Contents | Page1 | Page2 | Page3 | Page4 | Page5 | Page6 | Page7 | Page8 | Page9 | Page10 | Page11 | Page12
State Updates
Connecticut:
Senate votes 31-3 to update state’s bottle bill to include bottled water
HARTFORD — A bill to add water to the deposit law passed the Connecticut Senate, by a vote of 31-3 on April 20, 2005.The “Better Bottle Bill Coalition,” supported by the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection and the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, and armed with data from CRI, demonstrated the enormous growth in plastic water bottle sales in recent years and the need for deposits to increase the recycling rate. Ultimately, the well-financed self-interests prevailed in the House, where the measure died.
The grocery store lobbyist even bragged that the House Speaker “was asked not to take up the bill so opposition forces could lobby House members.”
In September, Connecticut Common Cause reported that bottle bill opponents contributed over $700,000 to campaigns in the last two election cycles, and suggested that these contributions helped stall the bottle bill expansion. (see story on page 1) Two days later, Governor Rell called a Special Session to consider public financing of campaigns. The Common Cause exposé may have helped embarrass politicians into action. Senate President Pro Tem and chief sponsor of the proposal, Don Williams, says he will introduce the bill again in 2006.
For more information, contact Betty McLaughlin at bmclaughlin@ctaudubon.org.
Earth Day Lobby Day in Albany, April 2005 NEW YORK: Assembly approves NY BBBB
ALBANY — The Bigger, Better Bottle Bill (A2517B/S1290B) swept through the New York State Assembly in June with broad, bipartisan support just days before the legislative session came to an end. The final vote was 98-40.
Assemblyman Thomas P. DiNapoli, the bill’s champion, overcame significant concerns raised within his house by making further amendments, such as lowering the takeback requirements for smaller stores in New York City and creating a small business assistance fund.
In early June, opponents of the bill unveiled a counterproposal to repeal New York’s bottle bill and replace it with a litter tax modeled after New Jersey’s. Ironically, the industry proposal may have helped propel the expanded bottle bill to victory. Within a week of its introduction, ten newspapers across the state ran editorials condemning it and calling on the legislature to pass the Bigger, Better, Bottle Bill.
The day after the Assembly victory, the bill came to a screeching halt in the Senate, where Majority Leader Joe Bruno (who opposed the original bottle bill in 1982) declared it “one of the dumbest things that has happened this year.”
Supporters and opponents of the Bigger Better Bottle bill are gearing up for a major push in 2006.
For more information, contact Laura Haight at laurahaight@gmail.com or visit www.nypirg.org
Massachusetts: Hearings held on expansion and repeal
BOSTON — On October 18, 2005, Bottle Bill supporters gathered at a hearing before the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy to urge the committee to support an update of the state’s 22-year old law. Legislation sponsored by Representative Doug Petersen (D-Marblehead) and Senator Andrea F. Nuciforo, Jr. (D-Pittsfield) would expand the scope of the deposit system by including wine and liquor, as well as non-carbonated beverages which have entered the market since the 1980s: juices, sports drinks, iced teas, and bottled water.
Senator Robert O’Leary (D-Barnstable) and Representative Colleen Garry (D-Dracut) both filed legislation that would repeal the bottle bill, and replace it with alternatives systems. Senator O’Leary’s proposal would repeal the bottle bill and impose a fee on manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers of certain litter-producing products in the Commonwealth. The tax would fund statewide and municipal waste reduction and recycling programs. His litter tax and “Clean Communities Program” is modeled after one operating in New Jersey. (See article on page 9 about New Jersey’s litter tax.)
Representative Garry’s proposal would repeal the Bottle Bill in exchange for a one-time payment from distributors, wholesalers, beverage container manufacturers and dealers to the state.
MassPIRG, the Sierra Club, the South Shore Recycling Cooperative, the Container Recycling Institute, Recycling Action, MassRecycle, and a number of concerned citizens presented testimony in favor of the proposed Updated Bottle Bill. The Joint Committee has yet to vote on these bills.
For more information, contact Jen Baker at jen.baker@masspirg.org or visit http://www.massbottlebill.org/ubb/index.html
Contents | Page1 | Page2 | Page3 | Page4 | Page5 | Page6 | Page7 | Page8 | Page9 | Page10 | Page11 | Page12 |
