New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has signed legislation (S6758-B/A10803a) to strengthen penalties against the illegal disposal of construction debris, demolition debris, and other hazardous substances.
The legislation also designates fraudulent schemes involving the disposal of solid waste as a new crime. These strengthened penalties will provide strong new tools for law enforcement to use as they work to stop unlawful waste dumping activities.
“Illegal dumping is a significant problem and too often its costs are unjustly passed on to the community,” Cuomo said in a Dec. 15 statement. “Not only does this legislation strengthen criminal penalties to ensure sanctions do not simply become another cost of doing business, but it further discourages large-scale illegal dumping by holding developers and waste haulers accountable for creating the problem in the first place.”
With this signing, a number of technical changes to legislative language have been agreed to following negotiations with the legislature. The law goes into effect on Jan. 1.
