The New York State Senate

 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   10390
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                               May 13, 2022
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Hyndman) --
   read once and referred to the Committee on Environmental Conservation
 
 AN ACT to establish the bottle redemption fraud task force; and  provid-
   ing for the repeal of such provisions upon the expiration thereof
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section 1. The legislature hereby establishes  the  bottle  redemption
 fraud  task  force  (referred  to  hereinafter  as  the "task force") to
 conduct a comprehensive study of the fraud, enforcement,  and  reporting
 requirements related to the New York state returnable container act.
   §  2.  (a) Such task force shall consist of fifteen members that shall
 be appointed as follows:  the state attorney general or  his/her  desig-
 nee;  the  commissioner  of  the  department  of taxation and finance or
 his/her designee; the commissioner of the  department  of  environmental
 conservation  or  his/her  designee;  the  state  comptroller or his/her
 designee; the chairman of the state liquor authority or  his/her  desig-
 nee;  the  commissioner  of the department of agriculture and markets or
 his/her designee; one member shall be appointed by the  district  attor-
 neys  association  of  the  state  of  New  York;  two  members shall be
 appointed by the temporary president of the senate and two members shall
 be appointed by the speaker of the assembly, one shall be an  individual
 who represents a municipality, one shall be an individual who represents
 a deposit initiator, one shall be an individual who represents a redemp-
 tion  center,  and one shall be an individual who represents a wholesale
 distributor; and four members shall be appointed by  the  governor,  one
 shall  be an individual who represents a deposit initiator and one shall
 be an individual who represents a retailer.
   (b) The task force shall be chaired by the attorney general or his/her
 designee thereof.
   (c) Members of the task force shall receive no compensation for  their
 services  but  shall be reimbursed for their actual expenses incurred in
 the performance of their duties in the work of the task force.
   (d) Appointed members shall, to the greatest extent  practicable  have
 by education or experience, knowledge of organized retail theft.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD01249-03-1
 A. 10390                            2
 
   (e) The task force is authorized to audit any reverse vending machine.
   §  3.  Appointments shall be made within 60 days of the effective date
 of this act. Any vacancies in the membership of the task force shall  be
 filled in the same manner provided for in the initial appointment.
   §  4.  The  task  force  may consult with any organization, government
 entity, or person, in the  development  of  its  report  required  under
 section five of this act.
   §  5.  On or before one year after the effective date of this act, the
 task force shall submit to the governor, the temporary president of  the
 senate  and  the  speaker  of  the assembly a report containing, but not
 limited to, the following information based on available data:
   (a) A review of laws and regulations  regarding  the  New  York  state
 returnable  container  act  and  relevant  civil  and criminal penalties
 related to the act;
   (b)  The  need  for  interagency  coordination  of  public  education,
 outreach, and prevention programs for retail stores, redemption centers,
 municipalities,  agents  acting on behalf of the deposit initiators that
 provide pickup services, and any other identified entities;
   (c) The fiscal impact of fraudulent bottle redemptions and deposits in
 the state of New York;
   (d) The status of current enforcement efforts and  recommendations  on
 what  could  be  done  to improve enforcement, including the addition of
 more employees;
   (e) A review of inter-state bottle redemption fraud, including, to the
 extent practicable, information on the number of containers that  origi-
 nate from out-of-state shipments and a review of the practice of redeem-
 ing beverage containers purchased out-of-state; and
   (f)  Recommended  legislative, regulatory and enforcement solutions to
 address fraudulent bottle redemptions and deposits, including,  but  not
 limited to, inter-state initiatives.
   § 6. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire 24 months
 after  it  shall have become a law when upon such date the provisions of
 this act shall be deemed repealed.