Section 261. New York state waste prevention program

1. As used in this
  section, unless a different meaning clearly appears  from  the  context,
  the term:
    a. "Financing  institution"  shall  mean  and include all banks, trust
  companies, savings banks,  savings  and  loan  associations  and  credit
  unions, whether incorporated, chartered, organized or licensed under the
  laws  of this state, any other state of the United States or the federal
  government. This  term  may  also  include  public  authorities,  public
  benefit  corporations,  units  of  local  government, domestic insurance
  companies  and  not-for-profit  corporations,  which  make   loans   for
  improvements for the benefit of eligible applicants.
    b. "Eligible  applicant"  or "applicant" shall mean: a small to medium
  size business or nonprofit organization which  employs  less  than  five
  hundred  workers  or  has  gross  annual  sales of less than ten million
  dollars.
    c. "Waste" shall have the same meaning as is found  in  the  following
  sections  of  the  environmental  conservation  law:  subdivision one of
  section 27-0701, subdivision two of section 19-0107 and subdivision five
  of section 17-0105 of the  environmental  conservation  law.  Such  term
  shall also include hazardous waste that appears on the list or satisfies
  the  characteristics  of hazardous waste promulgated pursuant to section
  27-0903 of the environmental  conservation  law.  Such  term  shall  not
  include source, special nuclear or by-product material as defined in the
  atomic energy act of 1954, as amended.
    d.  "Secondary  materials"  shall  mean  material  recovered  from  or
  otherwise destined for the waste stream, including but not  limited  to,
  post-consumer  material,  industrial  scrap  material  and  overstock or
  obsolete inventories from distributors, wholesalers and other  companies
  as  defined  in rules and regulations promulgated by the commissioner in
  consultation with the commissioner  of  environmental  conservation  but
  such  term  does  not  include those materials and by-products generated
  from, and commonly reused within, an original manufacturing process.
    e. "Feasibility study" shall mean a technical or economic analysis  of
  the   feasibility   of   specific   applications   of  waste  prevention
  technologies or practices or both.
    f. "Waste prevention technologies" shall mean any technology  employed
  to prevent wastes or to process secondary materials for use or reuse but
  shall  not include technology employed for incineration of waste nor the
  processing of waste for use as refuse derived fuel.
    g. "Region" shall mean one or more of the economic development regions
  created pursuant to section 5-127 of the energy law.
    h. "Eligible project" shall mean actions taken by or on  behalf  of  a
  New  York  business involving the acquisition, construction, alteration,
  repair or improvement of a building, fixtures, machinery  or  equipment,
  provided that such project results in:
    (i)  source  reduction  or  material  substitution,  provided that the
  substitution of one hazardous substance, product  or  nonproduct  output
  for another does not result in the creation of a new risk,
    (ii) in-process recycling,
    (iii) recycling or reuse of non-hazardous solid wastes,
    (iv) increased energy efficiency,
    (v)  conservation  of  the  use  of  water  or other natural resources
  improvements in process economics,
    (vi) elimination of the purchase of materials, the production of which
  for the use of  said  firm  would  result  in  more  waste  or  resource
  consumption, or
    (vii) other practices or technologies that reduce the use of hazardous
  materials or otherwise improve air or water quality.

