New York Assembly Bill A06949 Latest Draft

   
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6949 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY March 18, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. KASSAY -- read once and referred to the Committee on Environmental Conservation AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to eco- friendly alternative utensils and condiments The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Article 27 of the environmental conservation law is amended 2 by adding a new title 34 to read as follows: 3 TITLE 34 4 ECO-FRIENDLY ALTERNATIVE UTENSILS AND CONDIMENTS 5 Section 27-3401. Definitions. 6 27-3403. Eco-friendly alternative utensils and condiments. 7 § 27-3401. Definitions. 8 As used in this title, the following terms shall have the following 9 meanings: 10 1. "Condiment" means packaged ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, hot sauce, 11 salt, pepper, or any other herb, spice, seasoning, sauce, or substance 12 that is used to give a special flavor to food. 13 2. "Eco-friendly alternative utensils and condiments" means and 14 includes: utensils and condiment packets or packages which are composed 15 of compostable material or another material approved, by the department 16 or the United States environmental protection agency, as an eco-friendly 17 alternative to conventional plastics, regardless of whether such uten- 18 sils and condiment packages are designed to be discarded, by the consum- 19 er, after a single use; utensils and condiment packets or packages which 20 are designed to be used multiple times and are not intended to be 21 discarded after a single use, regardless of whether such utensils and 22 condiment packages are composed of conventional plastics; and any other 23 utensils and condiment packets or packages that are approved, by the 24 department or the United States environmental protection agency, as 25 eco-friendly alternatives to single-use plastic utensils or condiments. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD05329-01-5 
 A. 6949 2 1 3. "Public food service establishment" means any building, vehicle, 2 place or structure, or any room or division in a building, vehicle, 3 place or structure where food is prepared, served or sold for immediate 4 consumption on or in the vicinity of the premises; called for or taken 5 out by customers; or prepared prior to being delivered to another 6 location for consumption. 7 4. "Single-use plastic utensils or condiments" means utensils or 8 condiment packets or packages which are composed of conventional plas- 9 tics and are designed to be discarded, by the consumer, after a single 10 use. 11 5. "Utensil" means an instrument, including, but not limited to, a 12 knife, fork, or spoon, which are used to eat meals served by a food 13 service business. 14 6. "Dishware" shall mean plates, bowls, and other dishes which are 15 used to eat meals served by a food service business. 16 § 27-3403. Eco-friendly alternative utensils and condiments. 17 1. (a) No public food service establishment operating in the state 18 shall provide single-use plastic utensils or condiments to any customer 19 which are not eco-friendly alternative utensils and condiments, except 20 upon, and in accordance with, the express request of that customer. The 21 provisions of this paragraph shall be applicable regardless of whether a 22 customer is receiving meals from the food service business on an eat-in, 23 take-out, drive-thru, or delivery basis, and regardless of whether the 24 customer's meal order is placed in person, over the phone, online, or 25 using other available means or methods. 26 (b) A public food service establishment that has on-site seating 27 capacity shall provide its on-site customers with reusable, washable 28 utensils and dishware for use thereby while consuming meals on the prem- 29 ises, and shall require each customer using such utensils to return 30 those utensils to the food service business, for the purposes of clean- 31 ing and reuse, upon completion of the customer's on-site meal. 32 2. Any public food service establishment that elects to supply custom- 33 ers with single-use plastic utensils or condiments, upon request, as 34 authorized by paragraph (a) of subdivision one of this section: 35 (a) shall provide each customer with only those types and amounts of 36 single-use plastic utensils and condiments that have been expressly 37 requested thereby; and 38 (b) shall not create, acquire, or provide customers with bundled pack- 39 ages that contain more than one type of single-use plastic utensil or 40 condiment, regardless of the nature of any customer request therefor. 41 3. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to require a public food 42 service establishment to provide any single-use plastic utensils or 43 condiments to customers, upon their request, as authorized by paragraph 44 (a) of subdivision one of this section. 45 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 46 it shall have become a law.