Provides for the design and use of in-home reverse vending machines for beverage containers; authorizes the commissioner of environmental conservation to award a $125,000 grant to the designer or inventor of the best design of such a machine.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5499
2011-2012 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 22, 2011
___________
Introduced by M. of A. ENGLEBRIGHT, TITONE, CASTRO, GUNTHER -- Multi-
Sponsored by -- M. of A. BOYLAND, HOOPER, JACOBS, MENG, THIELE, WEIS-
ENBERG -- read once and referred to the Committee on Environmental
Conservation
AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to
authorizing and directing the commissioner of environmental conserva-
tion to establish rules and regulations for in-home reverse vending
machines; and directing such commissioner to determine the best design
for such in-home machines and providing for the payment of a grant to
the designer or inventor thereof
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 27-1003 of the environmental conservation law is
2 amended by adding a new subdivision 12-a to read as follows:
3 12-a. "In-home reverse vending machine" means a reverse vending
4 machine placed in the residence or business of a consumer which issues a
5 scrip or receipt to such consumer for the refund value of all beverage
6 containers to be paid by a redemption center.
7 § 2. Section 27-1013 of the environmental conservation law, as amended
8 by section 9 of part SS of chapter 59 of the laws of 2009, is amended to
9 read as follows:
10 § 27-1013. Redemption centers and in-home reverse vending machines.
11 1. The commissioner is hereby empowered to promulgate rules and regu-
12 lations governing [(1)] (a) the circumstances in which dealers and
13 distributors, individually or collectively, are required to accept the
14 return of empty beverage containers, and make payment therefor; [(2)]
15 (b) the sorting of the containers which a deposit initiator or distribu-
16 tor may require of dealers and redemption centers; [(3)] (c) the
17 collection of returned beverage containers by deposit initiators or
18 distributors, including the party to whom such expense is to be charged,
19 the frequency of such pick ups and the payment for refunds and handling
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09135-01-1
A. 5499 2
1 fees thereon; [(4)] (d) the right of dealers to restrict or limit the
2 number of containers redeemed, the rules for redemption at the dealers'
3 place of business, and the redemption of containers from a beverage for
4 which sales have been discontinued, and to issue permits to persons,
5 firms or corporations which establish redemption centers, subject to
6 applicable provisions of local and state laws, at which redeemers and
7 dealers may return empty beverage containers and receive payment of the
8 refund value of such beverage containers; and (e) terms of contracts
9 providing for the payment by redemption centers of the refund value of
10 beverage containers deposited in in-home reverse vending machines and
11 the collection of such deposited containers by redemption centers. No
12 dealer or distributor, as defined in section 27-1003 of this title,
13 shall be required to obtain a permit to operate a redemption center at
14 the same location as the dealer's or distributor's place of business.
15 Operators of such redemption centers shall receive payment of the refund
16 value of each beverage container from the appropriate deposit initiator
17 or distributor as provided under section 27-1007 of this title.
18 2. The commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations governing
19 the design, operation and availability of in-home reverse vending
20 machines. Furthermore, the commissioner shall submit to the legislature
21 such legislative proposals as he or she shall deem necessary for the
22 regulation and use of in-home reverse vending machines.
23 § 3. (a) The commissioner of environmental conservation shall solicit
24 and any person may submit to such commissioner a design for an effi-
25 cient, accurate, reliable and easy to use in-home reverse vending
26 machine, as defined in subdivision 12-a of section 27-1003 of the envi-
27 ronmental conservation law. The commissioner shall establish and publish
28 standards for the design of reverse vending machines to be used in this
29 state.
30 (b) On or before January 1, 2013, the commissioner shall from the
31 designs and prototype in-home reverse vending machines submitted to him
32 or her, determine which design or prototype thereof is the best design
33 and most closely meets the standards therefor. The designer or inventor
34 of the best design or prototype shall be awarded a grant of one hundred
35 twenty thousand dollars. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to
36 the contrary, such grant shall be paid from the solid waste account of
37 the environmental protection fund.
38 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
