Directs state agencies to adopt a waste diversion plan.
Summary
This bill amends the Environmental Conservation Law to require certain state entities to develop and file waste diversion plans. The plans must describe how each affected entity will reduce waste disposal by 10 percent every five years, using fiscal year 2018-2019 as the baseline, until reaching an overall 75 percent reduction goal. The bill applies to agencies and departments under the governor’s executive authority, certain public authorities, SUNY, and CUNY, while excluding the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
The required plans must include waste audits, strategies to divert organic waste from landfills, identification and elimination of single-use plastics where safe, and consideration of dual-stream recycling where practicable and cost-effective. Waste reporting must be broken into recycled materials, compostables and organics, landfill waste including construction and demolition debris, and special waste including hazardous waste. The GreenNY Council is assigned a central role in overseeing the plans, reassessing goals at least every five years, and requiring updated plans if goals change. All submitted plans must be posted publicly on the Department of Environmental Conservation’s website.
Impact
The bill would create a new statutory mandate for covered state entities to formalize waste reduction and diversion planning, adding a new section 27-0111 to the Environmental Conservation Law. It would expand the role of the GreenNY Council from an executive-order body into a central coordinating entity for statewide public-sector waste diversion efforts, while also imposing reporting, planning, and public disclosure requirements on affected agencies and authorities. The practical effect would be to push state government operations toward lower landfill disposal, greater recycling and composting, and reduced use of single-use plastics.
Sentiment
No committee transcript or vote record is provided, so there is no direct evidence of debate or recorded support/opposition. Based on the bill text, the measure appears to reflect a pro-environment, government-operations reform approach focused on sustainability, waste reduction, and transparency. The absence of recorded votes or discussion prevents a more specific assessment of legislative sentiment.
Contention
The bill’s main potential points of contention are operational and cost-related rather than ideological. Agencies may object to the administrative burden of waste audits, reporting, and periodic plan updates, as well as the feasibility of meeting aggressive diversion targets across diverse facilities. The requirement to eliminate single-use plastics only where doing so will not endanger health and safety suggests possible concern about balancing environmental goals with workplace and public safety. Another likely issue is the practicality of dual-stream recycling, which is limited to facilities where it is available, cost-effective, and efficient.
Directs state agencies to adopt an embodied carbon decarbonization program; requires the office of general services to issue operational directives and guidance for common construction materials to reduce the amount of embodied carbon in such materials.
Directs state agencies to adopt an embodied carbon decarbonization program; requires the office of general services to continue to issue operational directives and guidance for common construction materials to reduce the amount of embodied carbon in such materials.
Directs the department of health, in conjunction with other state agencies, to establish and maintain a directory webpage locating publicly accessible lactation accommodations in state-owned and state-leased buildings.
Permits land bank officers and employees to participate in the New York state and local retirement system if a resolution is adopted by its board of directors.
Requires all state agencies to establish a composting program in buildings owned, occupied or operated by such agencies; allows such agencies to arrange for collection of compostable waste by a private carter, transport such waste itself or process such waste on-site; requires reports on the costs and effectiveness of such programs.
Enacts the "New York open water data act"; directs certain agencies, under the leadership of conveners, to identify and integrate key water data sets; provides duties and an annual plan for data to be researched and reported.
Directs the president of the state civil service commission to conduct a study on job vacancies across state agencies and determine which, if any, state agencies are understaffed.
Enacts the "New York open water data act"; directs certain agencies, under the leadership of conveners, to identify and integrate key water data sets; provides duties and an annual plan for data to be researched and reported.