Following a ruling last week by a federal judge, New York State will now be able to move forward with its "Bigger, Better Bottle Bill."
Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo announced a court decision rolling back an injunction that had blocked the State’s new expanded bottle bill, which was enacted by the New York State legislature in April 2009.
“New York’s Bottle Bill is a vital and effective environmental law,” said Attorney General Cuomo. “The Court’s decision yesterday will allow essential, long-overdue updates to the Bottle Bill to finally take effect. Our victory will ensure that the most critical elements of the Bill move forward expeditiously, resulting not only in cleaner communities and new, green jobs but also in over $100 million in added revenue for New York State.”
The “Bigger, Better Bottle Bill,” updated New York’s 1982 Bottle Bill by, among other ways, expanding it to include bottled water and requiring beverage companies to return 80% of unclaimed bottle deposits–an estimated $115 million annually–to the State, and making the program more “user-friendly” by improving the infrastructure for collecting and recycling bottles and cans.
The International Bottled Water Association, a trade association, and two bottlers, Nestle Waters North America, and Polar Corp., brought a challenge to the Bigger, Better Bottle Bill on May 22, 2009, alleging that certain of its provisions were unconstitutional. In June, another judge had issued a broad order enjoining all the provisions of the expanded Bottle Bill until at least April 2010.
On August 13, Judge Deborah Batts, a Federal District Court Judge in Manhattan, ruled that some of the most important provisions of the expanded Bottle Bill can now go into effect immediately, including the return of 80% of the unclaimed nickels to the state, and increased handling fees for bottle redemption centers.
The judge also ruled that the bottled water industry must comply with the expanded bottled bill by October 22, 2009 unless they can demonstrate that compliance is impossible. Noting that the bottled water industry’s challenge to the expanded bottle bill was “walking on unusually inhospitable legal terrain,” the Judge stated that “it is the Court’s expectation that [bottled water companies] are actively working to achieve compliance” by October 22, 2009.
Laura Haight, Senior Environmental Associate for the New York Public Interest Research Group, said: “We are delighted that the court has lifted its injunction and the Bigger Better Bottle Bill can now move forward with its promise of making our communities cleaner and healthier, creating new green jobs, and generating new revenue for New York."
Only one provision of the expanded bottled bill, which had required bottles sold in New York to have a UPC label code specific to New York, continues to be enjoined indefinitely. The State did not seek to modify that part of the injunction.
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