabia
3 Brosimum aubletti, PiratineraSnakewood, Letterwood, Leopard
4 guianensisWood
5 [Shores phillippinensis] [Sonora]
6 Juglans spp. (juglansSouth American Walnut, Peruvian
7 australis, J. neotropica,Walnut, Tropical Walnut
8 J. Olanchana, etc.)
9 Sterculia rhinopetalaSterculia
10 Bagassa guianensisTatajuba, Bagasse
11 Tectona grandis Teak
12 Lovoa trichilloides Tigerwood
13 Entandrophragma utileUtile, Sipo
14 Virola spp.Virola, Cumala, Banak, Tapsava
15 Milletia laurentii Wenge
16 Pentacme contortaWhite Lauan
17 Microberlinia [brazzavillensis] Zebrawood,
18 spp.Zebrano, Zingana
19 (ii) No later than January first, two thousand thirty, and at least
20 every three years thereafter, the department of environmental conserva-
21 tion, in consultation with the office of general services, shall through
22 regulations update the list of tropical hardwood species in subparagraph
23 (i) of this paragraph to ensure that such list includes all such species
24 that are currently commonly available for commercial use in the United
25 States, reflecting the most current data on production, trade, and
26 marketing, and to account for any changes in taxonomy, marketing or
27 trade names, market preference, usage, or other factors. Species shall
28 not be removed from the list of examples except for purposes of correct-
29 ing errors.
30 c. "Tropical [rain] forests" shall mean [any and all forests classi-
31 fied by the scientific term "Tropical moist forests", the classification
32 determined by the equatorial region of the forest and average rainfall]
33 a natural ecosystem within the tropical regions, approximately bounded
34 geographically by the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, but possibly
35 affected by other factors such as prevailing winds, containing native
36 species composition, structure, and ecological function, with a tree
37 canopy cover of more than ten percent over an area of at least 0.5
38 hectares. "Tropical forests" shall include all of the following: (i)
39 human-managed tropical forests or partially degraded tropical forests
40 that are regenerating; and (ii) tropical forests identified by multi-ob-
41 jective conservation based assessment methodologies, such as High
42 Conservation Value (HCV) areas, as defined by the HCV Resource Network,
43 or High Carbon Stock forests, as defined by the High Carbon Stock
44 Approach, or by another methodology with equivalent or higher standards
45 that includes primary forests and tropical peatlands of any depth.
46 d. "Tropical hardwood products" shall mean any wood products, whole-
47 sale or retail, in any form, including but not limited to plywood,
48 veneer, furniture, cabinets, paneling, siding, moldings, doors, doors-
49 kins, joinery, flooring or sawnwood, which are composed, in whole or in
50 part, of tropical hardwood [except plywood].
51 e. "Peat" means a soil that is rich in organic matter composed of
52 partially decomposed plant materials equal to or greater than 40 centi-
53 meters of the top 100 centimeters of the soil.
S. 8851 6
1 f. "Tropical peatlands" means wetlands within the tropical regions
2 with a layer of peat made up of dead and decaying plant material. Trop-
3 ical peatlands includes moors, bogs, mires, and peat swamp forests.
4 g. "Secondary materials" means any material recovered from or other-
5 wise destined for the waste stream, including, but not limited to, post-
6 consumer material, industrial scrap material and [overstock or] obsolete
7 inventories from distributors, wholesalers and other companies but such
8 term does not include those materials and by-products generated from,
9 and commonly reused within, an original manufacturing process.
10 § 2. Paragraphs a, b, c and d of subdivision 2 of section 165 of the
11 state finance law, as added by chapter 83 of the laws of 1995, are
12 amended and four new paragraphs e, f, g and h are added to read as
13 follows:
14 a. Except as hereinafter provided, the state and any governmental
15 agency or political subdivision or public benefit corporation of the
16 state shall not purchase or obtain for any purpose any tropical hard-
17 woods or tropical hardwood products, wholesale or retail, in any form,
18 unless such tropical hardwoods or tropical hardwood products are second-
19 ary materials.
