Prohibits the sale or offer for sale at retail of bottled water for human consumption, food preparation or culinary purposes in this state in a beverage container unless such container includes on its label certain information; requires an annual bottled water report to be prepared by the purveyors of bottled water.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
55--A
2015-2016 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY(Prefiled)
January 7, 2015
___________
Introduced by M. of A. DINOWITZ, JAFFEE -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of
A. CLARK, CYMBROWITZ, HOOPER, MARKEY, ORTIZ, RIVERA -- read once and
referred to the Committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection -- recom-
mitted to the Committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection in accord-
ance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged, bill
amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
tee
AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to labelling
bottled water sold or offered for sale
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The general business law is amended by adding a new article
2 22-C to read as follows:
3 ARTICLE 22-C
4 LABELLING BOTTLED WATER
5 SOLD OR OFFERED FOR SALE
6 Section 350-j. Definitions.
7 350-k. Bottled water sold in state to be labeled.
8 350-l. Bottled water report.
9 350-m. Rules and regulations.
10 350-n. Enforcement by attorney general.
11 § 350-j. Definitions. When used in this article, the following terms
12 shall have the following meaning ascribed to them:
13 1. "Department" shall mean the department of health.
14 2. "Commissioner" shall mean the commissioner of health.
15 3. "Maximum contaminant level" shall mean the maximum permissible
16 level of physical, chemical, radiological or microbiological substance
17 in water.
18 § 350-k. Bottled water sold in state to be labeled. 1. In addition to
19 any requirements imposed under section two hundred twenty-five of the
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01434-02-6
A. 55--A 2
1 public health law and any regulations promulgated pursuant to such
2 section, on or after January first, two thousand seventeen, no person
3 shall sell at retail or wholesale, offer for sale at retail or wholesale
4 or deliver bottled water for human consumption, food preparation or
5 culinary purposes in this state in a beverage container unless such
6 container includes on its label, or on an additional label affixed to
7 the bottle, or on a package insert or attachment, all the following in
8 legible type:
9 a. the name and contact information for the bottler or brand owner;
10 b. the source of the bottled water, in compliance with applicable
11 state and federal regulations; and
12 c. a clear and conspicuous statement that informs consumers about how
13 to access water quality information contained in the bottled water
14 report required by section three hundred fifty-l of this article.
15 2. The statement required by paragraph c of subdivision one of this
16 section shall inform customers about methods of gaining access to the
17 full bottled water report and include a telephone number, where informa-
18 tion can be requested from the bottled water company and one other means
19 of contact for the bottled water company, including, but not limited to,
20 a mailing address, electronic mail address, or the bottled water compa-
21 ny's internet web site. The following statement may be used to fulfill
22 the requirements of this paragraph:
23 "For more information and to obtain additional consumer information
24 relating to water quality, including a bottled water report, contact
25 (name of bottled water company) at (telephone number or toll-free tele-
26 phone number) and (at least one of the following: mailing address,
27 e-mail address, or the bottled water company's internet web site)."
28 § 350-l. Bottled water report. 1. On or after January first, two thou-
29 sand seventeen, as a condition of certification by the department pursu-
30 ant to section two hundred twenty-five of the public health law, purve-
31 yors of bottled water shall annually prepare a bottled water report and
32 shall, upon request, make such report available to consumers. Such annu-
33 al report shall be prepared in English and Spanish.
34 2. For purposes of complying with this section, when bottled water
35 comes from a municipal source, the relevant information from the annual
36 water supply statement prepared for that year by the public water system
37 pursuant to section eleven hundred fifty-one or eleven hundred fifty-two
38 of the public health law, may be used.
