NY State Senate Bill 2019-S7259

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Health Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

Please enter your contact information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

A valid email address is required.

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 14, 2020	referred to health

co-Sponsors

2019-S7259 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A9573
Current Committee:: Senate Health
Law Section:: Public Health Law
Laws Affected:: Add §1399-mm-1, Pub Health L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2021-2022: S1278, A4308
2023-2024: S3063

2019-S7259 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Enacts the tobacco product waste reduction act prohibiting the sale or offering for sale of cigarettes utilizing single-use filters and single-use electronic cigarettes.

2019-S7259 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S7259

SPONSOR: KRUEGER
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public health law, in relation to enacting the
tobacco product waste reduction act

 
PURPOSE:

The purpose of the bill is to ban the sale of single-use filters for
cigarettes, as well as single-use electronic cigarettes.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1: Names the act the "Tobacco Product Waste Reduction Act."

Section 2: Legislative findings.

Section 3: Amends public health law to add new section 1399-mmm.  Estab-
lishes definitions. Prohibits sale of cigarettes utilizing a single-use

filter, attachable single use filters, and single-use electronic ciga-
rettes. Provides for civil penalties of five hundred dollars for first
violation, one thousand dollars for second violation, and one thousand
five hundred dollars for any subsequent violation in the same calendar
year.

Section 4: Effective date.

Section 5: Severability clause.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Cigarette filters, also known as butts, do not improve the safety or
healthfulness of cigarettes. In fact, research indicates that filters
likely increase the negative public health effects of cigarettes.  Ciga-
rette butts are also a plastic product that significantly contributes to
pollution in waterways and beaches, and impacts the health of fish and
other wildlife as well as the safety of the food supply for humans.
Tobacco-related illness is the leading cause of preventable death in

the United States, accounting for about 480,000 deaths each year,
including 28,200 New York adults. Annually in New York State, 10,600
youth become new daily smokers and an estimated 280,000 New York youth
now alive will die early from smoking. Tobacco use can cause chronic
lung disease, diabetes, eye disease, rheumatoid arthritis, coronary
heart disease, stroke, ectopic pregnancy, and infertility, in addition
to leukemia and cancer of the lungs, larynx, colon, liver, esophagus,
pancreas, kidney, cervix, bladder, stomach, and mouth. Tobacco-related
health care annually costs New Yorkers $10.4 billion, including $3.3
billion in Medicaid expenses.

It is now well established, though not widely known to the public, that
cigarette filters do not improve the safety or health of tobacco
products, and are primarily a marketing tool to make cigarettes appear
safer to consumers. Several studies, as well as reports from the Surgeon
General, have found that filters may in fact make cigarettes more
dangerous. According to a 2014 Surgeon General's report, "evidence
suggests that ventilated filters may have contributed to higher risks of
lung cancer by enabling smokers to inhale more vigorously, thereby draw-
ing carcinogens contained in cigarette smoke more deeply into lung
tissue." A 2017 study from the National Cancer Institute concurred,
recommending that "the FDA should consider regulating  
FILTER USE, up
to and including a ban."

The perception that filtered cigarettes are safer also encourages smok-
ing and leads to increased public harm. The 2017 NCI study found that
"lower tar yield  
I.E. FILTERED cigarettes became the preferred choice
of many smokers who perceived them to be a lower health risk because of
health messaging. This perception was reinforced by the sensation of
reduced harshness when smoking." In 2010, the United States joined Cana-
da and the EU in prohibiting the use of tobacco packaging or advertising
using terms like "light," "mild," or "low," which convey the false
impression that filters reduce risk.

Electronic cigarettes and similar products also pose health hazards and
may contribute to youth smoking and reduced smoking cessation, regard-
less of nicotine content. These products contain or produce chemicals
other than nicotine known to be toxic, carcinogenic and causative of
respiratory and heart distress. Emissions from these products may
contain particulate matter, harmful to those exposed, including bystan-
ders involuntary exposed. The FDA has presented evidence of nicotine and
other toxicants in exhaled electronic cigarette aerosol and stated expo-
sure should be limited.

Nicotine-containing electronic cigarettes are the most common nicotine
products used by students, with three million middle and high school
students using them in 2015, according to a study published in Morbidity
and Mortality Weekly Report. The FDA has expressed concern that use of
these products, whether or not they contain nicotine, will provide visu-
al cues to youth and will renormalize cigarette smoking and use of
tobacco products, undermining tobacco control efforts and contributing
to smoking initiation and reduced cessation, particularly among youth.

In addition to their negative public health impacts, cigarette butts are
the most collected item internationally in beach and waterway cleanup
programs. It is estimated that 845,000 tons of cigarette butts end up as
litter annually worldwide. Cigarette butts have been described as "the
last socially acceptable form of litter."

