A 2738: Prohibits any person or entity from spreading sewage, wastewater or soil amendment products containing sewage, wastewater, or compost from sewage sludge on lands in the state or from selling or distributing the same; requires that penalties from violations be deposited into the environmental protection fund.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2738 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY January 22, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. JACOBSON -- read once and referred to the Commit- tee on Environmental Conservation AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to prohibiting sewage, wastewater and soil amendment pollution; and to amend the state finance law, in relation to the disposition of funds from civil penalties The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known as and may be cited 2 as the "Stop Toxic Fertilizer Act". 3 § 2. The environmental conservation law is amended by adding a new 4 section 17-2107 to read as follows: 5 § 17-2107. Prohibition against sewage and wastewater pollution. 6 1. (a) No person or entity shall spread sewage, wastewater or soil 7 amendment products containing sewage, wastewater, or compost from sewage 8 sludge on lands in the state for any purpose. 9 (b) No person or entity shall sell, distribute, or give sewage, waste- 10 water or soil amendment products containing sewage, wastewater or 11 compost from sewage sludge in the state. 12 2. The provisions of this section shall not apply to the disposal or 13 placement of sewage, wastewater or soil amendment products containing 14 sewage, wastewater, or compost from sewage sludge at a solid waste land- 15 fill. 16 3. (a) A person or entity violating this section shall be liable to 17 the state for a civil penalty of up to ten million dollars for each 18 occurrence. The penalty shall be commensurate with the scope of the 19 violation. A hearing or opportunity to be heard shall be provided prior 20 to the assessment of any civil penalty. 21 (b) The department is hereby authorized to enforce the provisions of 22 this section and all monies collected shall be deposited to the credit 23 of the environmental protection fund established pursuant to section 24 ninety-two-s of the state finance law. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD04456-02-5 
 A. 2738 2 1 (c) The commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations to enforce 2 the provisions of this section including the institution of hearings and 3 penalties for violations. 4 § 3. Subdivision 3 of section 92-s of the state finance law, as 5 amended by chapter 734 of the laws of 2021, is amended to read as 6 follows: 7 3. Such fund shall consist of the amount of revenue collected within 8 the state from the amount of revenue, interest and penalties deposited 9 pursuant to section fourteen hundred twenty-one of the tax law, the 10 amount of fees and penalties received from easements or leases pursuant 11 to subdivision fourteen of section seventy-five of the public lands law 12 and the money received as annual service charges pursuant to section 13 four hundred four-n of the vehicle and traffic law, all moneys required 14 to be deposited therein from the contingency reserve fund pursuant to 15 section two hundred ninety-four of chapter fifty-seven of the laws of 16 nineteen hundred ninety-three, all moneys required to be deposited 17 pursuant to section thirteen of chapter six hundred ten of the laws of 18 nineteen hundred ninety-three, repayments of loans made pursuant to 19 section 54-0511 of the environmental conservation law, all moneys to be 20 deposited from the Northville settlement pursuant to section one hundred 21 twenty-four of chapter three hundred nine of the laws of nineteen 22 hundred ninety-six, provided however, that such moneys shall only be 23 used for the cost of the purchase of private lands in the core area of 24 the central Suffolk pine barrens pursuant to a consent order with the 25 Northville industries signed on October thirteenth, nineteen hundred 26 ninety-four and the related resource restoration and replacement plan, 27 the amount of penalties required to be deposited therein by section 28 71-2724 of the environmental conservation law, all moneys required to be 29 deposited pursuant to article thirty-three of the environmental conser- 30 vation law, all fees collected pursuant to subdivision eight of section 31 70-0117 of the environmental conservation law, all moneys collected 32 pursuant to title thirty-three of article fifteen of the environmental 33 conservation law, beginning with the fiscal year commencing on April 34 first, two thousand thirteen, nineteen million dollars, and all fiscal 35 years thereafter, twenty-three million dollars plus all funds received 36 by the state each fiscal year in excess of the greater of the amount 37 received from April first, two thousand twelve through March thirty- 38 first, two thousand thirteen or one hundred twenty-two million two 39 hundred thousand dollars, from the payments collected pursuant to subdi- 40 vision four of section 27-1012 of the environmental conservation law and 41 all funds collected pursuant to section 27-1015 of the environmental 42 conservation law, all moneys collected pursuant to section 17-2107 of 43 the environmental conservation law, all moneys required to be deposited 44 pursuant to sections 27-2805 and 27-2807 of the environmental conserva- 45 tion law, all moneys collected pursuant to section 71-2730 of the envi- 46 ronmental conservation law, all moneys required to be deposited pursuant 47 to section 27-3205 of the environmental conservation law, and all other 48 moneys credited or transferred thereto from any other fund or source 49 pursuant to law. All such revenue shall be initially deposited into the 50 environmental protection fund, for application as provided in subdivi- 51 sion five of this section. 52 § 4. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed- 53 ing the date upon which it shall have become a law. Effective immediate- 54 ly, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation 55 necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are 56 authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective date.