Adirondack Council
~ Adirondack Mountain Club ~ American Littoral Society ~ Audubon
New York ~ Citizens' Environmental Coalition ~
Environmental Advocates of New York ~ Land Trust Alliance ~
League of Women Voters of New York State ~ Natural Resources
Defense Council ~ New York Farm Bureau ~ New York Public Interest
Research Group ~
New York State Association of Reduction, Reuse and Recycling
~
Parks & Trails New York ~ Scenic Hudson ~ Sierra Club Atlantic
Chapter ~
The Nature Conservancy
LAWMAKERS AND ADVOCATES
CALL ON STATE LEADERS TO MOVE
FORWARD WITH THE BIGGER BETTER BOTTLE BILL
For more information:
Laura Haight, NYPIRG, 518-436-0876 Sharon Fisher, NYSAR3,
518-423-1035
Jessica Ottney, TNC, 518-366-2707
Erica Ringewald, EANY, 518-210-9903
Sean Mahar, Audubon, 518-253-7000
Released: Thursday, March 27, 2008
Albany - In a bipartisan show
of support, law-makers from both sides of the aisle called on
Governor Paterson and state leaders to include the Bigger Better
Bottle Bill in the 2008-09 state budget. They were joined by
a broad coalition of advocates for this measure, including environmental
groups, municipal recyclers, and small businesses.
Both the Executive and the Assembly
budget proposals include the Bigger Better Bottle Bill. This
measure would update New York's 5-cent deposit law to include
non-carbonated beverages such as bottled water, iced tea, and
sports drinks. It would also generate more than $100 million
a year in new revenue for the State Environmental Protection
Fund by requiring beverage companies to return unclaimed deposits
to the state.
Speaking at the news conference
were: Assemblyman Robert Sweeney (D-Lindenhurst), Senator Kenneth
LaValle (R-Selden), Senator Frank Padavan (R-Queens), Senator
Antoine Thompson (D-Buffalo), and Assemblyman Fred Thiele (R-Bridgehampton).
The legislators highlighted the many environmental benefits
of the bill.
"The original bottle bill
has been tremendously effective in removing untold tons of waste
from our streets, waters and recreational grounds," said
Senator Kenneth P. LaValle, who sponsors the Bigger Better Bottle
Bill in the Senate. "It is important that we continue
to build on successes such as this in our efforts to protect
our environment and maintain a valued quality of life for generations
to come."
"The bottle bill is a success,
it cleaned up our streets, fields and beaches by reducing litter,
it saves resources through the recycling of the containers, it
conserves petroleum used in the manufacture of plastic bottles.
Expanding what is covered under the law will produce even
greater environmental benefits," said Assemblyman Bob Sweeney,
Chair of the Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee.
"Action during this legislative
session on the 'Bigger, Better Bottle Bill' is important,"
Senator Frank Padavan said. "Once enacted into the law,
the sweeping changes included in this legislation will greatly
reduce litter throughout all reaches of our communities. The
'Bigger, Better Bottle Bill' also makes the necessary reforms
that are targeted to increase awareness and promote recycling
efforts statewide and provide essential revenue for environmental
protection and conservation efforts to help ensure our children
have a safe, clean and green environment today and for generations
to come."
"I stand solidly behind
the efforts to enact the Bigger Better Bottle Bill," said
Senator Antoine Thompson, the ranking minority member of the
Senate Environmental Conservation Committee. "I believe
it will protect our environment, and improve the quality of life
of all new Yorkers. Let's make it happen."
"While it may sound unbelievable,
every year the amount of bottles and cans thrown out equates
to more than 50 million barrels of crude oil and 5 million tons
of greenhouse gases," said Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr.
"Twenty-five years ago when the original bottle law was
enacted beverages like bottled water, iced-teas, and sports drinks
did not exist. It is time to update the laws of our state in
order to help protect our natural resources, lower gasoline prices,
and protect the future of our state's environment. I am very
hopeful that the expanded, bigger better bottle bill will be
a part of this year's enacted state budget."
Also participating in the news
conference were a range of groups reflecting the diversity of
support for the Bigger Better Bottle Bill.
"For a small deposit, the
Bigger Better Bottle Bill will yield tremendous returns - cleaner
communities for all New Yorkers and a dedicated revenue stream
for environmental protection. There is strong public support
for this measure across-the-boards. Let's make this the year
it finally happens," said Laura Haight, senior environmental
associate with NYPIRG.
"Expanding the Bottle Bill
is the right thing to do," said Sharon Fisher, a Board Member
of the New York State Association of Reduction, Reuse and Recycling
(NYSAR3). "It not only expands the reduction of litter
but is the way to recycle those beverage containers that never
get into a recycling bin. Recycling beverage containers give
us new products to buy and thus closes the loop on "waste.""
"After 25 years of sorting
empties, the time to update the bottle bill is now," said
Peter Sobol, who serves on the Executive Board of the Empire
State Beer Distributor's Association.
"We have continually supported
an expanded bottle bill to help clean up our farm fields and
create more funding for the Environmental Protection Fund,"
said John Lincoln, president of New York Farm Bureau. "Farmers
are stewards of our land and we are hopeful that we can achieve
a bigger better bottle bill this legislative session."
