Add SS37-0113 & 71-3705, En Con L; add S399-gg, Gen Bus L
Requires ecolabeling and the further development of ecolabeling policy standards of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) under the ISO 14000 environmental management series for the following products for certain products; imposes penalties for violations.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4275
2009-2010 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 2, 2009
___________
Introduced by M. of A. COLTON, DelMONTE, SCHIMEL, STIRPE, CASTRO, TOBAC-
CO -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. ALFANO, LUPARDO, TOWNS, WALKER,
WEISENBERG -- read once and referred to the Committee on Environmental
Conservation
AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law and the general busi-
ness law, in relation to ecolabeling
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The environmental conservation law is amended by adding a
2 new section 37-0113 to read as follows:
3 § 37-0113. Ecolabeling.
4 Ecolabeling and the further development of ecolabeling policy stand-
5 ards of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) under
6 the ISO 14000 environmental management series is required for the
7 following products, including, but not limited to: alternative fueled
8 vehicles (GC-2); degreasing agents in production and maintenance oper-
9 ations (GS-34); commercial and institutional cleaning services (GS-42);
10 coated printing paper (GS-10); commercial adhesives (GS-36); electric
11 chillers (GS-31); energy efficient lighting - compact fluorescent lamps
12 (GS-5); fleet vehicle maintenance operations (GC-10); food service pack-
13 aging (GS-35); general-purpose, bathroom, glass, and carpet cleaners
14 used for household purposes (GS-8); industrial and institutional clean-
15 ers (GS-37); hand cleaners and hand soaps used for industrial and insti-
16 tutional hand purposes (GS-41); industrial and institutional floor
17 finishes and floor finish strippers (GS-40); lodging properties (GS-33);
18 newsprint (GS-15); occupancy sensors (GC-12); paints and coatings
19 (GS-11); paper products used in the preparation of food (GC-8); paper
20 towels and paper napkins (GS-9); powdered laundry bleach (GC-11); print-
21 ing and writing paper (GS-7); recycled content latex paint (GS-43);
22 re-refined engine oil (GS-3); reusable utility bags (GS-16); tissue
23 paper (GS-1); windows (GS-13); and window films (GS-14).
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02728-01-9
A. 4275 2
1 § 2. The environmental conservation law is amended by adding a new
2 section 71-3705 to read as follows:
3 § 71-3705. Enforcement of section 37-0113.
4 1. Any person who violates any provision of or fails to perform any
5 duty imposed by section 37-0113 of this chapter shall upon the first
6 finding of such a violation be liable for a civil penalty not to exceed
7 five hundred dollars for each violation. Any person convicted of a
8 second or subsequent violation shall be liable for a civil penalty not
9 to exceed twenty-five hundred dollars for each violation.
10 2. Penalties under this section shall be assessed by the commissioner
11 after a hearing pursuant to the provisions of section 71-1709 of this
12 article. In assessing the penalty under this section, the commissioner
13 shall consider: the nature and extent of the violation; the number and
14 severity of the violations; the economic effect of the penalty on the
15 violator; whether the violator took good faith measures to comply with
16 this chapter; the willfulness of the violator's misconduct; the deter-
17 rent effect that the imposition of the penalty would have on both the
18 violator and the regulated community as a whole; and other factors that
19 the commissioner deems appropriate and relevant. Any person found to
20 have violated section 37-0113 of this chapter may be enjoined from
21 continuing such violation.
22 3. All civil penalties and fines collected for any violation of
23 section 37-0113 of this chapter shall be paid over to the commissioner
24 for deposit in the environmental protection fund established by section
25 ninety-two-s of the state finance law.
26 4. A person charged with a violation of the provisions of, or failure
27 to perform a duty imposed by section 37-0113 of this chapter shall be
28 provided with all supporting documentation related to the ecolabeling,
29 including, but not limited to, documentation of the procedures utilized
30 by the laboratory, copies of all test results, exemplars of the products
31 tested to the extent practicable, and such other documentation and
32 evidence which shall reasonably be required to verify the accuracy of
33 ecolabeling in the development of ecolabeling policy standards of the
34 International Organization for Standardization (ISO) under the ISO
35 14000.
36 § 3. The general business law is amended by adding a new section 399-
37 gg to read as follows:
38 § 399-gg. Ecolabeling. 1. No person, firm or corporation shall sell or
39 offer for sale any product, as defined by section 37-0113 of the envi-
40 ronmental conservation law, unless there is printed on the package in
41 which such product is sold or offered for sale, an ecolabel.
42 2. No person, firm or corporation shall advertise a product, as
43 defined by section 37-0113 of the environmental conservation law, as
44 being "green", "environmentally friendly" or any other label which
45 suggests the product is good for the environment.
46 3. Any violation of this section shall be punishable by a civil penal-
47 ty not to exceed five hundred dollars.
48 § 4. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
49 it shall have become a law; provided, however, that effective immediate-
50 ly, the commissioner of environmental conservation, in conjunction with
51 the chairperson and executive director of the consumer protection board
52 shall promulgate any addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or
53 regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective
54 date.