20 b. The provisions of paragraph a of this subdivision shall not apply
21 to:
22 (i) [Any hardwoods purchased from a sustained, managed forest; or
23 (ii)] Any binding contractual obligations for purchase of commodities
24 entered into prior to August twenty-fifth, nineteen hundred ninety-one;
25 or
26 [(iii) The purchase of any tropical hardwood or tropical hardwood
27 product for which there is no acceptable non-tropical hardwood species;
28 or
29 (iv) Where the contracting officer finds that no person or entity
30 doing business in the state is capable of providing acceptable non-trop-
31 ical hardwood species sufficient to meet the particular contract
32 requirements; or
33 (v)] (ii) Where the inclusion or application of such provisions will
34 violate or be inconsistent with the terms or conditions of a grant,
35 subvention or contract in an agency of the United States or the
36 instructions of an authorized representative of any such agency with
37 respect to any such grant, subvention or contract[; or
38 (vi) Where inclusion or application of such provisions results in a
39 substantial cost increase to the state, government agency, political
40 subdivision, public corporation or public benefit corporation].
41 c. (i) In the case of any bid proposal or solicitation, request for
42 bid or proposal or contract for the construction of any public work,
43 building maintenance or improvement for or on behalf of the state and
44 any governmental agency or political subdivision or public benefit
45 corporation of the state, it shall not require or permit the use of any
46 tropical hardwood or [wood] tropical hardwood product, unless such trop-
47 ical hardwood or tropical hardwood product is a secondary material.
48 (ii) Every bid proposal, solicitation, request for bid or proposal and
49 contract for the construction of any public work, building maintenance
50 or improvement shall contain a statement that any bid, proposal or other
51 response to a solicitation for bid or proposal which proposes or calls
52 for the use of any tropical hardwood or [wood] tropical hardwood product
53 in performance of the contract shall be deemed non-responsive, unless
54 such tropical hardwood or tropical hardwood product is a secondary mate-
55 rial.
56 d. The provisions of paragraph c of this subdivision shall not apply:
S. 8851 7
1 (i) To bid packages advertised and made available to the public or any
2 competitive and sealed bids received or entered into prior to August
3 twenty-fifth, nineteen hundred ninety-one; or
4 (ii) To any amendment, modification or renewal of a contract, which
5 contract was entered into prior to August twenty-fifth, nineteen hundred
6 ninety-one, where such application would delay timely completion of a
7 project or involve an increase in the total monies to be paid under that
8 contract; or
9 (iii) Where the contracting officer finds that[:
10 (A) No person or entity doing business in the state is capable of
11 performing the contract using acceptable non-tropical hardwood species;
12 or
13 (B) The] the inclusion or application of such provisions will violate
14 or be inconsistent with the terms or conditions of a grant, subvention
15 or contract with an agency of the United States or the instructions of
16 an authorized representative of any such agency with respect to any such
17 grant, subvention or contract[; or
18 (C) The use of tropical woods is deemed necessary for purposes of
19 historical restoration and there exists no available acceptable non-
20 tropical wood species].
21 e. The use of any tropical hardwood or tropical hardwood product as
22 part of the construction, renovation, maintenance, or installation of
23 any public work, building or other structure, or improvement on lands
24 owned or managed by the state or any governmental agency or political
25 subdivision or public benefit corporation of the state shall be prohib-
26 ited, except where such prohibition would violate or be inconsistent
27 with the terms and conditions of a grant, subvention or contract with an
28 agency of the United States or the instructions of an authorized repre-
29 sentative of any such agency with respect to any such grant, subvention,
30 or contract, unless such tropical hardwood or tropical hardwood product
31 is a secondary material. The governmental agency, political subdivi-
32 sion, or public benefit corporation that owns or manages such land shall
33 ensure that all contractors and subcontractors are informed of the
34 requirements of this paragraph.
35 f. (i) Until January first, two thousand thirty-two, the provisions of
36 paragraphs a, c, and e of this subdivision shall not apply to the use of
37 ekki wood by the metropolitan transportation authority for the purpose
38 of railroad ties in the New York city transit system, provided that the
39 metropolitan transportation authority shall, no later than October
40 first, two thousand twenty-seven, after providing notice and an opportu-
41 nity for public comment, develop and issue an ekki transition plan
42 outlining the steps the authority will take to minimize to the greatest
43 extent possible, and eventually phase out, the use of ekki wood, and
44 provided further that until such phase out has been completed, such
45 agency shall use, to the greatest extent possible, only secondary mate-
46 rials when the use of ekki wood is specified and unavoidable. Such plan
47 shall be made publicly available on the authority's website. No later
48 than October first, two thousand twenty-eight, and annually thereafter
49 until the expiration of this paragraph, the authority shall issue a
50 public report outlining its progress toward achieving such plan.
