STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
3173
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 30, 2023
___________
Introduced by Sen. CLEARE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Consumer Protection
AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to the prohibition
of the sale of infant inclined sleepers and the restriction of the use
of such sleepers in certain settings
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 section
2 399-iii to read as follows:
3 § 399-iii. Prohibit the sale of infant inclined sleepers and restrict
4 use of such inclined sleepers in certain settings. 1. For the purposes
5 of this section: (a) "Infant inclined sleeper" shall mean a free stand-
6 ing product with an inclined sleep surface primarily intended and
7 marketed to provide sleeping accommodations for an infant up to five
8 months old or when the infant begins to roll over or pull up on the
9 sides of the sleeper, whichever comes first.
10 (b) "Distributor" shall mean any person who delivers to a person other
11 than the purchaser, for the purpose of retail sale.
12 (c) "Manufacturer" shall mean any person who makes and places into the
13 stream of commerce an infant inclined sleeper as defined by this
14 section.
15 (d) "Retailer" shall have the same meaning as set forth in subdivision
16 eleven of section four hundred ninety-a of this chapter.
17 (e) "Secondhand dealer" shall have the same meaning as set forth in
18 subdivision six of section four hundred ninety-a of this chapter.
19 (f) "Child care facility" shall mean any child day care provider as
20 defined in section three hundred ninety of the social services law or
21 child care program as defined in article forty-seven of the New York
22 city health code as authorized by section five hundred fifty-eight of
23 the New York city charter.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04074-01-3
S. 3173 2
1 (g) "Person" shall mean a natural person, firm, corporation, limited
2 liability company, association, or an employee or agent of a natural
3 person or an entity included in this definition.
4 2. No manufacturer, importer, distributor, wholesaler, retailer or
5 secondhand dealer shall sell, lease, offer for sale, or offer for lease
6 in this state any infant inclined sleeper.
7 3. (a) On or after the effective date of this section, no child care
8 facility shall use or have on the premises any infant inclined sleeper
9 unless a medical professional has determined that use of an infant
10 inclined sleeper is medically necessary for a particular child in such
11 child care facility.
12 (b) The office of children and family services, in consultation with
13 the city of New York department of health and mental hygiene, shall
14 notify child care facilities of the provisions of this subdivision in
15 plain, non-technical language. Such notice shall be given to every child
16 care facility upon the effective date of this section or as soon as
17 practicable thereafter, and such notice shall also be given to each
18 applicant for license or registration pursuant to section three hundred
19 ninety of the social services law.
20 (c) The office of children and family services shall promulgate rules
21 and regulations to carry out the provisions of this subdivision, with
22 respect to the ban on infant inclined sleepers in child care facilities.
23 4. Whenever there shall be a violation of subdivision two of this
24 section an application may be made by the attorney general in the name
25 of the people of the state of New York to a court or justice having
26 jurisdiction by a special proceeding to issue an injunction, and upon
27 notice to the defendant of not less than five days, to enjoin and
28 restrain the continuance of such violations; and if it shall appear to
29 the satisfaction of the court or justice that the defendant has, in
30 fact, violated this section, an injunction may be issued by the court or
31 justice, enjoining and restraining any further violations, without
32 requiring proof that any person has, in fact, been injured or damaged
33 thereby. In any such proceeding, the court may make allowances to the
34 attorney general as provided in paragraph six of subdivision (a) of
35 section eighty-three hundred three of the civil practice law and rules,
36 and direct restitution. Whenever the court shall determine that a
37 violation of subdivision two of this section has occurred, the court may
38 impose a civil penalty of not more than five hundred dollars for each
39 violation. Each sale of an infant inclined sleeper in violation of this
40 section shall constitute a separate violation. In connection with any
41 such proposed application, the attorney general is authorized to take
42 proof and make a determination of the relevant facts and to issue
43 subpoenas in accordance with the civil practice law and rules.
44 5. If any provision of this section or the application thereof to any
45 person or circumstance is held unconstitutional, such invalidity shall
46 not affect other provisions or applications of this section which can be
47 given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this
48 end the provisions of this section are severable.
49 § 2. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
50 have become a law.