Nearly all cigarette filters are made of cellulose acetate, a kind of
plastic. They are not biodegradable, but they do break down into small
particles that end up in waterways, in the bodies of fish and other
animals, and eventually back in our food supply. Along the way, filters
trap toxins from smoking, including arsenic, cadmium, toluene, nicotine,
and ethylphenol, as well as bio-accumulating toxins from the environ-
ment. Even if filters could be made of biodegradable materials, the
toxins accumulated in the smoking process would still render those ciga-
rette butts hazardous waste.

Single-use electronic cigarettes and cartridges contain components such
as lithium-ion batteries, as well as toxic chemicals and liquid nicotine
that together qualify them as electronic, toxic, and hazardous waste. A
single user could discard hundreds of single-use e-cigarettes every
year.  Such waste is inappropriate for standard municipal collection,
and the cost to individual municipalities of cleaning up cigarette butts

and single-use electronic cigarettes can run into the tens of millions
of dollars.

Littered cigarette filters and liquid nicotine from single-use electron-
ic cigarettes and cartridges also pose a health threat to young chil-
dren. In 2013, the American Association of Poison Control Centers
reported receiving over 8,500 reports of children under age 13 poisoned
by cigarettes, cigarette butts, and other tobacco products. Children
poisoned by cigarette butts or liquid nicotine can experience vomiting,
nausea, lethargy, eye irritation, and gagging.  Calls to American poison
control centers concerning liquid nicotine exposures increased from one
in February 2010 to 215 in February 2014, most of which involved chil-
dren under the age of five, according to a study published in Morbidity
and Mortality Weekly Report.

Efforts to prevent litter by educating consumers have failed and, as is
the case with many environmental challenges, it is appropriate to
address the problem at the point of sale. Cigarette companies themselves
have determined that alternative materials to cellulose acetate are not
commercially viable.

This bill will ban within two years the sale in New York State of ciga-
rettes with filters, as well as attachable single-use filters, and
single use e-cigarettes.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New Bill

 
FISCAL IMPACT ON THE STATE:

No cost to the State

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect January 1, 2022.

2019-S7259 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7259
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 14, 2020
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by Sens. KRUEGER, KAMINSKY -- read twice and ordered printed,
   and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Health
 
 AN  ACT  to  amend  the  public  health law, in relation to enacting the
   tobacco product waste reduction act
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section  1.  This  act shall be known and may be cited as the "tobacco
 product waste reduction act".
   § 2. Legislative findings. The  legislature  finds  and  declares  the
 following:
   1.  The use of tobacco products causes death and disease and continues
 to be an urgent public health challenge. The United States Department of
 Health and Human Services and the New York State  Department  of  Health
 have reported the following:
   a.  Tobacco-related  illness is the leading cause of preventable death
 in the United States, accounting for about  480,000  deaths  each  year,
 including 28,200 New York adults.
   b.  Annually  in New York State, 10,600 youth become new daily smokers
 and an estimated 280,000 New York youth now alive will  die  early  from
 smoking.
   c.  Tobacco use can cause chronic lung disease, diabetes, eye disease,
 rheumatoid arthritis, coronary heart disease, stroke, ectopic pregnancy,
 and infertility, in addition  to  leukemia  and  cancer  of  the  lungs,
 larynx,  colon,  liver,  esophagus,  pancreas,  kidney, cervix, bladder,
 stomach, and mouth.
   d. Tobacco-related  health  care  annually  costs  New  Yorkers  $10.4
 billion, including $3.3 billion in Medicaid expenses.
   2.   Cigarette filters, also known as butts, do not improve the safety
 or healthfulness of cigarettes or other tobacco products,  and  research
 indicates  that  they likely increase the negative public health effects
 of tobacco products.
   a. According to a 2014 Surgeon General's  report,  "evidence  suggests
 that  ventilated  filters  may  have contributed to higher risks of lung
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD13545-03-9

