- Filed (End of Session)
History
Int. No. 8
By Council Members Gentile, Chin, Constantinides, Levin, Palma, Williams and Kallos
A Local Law to amend the New York City charter, in relation to identifying businesses that are environmentally friendly.
Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section 1. Legislative Intent. Environmentally conscious consumers are increasingly seeking out businesses and products that are "environmentally friendly" or "green." While a consumers' desire to support such businesses is laudable, in many instances a consumer has very little information with which to determine whether a businesses can reasonably be considered environmentally friendly. In many cases, a business can claim to be "green" or "environmentally friendly," yet there currently exists no official government sanctioned system of identification for businesses that have a relatively small or negligible adverse impact on the environment. Accordingly, the Council finds that is in the consumers' best interest to be aware of which businesses can reasonably be considered to be environmentally friendly and to create a voluntary system in which businesses may apply to gain an identification from city government as an environmentally friendly business that they may display in public.
§2. Subdivision one of section 1301 of the New York city charter is amended by amending paragraphs q and r and by adding a new paragraph s to read as follows:
q. to cooperate with and assist any corporation, organization, agency or instrumentality, whether public or private, the objects of which include, or which is authorized to act for, the advancement of the business and industrial prosperity and economic welfare of the city, or the furnishing of assistance in the location of new business and industry therein, or the rehabilitation or expansion of existing business and industry therein, or the creation of job opportunities or additional employment therein, so as to provide support for any action, efforts or activities for the accomplishment of any such purposes in the city on the part of any such corporation, organization, agency or instrumentality; [and]
r. to issue permits for the taking of motion pictures, and for the taking of photographs and for the use or operation of television cameras and/or any other transmitting television equipment in or about city property, or in or about any street, park, marginal street, pier, wharf, dock, bridge or tunnel within the jurisdiction of any city department or agency or involving the use of any city owned or maintained facilities or equipment[.]; and
s. to encourage businesses in the city to be more environmentally friendly, through the promotion, coordination and implementation of a program in which a business may seek to obtain a designation from the city, and to prepare a list, to be posted on the city's website, that identifies such business as environmentally friendly, as determined by the appropriate city agency or agencies. As part of this program, the commissioner shall coordinate with the department of environmental protection, the department of consumer affairs, the mayor's office of long term planning and sustainability and any other city agency or agencies that regulate businesses, to create a list of categories of businesses where reasonable distinctions can be made between environmentally friendly businesses and non-environmentally friendly businesses, along with a set of criteria for each category, so that a business within a given category may apply for a designation from the department of small business services which shall, in consultation with the appropriate city agency or agencies, determine whether the business satisfies the criteria for being designated environmentally friendly.
§3. This local law shall take effect one hundred and eighty days after its enactment into law.
JHC
Int 640/2011
LS 206/2014