Russell Unger
Legislative Counsel
THE COUNCIL
Report of the Governmental Affairs Division
Marcel Van Ooyen, Legislative Director
COMMITTEE ON CONTRACTS
HON. ROBERT JACKSON, CHAIR
December 20, 2005
PROPOSED
INT. NO. 545-A: By Council Members Recchia Jr., The Speaker (Council Member Miller), Gennaro, Brewer, Fidler, Gerson, James, Liu, McMahon, Nelson, Palma, Quinn, Sanders Jr., Seabrook, Stewart, Vallone Jr., Weprin, Koppell, Moskowitz, DeBlasio, Barron, Perkins, Avella, Foster, Reyna, Monserrate, Sears, Yassky, Gonzalez, Gioia, Gentile, Katz and Lopez
TITLE: To amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the purchase of products with recycled content, and to repeal section 6-122 and subchapter 5 of chapter 3 of title 16 of such code.
I.
INTRODUCTION
On December 20, 2005, the Committee on Contracts, chaired by Council Member Jackson, will vote on Proposed Int. No. 545-A, a local law that would amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the purchase of products with recycled content, and that would repeal section 6-122 and subchapter 5 of chapter 3 of title 16 of such code. The Committee held a hearing on a previous version of the legislation on September 26, 2005 and on February 15, 2005, the Committee on Environmental Protection held a hearing on another earlier version of this bill.
II.
ADVANTAGES OF RECYCLING
Recycling has numerous environmental
and health benefits, some of which are more obvious than others. The most evident advantage of recycling is
that it reduces the quantity of waste going to landfills or incinerators.[1] Reducing waste not only frees up landfill
space, but also reduces the pollution caused by disposal activities, such as
air pollution, groundwater contamination, and release of methane, a potent
greenhouse gas. Using recycled
materials also avoids the need to harvest and consume virgin resources, and
prevents the pollution caused by manufacturing from virgin resources. Finally, manufacturing products from
recycled materials requires substantially less energy than manufacturing the
same products from virgin resources.
For example, recycling aluminum uses 94% less energy than making
aluminum from ore.[2]
III. EPA’S
COMPREHENSIVE PROCUREMENT GUIDELINE
Pursuant to section 6002 of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, 42 U.S.C. § 6901 et seq., the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) has developed mandatory guidelines on the minimum recovered materials content of items purchased by federal agencies, and purchased by other levels of government who apply more than $10,000 in federal funding towards a purchase. The Comprehensive Procurement Guideline applies to products in the following categories: paper; vehicular; construction; transportation; park and recreation; landscaping; non-paper office; and miscellaneous. The minimum percentage of recovered materials required for products in these categories is determined and updated periodically through the Federal Register in the form of Recovered Materials Advisory Notices. As with other federal rules, the EPA conducts an extensive consultation process in setting recovered materials standards. Given the federal government’s enormous purchasing power, other purchasers can be assured that goods meeting the federal government’s standards are widely available without significant cost premium.
IV. ANALYSIS OF THE VERSION OF PROPOSED INT. NO. 545-A HEARD BY
THE COMMITTEE ON SEPTEMBER 26, 2005
The version of Proposed Int. No. 545-A heard by the Committee on September 26, 2005 would add a new subchapter 3 to chapter 3 of title 6 of the Administrative Code to govern the City’s use of recycled products. Sections two and three of the bill repeal section 6-122 and subchapter 5 of chapter 3 of title 16 of the Code.
Proposed Int. No. 545-A requires, for any product covered by EPA’s Comprehensive Procurement Guideline, that the product contain no less recovered content than the minimum recommended in the guideline. The City has the option of using paper products that comply with the guideline or paper products that contain at least 50% agricultural wastes.
Beyond EPA’s guidelines, the bill also instructs the City to utilize products with the highest recovered material content, providing such products are of sufficient quality and cost no more than 10% (or 15% if at least 50% of the recycled materials were generated in New York State) above alternative non-recycled products. Agencies are permitted to specify for a recycled materials content that exceeds the minimum recommended in EPA’s guidelines.
Under the bill, any documents submitted to or prepared for an agency are required to be printed on paper that meets these recovered materials requirements. In addition, the City’s pre-printed papers must include a statement of their post-consumer recycled content. High-speed printers and photocopy machines must be capable of printing double-sided and be set by default to do so.
The local law will take effect on January 1, 2006. However, the local law will only go into effect if four other environmental purchasing bills also take effect. These bills create a Director of Citywide Environmental Purchasing (Proposed Int. 534-A), and set standards for goods purchased by the City relating to hazardous content (Proposed Int. 544-A), energy efficiency (Proposed Int. 536-A) and cleaning products (Proposed Int. 552-A).