 S. 7259                             2
 
 cancer by enabling smokers to inhale more  vigorously,  thereby  drawing
 carcinogens contained in cigarette smoke more deeply into lung tissue."
   b.  The perception that filtered cigarettes are safer encourages smok-
 ing and leads to increased public  harm.  In  2010,  the  United  States
 joined  Canada and the EU in prohibiting the use of tobacco packaging or
 advertising using terms like "light," "mild," or "low," which convey the
 false impression that filters reduce risk.
   c. A 2017 study from the National Cancer  Institute  recommended  that
 "the  FDA should consider regulating {filter use}, up to and including a
 ban."
   3. Electronic cigarettes and similar products pose health hazards  and
 may  contribute  to youth smoking and reduced smoking cessation, regard-
 less of nicotine content.
   a. These products contain or produce  chemicals  other  than  nicotine
 known  to  be toxic, carcinogenic and causative of respiratory and heart
 distress.
   b. Emissions from these products may contain particulate matter, harm-
 ful to those exposed, including bystanders  involuntarily  exposed.  The
 United  States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has presented evidence
 of nicotine and other toxicants in exhaled electronic cigarette  aerosol
 and stated exposure should be limited.
   c. Nicotine-containing electronic cigarettes are the most common nico-
 tine  products  used  by  students,  with  three million middle and high
 school students using them since 2015, according to a study published in
 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
   d. The FDA has expressed concern that use of these  products,  whether
 or not they contain nicotine, will provide visual cues to youth and will
 renormalize  cigarette  smoking and use of tobacco products, undermining
 tobacco control  effort  and  contributing  to  smoking  initiation  and
 reduced cessation, particularly among youth.
   4.  Cigarette  butts are a plastic product that significantly contrib-
 utes to pollution in soil,  waterways,  and  beaches,  and  impacts  the
 health  of  fish  and  other wildlife, as well as the safety of the food
 supply for humans.
   a. Cigarette butts are the  most  collected  item  internationally  in
 beach  and  waterway cleanup programs. It is estimated that 5.6 trillion
 cigarette butts end up as  litter annually worldwide,  totaling  845,000
 tons  of waste. Plastic cigar tips, commonly sold and used with cigaril-
 los and small cigars, are also among the world's most littered objects.
   b. Cigarette butts have been described as  "the last socially accepted
 form of litter." A 2012 survey of cigarette  smokers  published  in  the
 International  Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found
 that 55.7 percent reported littering cigarette butts in the past month.
   c. Nearly all cigarette filters are made of cellulose acetate, a  king
 of  plastic.  They  are not biodegradable. Instead, they break down into
 small particles that end up in waterways, in  the  bodies  of  fish  and
 other animals, and eventually in our food supply.
   d.  Even  if  filters  could  be made of biodegradable materials, they
 would still be rendered hazardous due to toxins accumulated in the smok-
 ing process, including arsenic, cadmium, toluene, nicotine,  and  ethyl-
 phenol, as well as bio-accumulated toxins from the environment.
   e.  Single-use electronic cigarettes and cartridges contain components
 such as lithium-ion batteries, as well as  toxic  chemicals  and  liquid
 nicotine  that together qualify them as electronic, toxic, and hazardous
 waste. A single user could discard hundreds of  single-use  e-cigarettes

