Adirondack Council
~ American Littoral Society ~ Citizens Campaign for the
Environment ~ Citizens' Environmental Coalition ~ Container Recycling
Institute Consumers Union ~ Environmental Advocates of New
York ~ Hunger Acton Network of New York State ~ Natural Resources
Defense Council ~ New York League of Conservation Voters ~ New
York Public Interest Research Group ~ New York State Association
of Reduction, Reuse and Recycling ~ North Shore Land Alliance
~ People's Environmental Network of New York ~ Riverkeeper ~
Sierra Club
|
Released Tuesday, May 8th |
For
More Information Contact:
Laura Haight, NYPIRG, 518-436-0876
John Sheehan, Adir. Council, 518-432-1770
Barbara Toborg, ALS, 718-318-9344
Dereth Glance, CCE, 518-339-2853
Steve Breyman, CEC, 518-462-5527
Eric Goldstein, NRDC, 212-727-4452
Theresa Cassiack, Sierra, 518-426-9144 |
Assembly En Con Committee Passes Bigger Better Bottle Bill:
Groups Call on State Law-Makers to Update the Bottle Bill this
Session
Advocates for the "Bigger
Better Bottle Bill" praised Assemblyman Bob Sweeney and
members of the Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee
for passing the Governor's Program Bill out of committee today.
The groups called on the Assembly, the Senate, and the Governor
to come to an agreement this year on updating the bottle bill.
Assemblyman Sweeney, who chairs
the EnCon committee, introduced the Governor's program bill updating
the bottle bill (A. 8044) on May 2nd, with more than 50 Assembly
cosponsors. The Governor's program bill is substantially similar
to previous legislation that the Assembly passed in 2005 and
2006. The bill must now be approved by the Assembly Codes, Ways
& Means, and Rules committees before it can go to the Assembly
floor for a vote.
In March, after the Senate rejected
the Governor's proposal to include the Bigger Better Bottle Bill
in the state budget, Senator Carl Marcellino pledged to address
the issue post-budget. There are two bills pending in the Senate.
Senator Ken LaValle sponsors a bill similar to the legislation
supported by the Governor and the Assembly (S.3434). Senator
Marcellino, who chairs the Senate Environmental Conservation
Committee, has introduced a bill (S. 5443) that would expand
the existing bottle law to include non-carbonated beverages,
but does not go after the unclaimed deposits.
The "Bigger Better Bottle
Bill" updates the existing bottle bill to include non-carbonated
beverages such as bottled water and iced tea, which barely existed
in 1982 when the law was
passed, but now make up more than 27% of the beverage market.
It also requires beverage companies to turn over unclaimed nickel
deposits to the state, which would generate an
estimated $180 million a year in new funding for the Environmental
Protection Fund.
Quotes from BBBB supporters
"We urge the Legislature
and Governor to work together to expand the successful bottle
bill to conserve our planet's non-renewable resources,"
stated Adrienne Esposito, Citizens Campaign for the Environment
Executive Director. "A modern bottle bill will benefit
all New Yorkers by reducing litter, increasing recycling, and
reducing landfill space and waste disposal costs."
"The bottle bill was one
of the key issues held over from the budget," said Laura
Haight, senior environmental associate with NYPIRG. "We
will hold Senate leaders to their promise that they will finally
deal with this issue."
"We recognize that the bottle
bill, in conjunction with curbside collection of recyclables,
is the true answer to keeping New York clean by preventing litter
and making sure that these containers are indeed recycled,"
said Jeff Cooper, president of the New York State Association
of Reduction, Reuse and Recycling
"Legislators, redeem thyselves,"
advised Barbara Toborg, Conservation Coordinator for the American
Littoral Society. "It's time that you demonstrate a commitment
to a cleaner environment by supporting the Bigger Better Bottle
Bill that would add the nickel deposit to containers for non-carbonated
beverages. Volunteers who document litter in the annual New
York State Beach Cleanup find these containers twice as often
as those with the deposit."
"The BBBB makes sense for
New Yorkers from a fiscal standpoint, in addition to its significant
environmental benefits. It would be economically prudent for
the State Senate to advance this sensible legislation this session,
and we strongly urge that the bill be allowed to come up for
a vote," said NRDC senior attorney Eric A. Goldstein.
"For the past two years
the Assembly has moved this legislation forward while the Senate
continues to delay," said Theresa Cassiack, Legislative
Associate for the Sierra Club. "While we are forced to
continue to wait, non carbonated beverage containers continue
to flood our parks, beaches, forests and roads."
"Non-deposit plastic bottles
and aluminum cans are an unsightly blight littering New York's
rural roadsides," said Adirondack Council Executive Director
Brian L. Houseal. "The Adirondack Park hosts 10 million
visitors a year. Those visitors make up a huge portion of the
state's tourism economy. They don't come here to see energy
drink cans and water bottles littering every roadside, picnic
area and trail. It's unfair to expect the Park's 130,000 residents
to clean up 5,000 miles of roadways and 4,000 miles of trails
on their own. They need help in the form of an expanded deposit
law that discourages littering, while rewarding those who are
willing to take the time to pick up after others."
"Twenty-five years is long enough to wait for common sense
policy to help New Yorkers cope with the ocean of non-deposit
beverage containers," said Steve Breyman, Executive Director
of Citizens' Environmental Coalition.
|
