New York

The 2008 Campaign

Governor Spitzer proposed including the Bigger Better Bottle Bill in the 2008-09 State Budget. Changes to the existing law are highlighted below.
Bill Number A8055A, S5850A Bill text
Primary Sponsor Sweeney
Beverages Covered Adds non-carbonated beverages such as bottled water, iced-teas, and sports drinks
Unredeemed Deposits Recovered by state for use in New York's Environmental Protection Fund.

Details

The legislation is similar to years past in that it would add a 5-cent deposit to non-carbonated beverages such as bottled water, iced-teas, and sports drinks. The legislation also calls for the state to recover unclaimed deposits from the beverage industry for use in New York's Environmental Protection Fund. Revenue projections include $25 million for the 2008-2009 budget (the bill would go into effect for the last 1/4 of the fiscal calendar year) and $100 million in subsequent years.

Progress

NYPIRG remains active in campaigning for the Bigger Better Bottle Bill's success. For example, on Valentine's Day, NYPIRG released the results of an autumn litter survey that made a compelling case for a Bigger Better Bottle Bill. The results are available in a PDF on the NYPIRG website.

They also made a Valentine's Day plea to the Senate to pass the Bigger Better Bottle Bill ("Senator Bruno, Have a Heart for New York's Environment," etc., complete with valentines).

March 4, 2008: A Press Event is scheduled at West Capitol Park Albany NY at 11 a.m.
The Surfriders Action Network also published a video to raise awareness about what the Bigger Better Bottle Bill means for New York. Watch it on YouTube here.

April 4, 2008: Although a source informed us that the bottle-bill-related budget information could be found in section GG of budget bills S.6809 and A9809, a check on the legislature's website showed that section GG had been "intentionally omitted." We can only assume this means that the Bigger Better Bottle Bill has been undermined again.

May 2, 2008: A8044 was introduced in Assembly

May 15, 2008: S5850 was introduced in Senate

June 11, 2008: A8044 passed Assembly and was referred to Senate

June 23, 2008: The 2008 legislative session ended, and the bill died in Senate without a vote

Contacts

Laura Haight, NYPIRG.
(518) 436-0876 x258 or
lhaight@nypirg.org.

Joseph Stelling, NYPIRG
518-436-0876 x276 or
jstelling@nypirg.org

Updated July 31, 2008