 S. 7259                             3
 
 every   year.   Such  waste  is  inappropriate  for  standard  municipal
 collection.
   f.  The  cost  to  individual  municipalities of cleaning up cigarette
 butts and single-use electronic cigarettes can  run  into  the  tens  of
 millions of dollars.
   5.  Littered  cigarette  filters  and  liquid nicotine from single-use
 electronic cigarettes and cartridges pose a health threat to young chil-
 dren.
   a. In  2013,  the  American  Association  of  Poison  Control  Centers
 reported  receiving over 8,500 reports of children under age 13 poisoned
 by cigarettes, cigarette butts, and other tobacco products.
   b. Children poisoned by cigarette butts or liquid nicotine can experi-
 ence vomiting, nausea, lethargy, eye irritation, and gagging.
   c. Calls to American poison control centers concerning liquid nicotine
 exposures increased from one in February 2010 to 2,015 in February 2014,
 most of which involved children under the age of five,  according  to  a
 study published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
   6.  Efforts to prevent litter of cigarette filters or single-use elec-
 tronic cigarettes by educating consumers have failed.
   7. By banning the sale of cigarettes with single-use filters, New York
 State will mitigate a source of plastic pollution while having  a  posi-
 tive impact on public health.
   §  3.  The  public  health  law  is  amended  by  adding a new section
 1399-mm-1 to read as follows:
   § 1399-MM-1. PROHIBITION ON CIGARETTES  UTILIZING  SINGLE-USE  FILTERS
 AND SINGLE-USE ELECTRONIC CIGARETTES. 1. AS USED IN THIS SECTION:
   (A)  "CIGARETTE"  MEANS A CIGARETTE AS DEFINED IN SECTION FOUR HUNDRED
 SEVENTY OF THE TAX LAW;
   (B) "FILTER" MEANS A POROUS ARTICLE, MASS,  OR  DEVICE  THROUGH  WHICH
 TOBACCO  SMOKE OR OTHER RELATED TOBACCO BY-PRODUCTS PASS FOR THE PURPOSE
 OF REMOVING OR APPEARING TO REMOVE TAR, NICOTINE, OR OTHER TOXINS;
   (C) "SINGLE-USE" MEANS DESIGNED OR GENERALLY RECOGNIZED BY THE  PUBLIC
 AS BEING DESIGNED FOR ONE-TIME USE;
   (D)  "PERSON" INCLUDES AN INDIVIDUAL, COPARTNERSHIP, LIMITED LIABILITY
 COMPANY, SOCIETY, ASSOCIATION, CORPORATION, JOINT STOCK COMPANY, AND ANY
 COMBINATION OF INDIVIDUALS AND ALSO AN EXECUTOR, ADMINISTRATOR,  RECEIV-
 ER, TRUSTEE OR OTHER FIDUCIARY; AND
   (E)  "TOBACCO  PRODUCTS  DEALER" MEANS ANY PERSON OPERATING A PLACE OF
 BUSINESS WHEREIN TOBACCO  PRODUCTS,  HERBAL  CIGARETTES,  OR  ELECTRONIC
 CIGARETTES  ARE SOLD OR OFFERED FOR SALE, INCLUDING ANY WHOLESALE DEALER
 OR RETAILER DEALER AS DEFINED IN SECTION FOUR HUNDRED SEVENTY OF THE TAX
 LAW, AND ANY VAPOR PRODUCTS DEALER AS DEFINED IN SECTION ELEVEN  HUNDRED
 EIGHTY OF THE TAX LAW.
   2. NO TOBACCO PRODUCTS DEALER SHALL SELL, PERMIT TO BE SOLD, OFFER FOR
 SALE OR DISPLAY TO ANOTHER PERSON IN THIS STATE, WHETHER IN PERSON OR BY
 MEANS  OF  ANY  PUBLIC  OR  PRIVATE METHOD OF SHIPMENT OR DELIVERY TO AN
 ADDRESS IN THIS STATE, ANY OF THE FOLLOWING:
   (A) A CIGARETTE UTILIZING A SINGLE-USE FILTER MADE  OF  ANY  MATERIAL,
 INCLUDING  CELLULOSE ACETATE, ANY OTHER FIBROUS PLASTIC MATERIAL, OR ANY
 ORGANIC OR BIODEGRADABLE MATERIAL;
   (B) AN ATTACHABLE AND SINGLE-USE DEVICE MADE OF ANY MATERIAL MEANT  TO
 FACILITATE  MANUAL  MANIPULATION OR FILTRATION OF A CIGARETTE OR TOBACCO
 PRODUCT; OR
   (C) A SINGLE-USE ELECTRONIC CIGARETTE.
   FOR THE PURPOSES OF  THIS  SECTION,  ELECTRONIC  CIGARETTE  SHALL  NOT
 INCLUDE ANY PRODUCT APPROVED BY THE UNITED STATES FOOD AND DRUG ADMINIS-

 S. 7259                             4
 
 TRATION  AS  A  DRUG  OR  MEDICAL  DEVICE, OR MANUFACTURED AND DISPENSED
 PURSUANT TO TITLE FIVE-A OF ARTICLE THIRTY-THREE OF THIS CHAPTER.
   3.  ANY  PERSON  WHO  VIOLATES  ANY PROVISION OF THIS SECTION SHALL BE
 LIABLE FOR A CIVIL  PENALTY  OF  FIVE  HUNDRED  DOLLARS  FOR  THE  FIRST
 VIOLATION,  ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR THE SECOND VIOLATION, AND ONE THOU-
 SAND FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS FOR  ANY  SUBSEQUENT  VIOLATION  IN  THE  SAME
 CALENDAR  YEAR.  FOR PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION, THE SALE OF ONE TO TWENTY
 ITEMS SPECIFIED IN PARAGRAPH (A), (B) OR (C) OF SUBDIVISION TWO OF  THIS
 SECTION CONSTITUTES A SINGLE VIOLATION.
   § 4. If any provision of this act, or any application of any provision
 of  this  act, is held to be invalid, that shall not affect the validity
 or effectiveness of any provision of this act, or of any other  applica-
 tion  of  any  provision  of this act, which can be given effect without
 that provision or application; and  to  that  end,  the  provisions  and
 applications of this act are severable.
   §  5. This act shall take effect on the first of January, 2022. Effec-
 tive immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any  rule  or
 regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective
 date  are  authorized and directed to be made and completed on or before
 such effective date.

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Senate Bill S7259

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Health Committee

co-Sponsors

2019-S7259 (ACTIVE) - Details

2019-S7259 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2019-S7259 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2019-S7259 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

Senate Bill S7259

Share this bill

Sponsored By

Liz Krueger

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Health Committee

co-Sponsors

Todd Kaminsky

2019-S7259 (ACTIVE) - Details

2019-S7259 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2019-S7259 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2019-S7259 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments