Officials [image-nocss] with the food and beverage industry said they will not be able to meet the June 1 deadline, especially for bottled water, and that as a result, stores will not stock water bottles after that date.
"We don't know if the Legislature and the governor's office are going to postpone the June 1 effective date. If they don't, the [state] Department of Environmental Conservation [DEC] was direct in telling us that retailers cannot sell bottled water unless labeled with the five-cent redemption coupon," Michael Rosen of the Food Industry Alliance of New York State told the paper. The FIA represents the grocery industry.
Jim Calvin, president of the New York Association of Convenience Stores (NYACS), said in a separate statement that the group has added a "Bottle Bill Briefing" to the lineup for its trade show and convention this week in Syracuse, N.Y.
All interested retailers and suppliers, regardless of NYACS membership, are welcome to attend the Q&A session, which will take place this Thursday, May 14, at 8 a.m., Calvin said. Via audioconference, officials of the state DEC will field questions from the trade on implementation issues surrounding bottle bill expansion, he added.
In April, the state legislature and the governor approved expanding New York's nickel deposit law to include water containers under one gallon. "But many questions are unanswered, and anxiety is growing as the effective June 1, 2009, effective approaches," said Calvin.
NYACS and beverage industry allies are lobbying for postponement of the effective date until at least October 1, 2009, "due to insurmountable logistical issues, and for elimination of a requirement that all deposit containers of water, beer and soft drinks bear a New York-only UPC code, a clumsy and cost-prohibitive mandate on the industry," he said.
William Cook, of the Citizen Campaign for the Environment, said his group is sympathetic to industry concerns but remains firm on key provisions of the legislation. "We have a concern when there is any attempt to reopen the existing language. We recognize it may be an issue as far as the phase-in time. If it is a real issue and the industry can demonstrate it needs an extra 30 days, we do not object to that. And if they can demonstrate the bar code is an issue, do away with it," he told the newspaper.
He added, "Where we will come into play is if they change the core provisions of the law: bringing water bottles into the system and giving the state extra revenues." The law gives the state 80% of uncollected nickels and 20% to distributors, instead of the distributors keeping 100% as before.
The bottling and distribution industry fought the Bigger Better Bottle Law, Calvin told the paper, but when they lost the battle "our job now is to comply and we want to succeed. In order to succeed we need to have enough lead time to comply with requirements."
Rosen said both the Assembly and state Senate have introduced legislation to amend the bottle bill. Legislation by State Senator Carl Kruger (D), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, would push the start date back to Jan. 1, 2010, and repeal the New York-specific bar codes. State Assemblywoman RoAnn M. Destito (D) is co-sponsoring the legislation.
A second piece of legislation by State Assemblyman Robert K. Sweeney (D) postpones the date until January 1, but leaves the bar code measure in place, said the report.
Rosen said the industry supports Kruger's measure. The legislature will take up the measures next week, he said.
The proposed legislation does not affect Gov. David Paterson's executive order to phase out state spending on single-use and cooler-sized bottled water at state agencies. The order is expected to save the state hundreds of thousands of dollars; however, it does not apply to the state legislature, judiciary or sale of bottled water in state parks.
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