[NYSRPS Member] Bigger Better Bottle Bill--Legislative Update

[Richard Rose]

Attention NYSRPS Membership:  Below is information on the Bigger Better
Bottle Bill, which has been endorsed by many parks and open space
groups:
 
As the legislative session in Albany enters its final weeks, the Bigger
Better Bottle Bill is moving forward in both the Assembly and the
Senate.  The bill will clean up our communities and help the environment
by expanding the 5-cent deposit to non-carbonated beverages, and by
putting unclaimed deposits in the state Environmental Protection Fund
(EPF). 

But time is running out, and the industry opponents are using all their
clout to oppose it - like hosting $5,000-a-plate fundraisers for Senate
Republicans.

That's why we need grassroots pressure - especially on the Senate.  Your
action NOW could make the difference.  Lawmakers are leaving Albany on
June 21st.  Let's get it done this year!! 

We're in the final stretch -- please call your Senator TODAY and urge
him/her to pass the Bigger Better Bottle Bill!

CONTACT:

YOUR STATE SENATOR*
(518) 455-2800 (Senate Switchboard)
http://www.senate.state.ny.us/
* to find out who represents you, go to
http://nymap.elections.state.ny.us/nysboe/

Senator Carl Marcellino
Chair, Environmental Conservation Committee 
New York State Senate
812 Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY  12247
(518) 455-2390
marcelli at senate.state.ny.us

Senator Joseph L. Bruno
Majority Leader 
New York State Senate
909 Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY  12247
(518) 455-3191
bruno at senate.state.ny.us

MESSAGE

Dear Senator:

Please support the Bigger Better Bottle Bill (S. 3434) and urge Senator
Marcellino and Senator Bruno to pass it this year.

TALKING POINTS 

*	We all have a responsibility to keep our communities clean and
healthy.  But every day the Senate fails to update the bottle bill,
millions of plastic water bottles and other non-deposit containers end
up trashing our communities. 

*	The bottle bill turns 25 on June 15th, 2007 and is New York's
most effective recycling and litter prevention program.  The Senate
should celebrate the bottle bill's 25th anniversary by bringing it up to
date meet today's needs. 

*	The Bigger Better Bottle Bill will make our communities cleaner
and increase recycling by updating the bottle bill to include water
bottles and other non-carbonated beverages.  Each year, more than 2
billion of these bottles and cans end up in the trash or litter because
they don't have a 5-cent deposit.  These drinks now make up more than a
quarter of our beverage market, and two-thirds of the bottles and cans
littering our communities. 

*	The Bigger Better Bottle Bill will generate critically needed
funding for local recycling programs, parks, and other environmental
needs by requiring beverage companies to transfer unclaimed deposits to
the State Environmental Protection Fund.  Currently, the beverage
companies are keeping more than $100 million a year in the public's
unclaimed nickels. 


ALBANY UPDATE

Governor Spitzer proposed including the Bigger Better Bottle Bill in his
first state budget, but the Senate Republicans refused to include it.
At the same time however, Senator Carl Marcellino, who chairs the Senate
Environmental Conservation Committee, promised to take the issue up in
the Senate post-budget. 

In April, Governor Spitzer submitted a new proposal to update the bottle
bill.  Bob Sweeney introduced the governor's program bill (A. 8044) in
the Assembly and signed up more than 50 co-sponsors.  A. 8044 has
cleared two committees and is hopefully headed for an Assembly floor
vote in early June.  The Assembly passed the Bigger Better Bottle Bill
in 2005 and 2006, but it has always died in the Senate. 

In the Senate, Senators LaValle and Padavan reintroduced the Bigger
Better Bottle Bill (S.3434).  But in a new development, Senator
Marcellino has introduced new legislation (S. 5443-A) that would expand
the bottle bill but does not take back the nickels.  While this is a
step in the right direction, we are continuing to press the Senate to
pass the Bigger Better Bottle Bill, which does both.  We are also
encouraging the Senate to begin negotiations with the Governor and the
Assembly on language that all three could support. 

FOR MORE INFO:

Visit NYPIRG's BBBB webpage: http://www.nypirg.org/enviro/bottlebill/

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