39 3. The bottled water report shall include such information as is
40 required in this section as well as any additional information required
41 by the commissioner. Additionally, the statement shall provide a
42 section which explains, in plain language, the information required in
43 the statement, including brief and plainly worded definitions of any
44 terms the commissioner determines to be appropriate for carrying out the
45 purposes of this article. The department may prepare or prescribe a
46 format or model upon which all such reports shall be produced. The annu-
47 al bottled water report shall include, but not be limited to, the
48 following items of information:
49 a. a brief description of the source or sources of the water and the
50 general qualitative and quantitative condition of the water source,
51 consistent with applicable state and federal regulations;
52 b. the analytical testing results for those constituents required to
53 be tested for under part five of the state sanitary code or as required
54 by appropriate local health units, except for microbiological results,
55 for each source of water. Where more than one analysis per year is
56 conducted on a specific constituent, the bottled water company shall
A. 55--A 3
1 list the range of results from highest to lowest during the reporting
2 period. The applicable state guideline, standard, or maximum contaminant
3 level for each constituent present shall be listed and any instance
4 where a state guideline, standard, or maximum contaminant level is
5 violated shall be noted. For microbiological analyses as required by
6 part five of the state sanitary code, the bottled water company shall
7 indicate any instance where the water supply violated the maximum
8 contaminant level. The date or dates of violation, the location where
9 the violation occurred, and the response of the bottled water company
10 shall be listed;
11 c. a brief description of the types of treatment that the water
12 receives before being bottled;
13 d. a statement indicating whether the water contains fluoride. If the
14 water contains fluoride such statement shall indicate the average amount
15 present in a bottle;
16 e. a description of the risks associated with exposure to cryptospori-
17 dium parvum or giardia lamblia for specific at-risk populations and the
18 general public and measures that at-risk populations can take to protect
19 themselves according to recommendations by the department or other
20 governmental public health or environmental agencies. In addition, for
21 water works corporations that test for cryptosporidium parvum or giardia
22 lamblia, a summary of the following: sampling sites; number of tests per
23 year; testing results and actions taken in response to those results.
24 The commissioner may add such additional requirements as he or she
25 determines to be appropriate;
26 f. a reference to the United States food and drug administration
27 internet web site that provides product recall information;
28 g. the bottled water company's address and telephone number that
29 enables customers to obtain further information concerning contaminants
30 and potential health effects;
31 h. information on the levels of unregulated substances, if any, for
32 which purveyors of bottled water are required to monitor pursuant to
33 state or federal law or regulation; and
34 i. a full disclosure of any exemption or variance that has been grant-
35 ed to the bottler by the department, including an explanation of reasons
36 for each exemption or variance and the date of the exemption or vari-
37 ance.
38 § 350-m. Rules and regulations. The commissioner is hereby authorized
39 and directed to promulgate such rules and regulations necessary and
40 proper to effectuate the purposes of this article.
41 § 350-n. Enforcement by attorney general. Whenever there shall be a
42 violation of this article, application may be made by the attorney
43 general in the name of the people of the state of New York to a court or
44 justice having jurisdiction by a special proceeding to issue an injunc-
45 tion, and upon notice to the defendant of not less than five days, to
46 enjoin and restrain the continuance of such violation; and if it shall
47 appear to the satisfaction of the court or justice that the defendant
48 has, in fact, violated this article, an injunction may be issued by such
49 court or justice, enjoining and restraining any further violation, with-
50 out requiring proof that any person has, in fact, been injured or
51 damaged thereby. In connection with any such proposed application, the
52 attorney general is authorized to take proof and make a determination of
53 the relevant facts and to issue subpoenas in accordance with the civil
54 practice law and rules. Whenever the court shall determine that a
55 violation of this article has occurred, the court may impose a civil
56 penalty of not more than one thousand dollars for a single violation and
A. 55--A 4
1 not more than one hundred thousand dollars for multiple violations
2 resulting from a single act or incident. The second violation and any
3 violation committed thereafter shall be punishable by a civil penalty of
4 not more than five thousand dollars for a single violation and not more
5 than two hundred fifty thousand dollars for multiple violations result-
6 ing from a single act or incident. No person, firm, partnership, associ-
7 ation or corporation shall be deemed to have violated the provisions of
8 this article if such person, firm, partnership, association or corpo-
9 ration shows, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the violation was
10 not intentional and resulted from a bona fide error made notwithstanding
11 the maintenance of procedures reasonably adopted to avoid such error.
12 § 2. For the purposes of informing and educating persons engaged in
13 the sale, offering for sale or delivery of bottled water, the department
14 of health is authorized to issue warnings for the violation of article
15 22-C of the general business law, as added by section one of this act,
16 during the period commencing January 1, 2017 and ending May 1, 2019.
17 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