V. COMPARISON BETWEEN THE CURRENT VERSION OF PROPOSED INT. NO. 545-A AND THE VERSION HEARD BY THE COMMITTEE ON SEPTEMBER 26, 2005
As described in more detail below, the current version of Proposed Int. No. 545-A (the “current version”) before the Committee differs from the previous version of the legislation that was heard on September 26, 2005 (the “previous version”), predominately in that the current version: 1) for certain products, gives the Mayor’s office discretion on whether or not to use the recycled content requirements of the EPA’s Comprehensive Procurement Guideline (“CPG”); 2) limits to only paper the requirement to exceed the CPG; 3) limits requirements relating to double-siding of copiers and printers to equipment purchased after January 1, 2007; and 4) extends the effective date of the local law by one year.
1)
Comprehensive Procurement Guideline
Whereas the previous version of the bill required the City to meet the CPG for any products covered under the program, the current version of Proposed Int. No. 545-A takes a graduated approach to the CPG, mandating the standards for certain products and providing more discretion for other products:
· The City must meet the recycled content standards of the CPG for reprographic paper, tablet paper, envelope paper, file folders, commercial/industrial sanitary tissue, rock wool or fiberglass building insulation, polyester carpet, flowable fill, steel shower or restroom dividers/partitions, traffic cones, plastic fencing, plastic park benches, hydraulic mulch, garden or soaker hoses, plastic trash bags, office recycling containers, office waste receptacles, mats, signage and pallets. As explained in the briefing paper on Proposed Int. No. 534-A, unlike the FEMP and volatile organic compounds requirements in some of the other bills in this package of legislation, the CPG requirements would not apply to construction contracts unless the Director specifically decides otherwise. Instead, CPG requirements only automatically apply to direct agency purchases.
· By January 1, 2008, for any other products covered by the CPG, the Director must make a determination whether or not the City should meet the CPG for those products. At least once every two years, the Director is required to review any decision not to require CPG standards for any product.
2)
Exceeding The CPG
The previous version of this legislation would have required the City to exceed the recycled content requirements of the CPG if the City can do so for a cost that is permissible under the price premium permitted under State law for recycled products. The current version of Proposed Int. No. 545-A only requires the City to exceed the CPG for reprographic paper. Under the bill, the City must buy paper with the highest recycled content available to the extent this paper: i) can be bought at a price that is not more than 7% greater than the cost of non-recycled paper; ii) can be bought at a price that is not more than 5% greater than the cost of the recycled paper the City must buy under the CPG; iii) is of adequate quality; and iv) is available within a reasonable time period.
3) Double-Siding
The previous version of this legislation would have required all of the City’s copiers and printers that can double-side to be set to do so by default. The current version of the legislation applies this provision only where practicable for equipment bought prior to the effective date of the legislation. Any equipment bought after January 1, 2007, must, however, meet these requirements.
4) Effective Date
Whereas the previous version of the bill would become effective January 1, 2006, the current version does not become effective until January 1, 2007. The effectiveness of this local law remains contingent on the effectiveness of the other environmental purchasing bills, except for Proposed Int. No. 552-A on green cleaning products.
Proposed Int. No. 545-A
By Council Members Recchia Jr., The Speaker (Council Member Miller), Gennaro, Brewer, Fidler, Gerson, James, Liu, McMahon, Nelson, Palma, Quinn, Sanders Jr., Seabrook, Stewart, Vallone Jr., Weprin, Koppell, Moskowitz, DeBlasio, Barron, Perkins, Avella, Foster, Reyna, Monserrate, Sears, Yassky, Gonzalez and Gioia
A Local Law
To amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the purchase of products with recycled content, and to repeal section 6-122 and subchapter 5 of chapter 3 of title 16 of such code.
Be it enacted by the Council as
follows:
Section 1. Statement of findings and
purpose. In almost every category of
goods, there are some products that are environmentally preferable to
others. In many instances, there is
little or no additional cost associated with the environmentally preferable
option. For example, there is little
cost difference between copy paper with no recycled content and copy paper with
thirty percent post-consumer recycled content.
Pursuant to section 6002 of the Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act, the United States Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) has developed recommended guidelines on the minimum recovered
materials content of items purchased by federal agencies and other levels of
government that apply more than $10,000 in federal funding towards a
purchase. These guidelines apply to
products in the following categories: paper; vehicular; construction;
transportation; park and recreation; landscaping; non-paper office; and
miscellaneous. The minimum percentage
of recovered materials recommended for products in these categories is
determined and updated periodically through the Federal Register in the form of
Recovered Materials Advisory Notices.
The EPA conducts an extensive consultation process in setting recovered
materials standards.
The Council finds that the purchase of recycled products will protect the environment and improve the welfare of New York City residents and workers. Accordingly, the Council declares that it is reasonable and necessary to require the purchase of products with recycled content.
§2. Section 6-122 of the administrative code of the city of New York is REPEALED.
§3. Subchapter 5 of chapter 3 of title 16 of the administrative code of the city of New York is REPEALED.
§4. The administrative
code of the city of New York is amended by adding a new subchapter 4 to chapter
3 of title 6 to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER 4
RECYCLED MATERIALS
§6-308 Minimum
recycled material content.
§6-309 Printing
on recycled paper.
§6-310 Paper
waste reduction.