    The  term "eligible project" shall also include actions taken by or on
  behalf  of  a  business  to  support  costs  of  equipment,  and/or  the
  acquisition and/or rehabilitation of real property or structures located
  or  to  be  located in the state related to the collecting, sorting, and
  packaging  of  empty  beverage  containers  as such terms are defined in
  title ten of article twenty-seven of the environmental conservation law.
  Such actions shall be eligible for state assistance payments  under  the
  beverage container assistance program pursuant to section 27-1018 of the
  environmental conservation law.
    The  term  "eligible  project" shall not include end of pipe pollution
  control technologies or practices where such controls or  practices  are
  designed   primarily   to  achieve  compliance  with  the  environmental
  conservation law or regulations promulgated pursuant thereto, or  energy
  recovery  or  incineration,  or  out-of-process  recycling  or  reuse of
  hazardous waste or hazardous substances.
    2. The department  shall  design  and  implement  a  waste  prevention
  program,  which shall promote economic development through environmental
  improvement. A high priority for services and assistance provided by  or
  available  to  the  department  shall  be  to  improve  the economic and
  environmental performance of business through waste prevention.
    3. The department shall consult with other agencies as appropriate  on
  these projects.
    4.  In  carrying  out the activities to implement the waste prevention
  program, the department shall, to the extent practicable, within amounts
  appropriated therefor:
    a. collect and maintain information identifying existing manufacturers
  within New York state that utilize secondary materials as raw  materials
  in their manufacturing process;
    b.  collect,  maintain,  and  provide  information  to potential users
  identifying  existing  processors  of  secondary  materials  within  and
  outside  New  York  state  and  items within the waste stream having the
  capability for utilization as inputs in processing activities;
    c. maintain, provide and market a  compilation  of  existing  programs
  providing  incentives  for  new  or  expanded business enterprises which
  could be utilized by the secondary materials processing industry;
    d. promote the utilization of such  incentives  for  new  or  expanded
  business  enterprises  which  process  or utilize secondary materials to
  locate in New York state;
    e.  promote  incentives  for  existing  businesses  to  expand   their
  utilization   of   secondary  materials  and  their  adoption  of  waste
  prevention technologies and practices;
    f. identify special needs and problems facing the secondary  materials
  processing  industry  and  implementation of waste prevention within New
  York state;
    g. contact institutions, organizations and commercial enterprises that
  are potential consumers of secondary materials and products manufactured
  with secondary materials; urging their expanded consumption of secondary
  materials and products  and  establishing  markets  for  such  secondary
  materials  and  products  through  the use of letters of intent and such
  other techniques as the commissioner may deem appropriate;
    h. conduct market surveys of  the  potential  consumers  of  secondary
  materials and products manufactured with secondary materials;
    i.  conduct  surveys  to  determine  the potential supply of secondary
  materials in the state;
    j. evaluate the  relationship  between  estimated  supply  and  likely
  demand  for  recovered  materials  in  order  to target the department's
  efforts to bring about utilization of (i)  materials  for  which  supply
  exceeds  demand  to the greatest degree; (ii) materials which would have

  the greatest impact on the waste stream if recovered  or  recycled;  and
  (iii) materials for which a market can most readily be obtained;
    k.  develop  and facilitate the establishment of markets necessary for
  implementation of solid waste management programs;
    l. provide information  concerning  local  and  regional  markets  for
  secondary materials;
    m.  assist  manufacturers interested in expansion or location of their
  facilities or processes within the state with such governmental  liaison
  matters  as  siting,  zoning,  licensing,  permitting, funding and other
  expansion or location tasks through coordination with the relevant state
  and local agencies;
    n. identify federal incentives and policies designed to  promote  such
  manufacturing industries;
    o. provide other technical assistance to assist businesses in reducing
  the amount of waste generated by their processes and productively use or
  provide for the productive use of others of wastes which are generated;
    p. assist vehicle dismantlers interested in maximizing the utilization
  of  secondary  materials  as raw materials in the manufacturing process;
  and
    q. conduct such other activities as may be appropriate to  the  intent
  and purpose of this section.
    5.  The department shall fund feasibility studies for testing of waste
  prevention technologies or practices or both to  reduce  the  amount  of
  waste and to promote energy and resource conservation by the adoption of
  such  technologies  or  practices by small and medium sized firms in New
  York state.
    6. Applications. a. The  department  shall  receive  applications  for
  feasibility studies on a competitive basis. Funding shall be provided in
  not less than two rounds annually.
    b. Applications shall be evaluated based on criteria including but not
  limited to the following:
    (i) preliminary technical and economic feasibility of the project;
    (ii) management ability and commitment to the project;
    (iii) financial need;
    (iv)  the  potential  for applying the results of the project to other
  business enterprises; and
    (v) potential cost savings to the business and environmental  benefits
  to the state.
    c.  Technical feasibility. The department may consult with other state
  agencies, concerning the technical feasibility of the process.
    d. Total cost of studies. The state's share of the cost of  individual
  studies conducted through the program shall not exceed eighty percent of
  the total cost or two hundred thousand dollars, whichever is less.
    7.  Waste prevention financing. The department is hereby authorized to
  utilize monies appropriated to the program for the purpose of  providing
  loans,  principal reductions, loan guarantees and interest subsidies for
  waste prevention projects for eligible applicants.
    8. a. Interest subsidies. The department may  enter  into  cooperative
  agreements  with  one  or more cooperating financial institutions within
  the state to offer loans for the purposes of this  section  to  eligible
  applicants  at  a  rate that is no more than seventy-five percent of the
  prime interest rate. Such interest rate shall initially be five percent.
    b. Principal reductions and loan guarantees. The department  shall  be
  authorized  to  utilize  monies  appropriated  to  this  program for the
  purpose of  providing  principal  reductions  and  loan  guarantees  for
  eligible  applicants.  Such  principal reduction shall be limited to not
  more than fifty percent of the amount eligible for a  loan  through  the
  program as is provided in subdivision nine of this section.