51 (ii) If, on or after April first, two thousand thirty-one, the direc-
52 tor of the budget issues a determination, after providing notice and an
53 opportunity for public comment, that the authority has made significant
54 progress in phasing out the use of ekki wood, but that a full phase out
55 has been delayed due to technical or safety considerations, the
56 provisions of subparagraph (i) of this paragraph may be extended until
S. 8851 8
1 December thirty-first of the subsequent calendar year. Such determi-
2 nation may be made annually thereafter, on or after April first of
3 subsequent years, provided that under no circumstances shall the
4 provisions of this paragraph extend beyond January first, two thousand
5 thirty-seven.
6 g. (i) Until January first, two thousand thirty-five, the provisions
7 of paragraphs a, c, and e of this subdivision shall not apply to the use
8 of greenheart wood by a ferry service directly owned and operated by an
9 agency of a city of one million or more, provided that such agency
10 shall, no later than October first, two thousand twenty-seven, after
11 providing notice and an opportunity for public comment, develop and
12 issue a greenheart transition plan outlining the steps such agency will
13 take to minimize to the greatest extent possible, and eventually phase
14 out, the use of greenheart wood, and provided further that until such
15 phase out has been completed, such agency shall use, to the greatest
16 extent possible, only secondary materials when the use of greenheart
17 wood is specified and unavoidable. Such plan shall be made publicly
18 available on the agency's website. No later than October first, two
19 thousand twenty-eight, and annually thereafter until the expiration of
20 this paragraph, the agency shall issue a public report outlining its
21 progress toward achieving such plan.
22 (ii) If, on or after April first, two thousand thirty-four, the direc-
23 tor of the budget issues a determination, after providing notice and an
24 opportunity for public comment, that such agency has made significant
25 progress in phasing out the use of greenheart wood, but that a full
26 phase out has been delayed due to technical or safety considerations,
27 the provisions of subparagraph (i) of this paragraph may be extended
28 until December thirty-first of the subsequent calendar year. Such
29 determination may be made annually thereafter, on or after April first
30 of subsequent years, provided that under no circumstances shall the
31 provisions of this paragraph extend beyond January first, two thousand
32 forty.
33 h. (i) Until January first, two thousand thirty-five, the provisions
34 of paragraphs a, c, and e of this subdivision shall not apply to the use
35 of greenheart wood on bridges managed by the department of transporta-
36 tion of a city of one million or more, provided that such department
37 shall, no later than October first, two thousand twenty-seven, after
38 providing notice and an opportunity for public comment, develop and
39 issue a greenheart transition plan outlining the steps such department
40 will take to minimize to the greatest extent possible, and eventually
41 phase out, the use of greenheart wood, and provided further that until
42 such phase out has been completed, such department shall use, to the
43 greatest extent possible, only secondary materials when the use of
44 greenheart wood is specified and unavoidable. Such plan shall be made
45 publicly available on the department's website. No later than October
46 first, two thousand twenty-eight, and annually thereafter until the
47 expiration of this paragraph, the department shall issue a public report
48 outlining its progress toward achieving such plan.
49 (ii) If, on or after April first, two thousand thirty-four, the direc-
50 tor of the budget issues a determination, after providing notice and an
51 opportunity for public comment, that such department has made signif-
52 icant progress in phasing out the use of greenheart wood, but that a
53 full phase out has been delayed due to technical or safety consider-
54 ations, the provisions of subparagraph (i) of this paragraph may be
55 extended until December thirty-first of the subsequent calendar year.
56 Such determination may be made annually thereafter, on or after April
S. 8851 9
1 first of subsequent years, provided that under no circumstances shall
2 the provisions of this paragraph extend beyond January first, two thou-
3 sand forty.
4 § 3. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
5 have become a law and shall apply to all contracts and binding contrac-
6 tual obligations entered into on and after such effective date.
