NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A1189
SPONSOR: Paulin TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to
limiting tinted green and brown to compostable plastic bags for the
purposes of bag waste reduction
PURPOSE:
To ensure that an exempt bag, as defined in the environmental conserva-
tion law, shall not be tinted brown or green unless it is a compostable
bag.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one amends section 27-2801 of the environmental conservation law
to provide that an exempt bag shall not be tinted green or brown unless
it is a compostable bag.
Section two provides the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
As more reports of global warming, extreme weather events, and general
statements of environmental peril appear in our everyday lives, many
consumers have made efforts to "go green" by looking to purchase
products in environmentally friendly packaging and bags. Unfortunately,
some manufacturers and stores have used this to deceive consumers into
buying products that appear "green" or "eco-friendly" but are not.
One example of this deception is where plastic bags are tinted green or
brown in order to misrepresent the product as "natural" or "eco-friend-
ly." Consumers may then think that the bags are environmentally friendly
when in fact they are just colored plastic bags.
As green and brown tinted bags are also the color of most compostable
bags, consumers may think that the bags are acceptable to include in a
compost bin. Commercial composting facilities and farms that transform
food scraps into compost then have to pick these bags out of their
compost piles which are costly and inconvenient. As food scrap recycling
and composting initiatives are spreading throughout New York, allowing
only compostable bags to be tinted green or brown will support the
successful growth of these programs throughout our State.
This bill would limit the list of exempt bags in Title 28 of the envi-
ronmental conservation law to ensure that any exempt bag shall not be
tinted green or brown unless it is a compostable bag. Companies need to
be honest and transparent with consumers about the environmental impact
of their products. This legislation takes an important step in protect-
ing consumers from deceptive marketing tactics so they can better under-
stand the environmental impact of the products they choose to buy.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A4144 of 2023 and 2024, referred to environmental conservation. Same as
S2071, referred to environmental conservation
A.8428 of 2021 and 2022, referred to environmental conservation. Same
as S.8613 of 2021 and 2022, referred to environmental conservation.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1189
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 9, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. PAULIN -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Environmental Conservation
AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to
limiting tinted green and brown to compostable plastic bags for the
purposes of bag waste reduction
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 27-2801 of the environmental
2 conservation law, as added by section 2 of part H of chapter 58 of the
3 laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
4 1. "Exempt bag" means a bag: (a) used solely to contain or wrap
5 uncooked meat, fish, or poultry; (b) bags used by a customer solely to
6 package bulk items such as fruits, vegetables, grains, or candy; (c)
7 bags used solely to contain food sliced or prepared to order; (d) bags
8 used solely to contain a newspaper for delivery to a subscriber; (e)
9 bags sold in bulk to a consumer at the point of sale; (f) trash bags;
10 (g) food storage bags; (h) garment bags; (i) bags prepackaged for sale
11 to a customer; (j) plastic carryout bags provided by a restaurant,
12 tavern or similar food service establishment, as defined in the state
13 sanitary code, to carryout or deliver food; or (k) bags provided by a
14 pharmacy to carry prescription drugs; provided however, that an exempt
15 bag shall not be tinted green or brown unless it is a compostable plas-
16 tic bag as defined in subdivision one of section 27-2701 of this
17 article.
18 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03325-01-5