§6-308
Minimum recycled material content.
a. Any reprographic paper, tablet paper, envelope paper, file folder,
commercial/industrial sanitary tissue, rock wool or fiberglass building
insulation, polyester carpet, flowable fill, steel shower or restroom
divider/partition, traffic cone, plastic fencing, plastic park bench, hydraulic
mulch, garden or soaker hose, plastic trash bag, office recycling container,
office waste receptacle, mat, signage or pallet, as such terms are utilized in
the CPG: (i) purchased or leased by any agency; (ii) that can be
procured at a reasonably competitive price; and (iii) that is listed in the
CPG, for which the United States environmental protection agency has issued a
recovered materials advisory notice, shall contain no less recovered material
and postconsumer material than the minimum amount recommended in the most
recent such notice, or, with respect to any paper or paper product, may, at the
discretion of the director, contain no less than fifty percent agricultural
wastes.
b.
Beginning January 1, 2008, the director shall make a determination whether or
not any product: (i) purchased or leased by any agency; (ii) that can be
procured at a reasonably competitive price; (iii) in any category listed in the
CPG, but not specified in subdivision a of this section, for which the United
States environmental protection agency has issued a recovered materials
advisory notice, shall contain no less recovered material and postconsumer
material than the minimum amount recommended in the most recent such
notice. The director shall review any
such determination not to require compliance with the CPG for any product at
least once every two years.
c. In addition to the requirements of subdivision a of this section, any reprographic paper product purchased or leased by any agency shall contain the highest recovered material content available, to the extent any such product: (i) can be procured at a price that does not exceed a cost premium of seven percent (7%) above the cost of a comparable product that is not a recycled product; (ii) can be procured at a price that does not exceed a cost premium of five percent (5%) above the cost that would apply pursuant to subdivision a of this section; (iii) is of adequate quality for the intended use; and (iv) is available within a reasonable period of time, as determined by the director.
§6-309 Printing on recycled paper. a. Any document or graphic material prepared or printed for any agency pursuant to any contract with such agency, which can be procured at a reasonably competitive price and is of adequate quality for the intended use, shall be printed on paper with no less recovered material and postconsumer material, or agricultural wastes, than the minimum amount required pursuant to subdivision a of section 6-308 of this chapter and, where practicable, shall be printed double-sided.
b.
Any solicitation of any agency shall request that any response to such
solicitation be printed double-sided and on paper with no less recovered
material and postconsumer material than the minimum required pursuant to
subdivision a of section 6-308 of this chapter, and shall require that such
response indicate whether such requests have been met; provided, however, that
nothing in this subdivision shall be construed as requiring a finding of
non-responsiveness.
c.
Any pre-printed paper or publication, including any letterhead or report,
purchased or leased by any agency that has been printed on paper that contains
the minimum percentage of postconsumer recycled fiber required pursuant to
subdivision a of section 6-308 of this chapter, shall include a statement
and/or symbol indicating the minimum percentage of postconsumer recycled
material contained in such paper, consistent with section 104-a of the general
municipal law.
§6-310 Paper waste reduction. a. Any
printer purchased or leased by any agency that can print at a rate of twenty pages or faster per minute or that
is considered a local area network printer shall have the capacity to print double-sided. Any copier purchased or leased by any agency that can print at a rate of twenty pages or
faster per minute shall have the
capacity to print double-sided and shall perform equally well with paper
containing postconsumer material as with paper containing no postconsumer
material.
b. Notwithstanding
section 6-302 of this chapter, this subdivision shall apply to any printer or copier
purchased or leased by any agency after January 1, 2007 and, to the extent
practicable, to any printer or copier purchased or leased by any agency before
such date. The default parameters of any printer with the
capacity to print double-sided, and any computer that utilizes such printer,
shall be set to duplex mode, such that the printer prints double-sided
pages. The default parameters of any
copier with the capacity to print double-sided for which the default parameters
can be adjusted, shall be set to duplex mode, such that the copier places
images on both sides of a copy sheet, performing one-sided to two-sided
copying, and two-sided to two-sided copying.
§5. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or other portion of this local law is, for any reason, declared unconstitutional or invalid, in whole or in part, by any court of competent jurisdiction, such portion shall be deemed severable, and such unconstitutionality or invalidity shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this law, which remaining portions shall continue in full force and effect.
§6. This local law shall take effect January 1, 2007, except that the director of citywide environmental purchasing as appointed by the mayor shall take all actions necessary, including the promulgation of rules, to implement this local law on or before the date upon which it shall take effect. Provided, however, that this local law shall take effect only in the event that: Int. No. 534-A, a proposed local law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to environmental purchasing and the establishment of a director of environmental purchasing, takes effect; Int. No. 536-A, a proposed local law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the purchase of energy efficient products, and to repeal subdivisions a, c, d, e and f of section 6-127 of such code, takes effect; and Int. No. 544-A, a proposed local law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the reduction of hazardous substances in products purchased by the city, takes effect.
RBU
LS#1486
12/13/2005