    9.  Loan  agreements  and  agreements  in  connection with loans. Loan
  agreements and agreements in connection  with  loans  made  pursuant  to
  subdivision  seven  of  this section shall require that: (a) the maximum
  loan per applicant shall be five hundred thousand  dollars  or  no  more
  than  fifty  percent  of  the total project cost, whichever is less; (b)
  loans or agreements in connection with loans shall be made only after an
  application has been made to the department, the department has approved
  the technical merits of the proposed improvement and the department  has
  notified  the cooperating financial institutions of its approval and the
  amount of interest or principal reduction or of the approval of  a  loan
  guarantee upon the loan to be funded pursuant to such agreement; and (c)
  loan  agreements  or  agreements  in  connection with loans with program
  applicants shall provide for a post installation inspection,  as  deemed
  necessary by the department.
    10.  Technical  feasibility  study.  The  department shall require the
  applicant to submit a technical feasibility study which  identifies  and
  analyzes  in  detail  the  waste prevention projects which the applicant
  wishes to implement. All feasibility studies must include  the  cost  of
  implementation,  a  construction  schedule and, a description of how the
  project will minimize, reduce or eliminate the generation of wastes, use
  or reuse wastes,  increase  energy  efficiency  or  water  conservation,
  improve air or water quality and/or improve process economics.
    11.  Apportionment  of  monies.  The  commissioner shall apportion the
  monies appropriated for this program for the purpose of providing loans,
  interest  subsidies,  loan  guarantees  and  principal   reductions   to
  applicants  within  each  of  the  regions  of  the  state identified in
  paragraph h of subdivision one of this section.
    12. Reapportionment of funds. The department may reapportion the funds
  available for loans, interest subsidies, loan  guarantees  or  principal
  reductions  for  applicants  within any region for use in one or more of
  the other regions upon finding that participation in the program  within
  the former region would not be adversely affected, and that there exists
  in  the  latter region or regions inadequate funds to satisfy the demand
  for program participation. In any fiscal year of the state the amount of
  funds available to applicants within any region may be  reduced  by  not
  more  than  twenty-five percent of the total amount apportioned for such
  region. A copy of  the  department's  finding  shall  be  given  to  the
  chairman  of  the  senate  finance  committee  and  the  chairman of the
  assembly ways and means committee.
    13. Implementation. In implementing this program, the department shall
  promulgate  rules  and  regulations.  Such  rules  and  regulations  may
  include,  but  not  be  limited  to,  requirements  for applications and
  supporting materials and  criteria  for  the  selection  of  cooperating
  financial institutions. Such rules and regulations shall also provide in
  all  agreements  for financial assistance for immediate repayment of all
  such financial assistance plus interest and penalties if any portion  of
  a  project  as defined by paragraph i of subdivision one of this section
  is transferred out of New York state.
    14. Reports. Beginning on January first, nineteen hundred eighty-nine,
  the commissioner shall make an annual report to  the  governor  and  the
  legislature  which  shall  include,  at  a  minimum,  the  status of the
  activities undertaken pursuant to paragraphs a, c, d, e, f, i, j  and  k
  of  subdivision four of this section, the status of any other activities
  undertaken pursuant to this article, and recommendations for programs or
  policies that will further the objectives of expanding  the  utilization
  of  secondary  materials  recovered  for  reuse  within  the  state. The
  provisions of this  subdivision  shall  not  be  deemed  to  require  or
  authorize  the  disclosure of confidential information or trade secrets.

  This report may be consolidated with the report required by  subdivision
  four of section two hundred sixty-three of this article.
    15.  Evaluation.  The  department  shall submit to the director of the
  division of the budget, the chairman and ranking minority member of  the
  senate finance committee and the chairman and ranking minority member of
  the  assembly  ways  and  means  committee an evaluation of this program
  prepared by an entity independent of  the  department.  Such  evaluation
  shall  be  submitted  by September first, nineteen hundred ninety and by
  September first, every two years thereafter.