Directs the commissioner of health to establish a uniform letter grading system to classify the result of an inspection of a mobile public food service establishment or pushcart in cities with a population of two million or more; directs such commissioner and local health officers to require the display of any letter grade received pursuant to such system; requires reinspection of establishment receiving a grade of less than "A".
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1311--A
2015-2016 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 9, 2015
___________
Introduced by Sens. PERALTA, AVELLA -- read twice and ordered printed,
and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Health -- recom-
mitted to the Committee on Health in accordance with Senate Rule 6,
sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as
amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to the establishment
of a letter grading system to classify inspection results for push-
carts in cities having a population of two million or more
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The public health law is amended by adding a new section
2 1352-f to read as follows:
3 § 1352-f. Food pushcart service grading system; cities of two million
4 or more. 1. The commissioner shall establish a system for grading
5 inspection results for mobile food service establishments and pushcarts
6 as defined in the state sanitary code, operated in cities with a popu-
7 lation of two million or more.
8 2. Such system shall use and post letters A, B or C to identify and
9 represent such grading and classification with all other lower grades
10 being deemed to be failing grades. In establishing such system of grad-
11 ing, the commissioner shall take into account the provisions of this
12 title and the provisions of the sanitary code to establish a grading
13 system that reflects the safety and sanitation of the premises and food
14 handling practices to ensure compliance with state and local health
15 laws.
16 3. Each such mobile food service establishment or pushcart shall
17 conspicuously post at the point of sale the letter grade identifying and
18 representing the result of such establishment's or pushcart's most
19 recently graded inspection by the local health officer or the entity
20 responsible for such inspection. Such posting shall be done in accord-
21 ance with rules and regulations promulgated by the commissioner. For
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00151-02-6
S. 1311--A 2
1 any mobile public food service establishment or pushcart receiving a
2 grade lower than "A", the local health officer or the entity performing
3 the inspection shall advise the establishment or pushcart of its grade
4 and the findings upon which such grade is based. The local health offi-
5 cer or the entity which performed the initial inspection shall conduct a
6 subsequent inspection of such mobile public food service establishment
7 or pushcart no sooner than seven days, nor later than twenty-one days
8 after the inspection at which the grade was given. In the interim, the
9 previous letter grade shall remain posted. Upon the conclusion of the
10 subsequent inspection, the local health officer or the entity performing
11 the inspection shall deliver for posting a letter grade to the mobile
12 public food service establishment or pushcart which indicates the grade
13 for such inspection. In addition to a letter grade, such establishment
14 or pushcart shall receive the findings upon which such grade is based.
15 The mobile public food service establishment or pushcart may appeal such
16 subsequent assignment of a letter grade designation to the commissioner
17 for review within thirty days of such assignment. While any such appeal
18 is pending, a mobile public food service establishment or pushcart shall
19 post the letter grade that is being appealed.
20 4. The suggested interval between regularly scheduled inspections of
21 mobile public food service establishments and pushcarts may be as
22 follows:
23 (a) for establishments and pushcarts with a grade of "A", at least
24 once every year;
25 (b) for establishments and pushcarts with a grade of "B", at least
26 once every nine months; and
27 (c) for establishments and pushcarts with a grade of "C", at least
28 once every three months.
29 A mobile public food service establishment or pushcart that requests a
30 reinspection from the local health officer or the entity responsible for
31 such inspections, shall pay the department a fee of up to two hundred
32 fifty dollars. Provided, however, that the provisions of this subdivi-
33 sion shall not negate the ability of any local health officer or the
34 entity responsible for such inspections to inspect any mobile public
35 food service establishment or pushcart on the basis of a complaint from
36 a member of the public.
37 5. The provisions of this section shall not apply to mobile public
38 food service establishments or pushcarts which are sponsored by a chari-
39 table organization to operate a soup kitchen or other food distribution
40 program for the elderly, low income individuals and families or the
41 infirm.
42 6. No provision of this section shall be deemed to diminish or other-
43 wise change any power or duty of any state agency or authority.
44 § 2. This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become a
45 law. Provided, however, that effective immediately, any rules and regu-
46 lations necessary to implement the provisions of this act on its effec-
47 tive date are authorized and directed to be completed on or before such
48 date.