"Even in this difficult
budget year, legislators and the governor have an opportunity
to act together to create a new funding source for programs that
keep New York's land, air and water clean and healthy,"
said Nancy Kelley, Executive Director of The Nature Conservancy
on Long Island. "By directing unclaimed nickels into the
State's Environmental Protection Fund, the expanded Bottle Bill
will support the protection of open space, farmland, water quality,
municipal parks and recycling, and critical programs furthering
public health and educational efforts on Long Island and throughout
our state. As lawmakers struggle this year to find revenue for
critical programs, they should not pass up an opportunity like
the bottle bill. A better-funded EPF will benefit Long Island's
human and natural communities by increased protection of rapidly
dwindling open space, clean drinking water, and our oceans and
bays."
"The expanded bottle bill
recycles a vital commodity, dramatically addresses the problem
of litter on our beaches and generates much needed revenue for
environmental protection in our troubled economic climate,"
said Richard Schrader, New York Legislative Director for NRDC.
"In these trying financial
times, New York State should stop giving away $200 million a
year in unclaimed beverage container deposits to wealthy out-of-state
bottlers such as Coca-Cola of Atlanta, Anheuser-Busch of St.
Louis, Miller Brewing of Milwaukee and even Schweppes of England,"
said Brian Houseal, Executive Director of the Adirondack Council,
whose organization is dedicated to protecting the ecological
integrity and wild character of the Adirondack Park. "That
money belongs in the Environmental Protection Fund, where it
can do some good for New York residents in the form of new park
lands, landfill closure grants and municipal recycling programs."
"As Scenic Hudson's litter
surveys and research has demonstrated, the Bigger, Better, Bottle
Bill has promised to reduce litter along our shorelines and parks;
thereby making waterfronts more appealing for recreation and
economic development," said Andy Bicking, Scenic Hudson's
Director of Public Policy. "Governor Paterson's proposal
has the added bonus of increasing funding to the Environmental
Protection Fund and delivering real results to every New Yorker,
every day."
"While New York State's
leaders are faced with a growing budget shortfall, they need
to recognize one thing--the Bigger Better Bottle Bill is a winning
proposition for all New Yorkers," said Jackson Morris, Government
Affairs Associate of Environmental Advocates of New York. "Updating
the state's bottle deposit law to match New Yorkers' drinking
habits will get millions of containers out of our landfills and
waterways while adding millions of dollars of much-needed revenue
to the state's Environmental Protection Fund."
"The Land Trust Alliance and New York's land trusts strongly
support Governor Paterson's proposal for an expanded bottle bill,"
said New York Conservation Manager Ethan Winter. "An expanded
bottle bill will reduce litter that impacts our beaches, parks,
nature preserves, and other cherished protected areas and will
provide a vital source of revenue for community based conservation
across the state."
"The best way for the Environmental Protection Fund to expand,
and provide even more funding for crucial projects such as much-needed
improvements to municipal and state parks, is passage of the
Bigger Better Bottle Bill," said Robin Dropkin, Executive
Director, Parks & Trails New York. "Plus an expanded
bottle bill will go far in increasing recycling and reducing
litter."
"The expanded nickel deposit
program will significantly reduce litter, as well as close the
loophole that allows the bottling companies to hold on to millions
of unclaimed deposits," says Roger Downs of Sierra Club
Atlantic Chapter. "At a time when New York State is facing
nearly a 4.4 billion dollar deficit, we should take the lead
from other states (Maine, Massachusetts, California, and Hawaii)
that have taken back the unclaimed nickels and used them for
the
funding of environmental programs."
"Expanding the bottle bill
will benefit New York's farmers and rural communities,"
said David Haight, New York Director for American Farmland Trust.
"It has the potential to provide critical funding for helping
farmers protect land threatened by development while reducing
litter on farm fields."
"Audubon New York strongly
urges the legislature to come to an agreement on the Bottle Bill
during the final negotiations on the Budget. Not only is this
an important conservation measure, but a significant revenue
source to consider during these difficult economic times,"
said Albert E. Caccese Executive Director of Audubon New York,
the state program of the National Audubon Society. "We
applaud Assemblyman Robert Sweeney, Senator Kenneth LaValle,
and Governor David Paterson for their steadfast leadership on
this important litter reduction measure."
"If the Giants can win the
Super Bowl, we can get the Bigger Better Bottle Bill included
in the budget," said Barbara Toborg, Conservation Coordinator
for the American Littoral Society. "In our beach cleanups
throughout the state, our volunteers find non-deposit beverage
containers twice as often as those with the deposit."
The Bigger Better Bottle Bill
has strong public support. More than 600 community groups, organizations,
businesses, and local governments have endorsed passage of the
Bigger Better Bottle Bill. A 2004 public opinion poll showed
that the public loves the Bottle Bill, too. Eighty-four percent
of the New Yorkers surveyed said they support the existing bottle
law, 70% supported expanding the program to include non-carbonated
beverages, and 86% supported transferring unclaimed deposits
to the state to fund environmental programs.
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