Bottle Law in Legal Limbo ALBANY, NEW YORK (WXXI) - New York's new expanded bottle deposit law is in legal limbo, now that a federal judge has thrown out portions of the measure, saying it violates the US constitution.

In April, as part of the new state budget, Governor Paterson and the legislature agreed to expand the state's quarter century old bottle deposit law to include bottled water.

Since, then some technical problems have arisen with the new law. Bottlers are required to put special UPC codes on products sold in New York State. But the bottling companies, including giants like Nestle Waters, which owns Poland Springs, among other companies, had argued that it would be impossible to comply with the special UPC bar code in time for the June 1 deadline, when the law was to take effect.

A federal judge on Wednesday agreed, and said the requirement to make special labels for New York violated the commerce clause of the US constitution.

Supporters of the expanded bottle law, including Laura Haight, with NYPIRG, concede that bottlers did need more time to comply with what turned out to be a more complicated process than anticipated.

"To be fair, June 1 was a very ambitious start date," Haight said.

Several days ago, Governor Paterson submitted a bill to fix the technical problems in the law.

"We're talking to the handlers and the bottlers about trying to work out a solution that would be amenable," said Paterson. "They feel they're being hit too hard."

But Paterson, so far, has been unable to win consensus from the legislature. Haight, with NYPIRG, says that's very "disappointing" especially since, she says, the governor and legislature knew the law was flawed and had to be fixed.

"They just didn't get their act together in time," she said.

The judge's order also raises questions about whether other aspects of the expanded bottle law will be permitted to take effect on June 1st. Those provisions would allow the state to begin collecting 80% of all the unclaimed deposits on soda, beer, and water containers. The estimated $115 million dollars collected would help close the state's massive budget deficit. The law also increased handling fees for grocery stores and other redemption centers.

Environmentalists and the bottling industry are waiting to see a written opinion from the judge, due out in a couple of days. The ruling does not effect the 1982 law requiring nickel deposits on beer and soda cans and bottles.

The expanded law was initially to include all bottled and canned beverages that have become popular since the original law took effect, including bottled iced teas, and sugared non- carbonated drinks, like juice based beverages, and sports drinks. Supporters say they would have liked the other drinks to be included in the law.

Many water bottlers continue to criticize the compromise law as unfair, including Robert Kennedy Jr., who wrote an Op Ed article in the New York Times. Kennedy, an environmental lawyer, owns a bottling company in the Hudson Valley that he says funnels all profits to environmental causes. His company was a party to the lawsuit brought by Nestle and other major bottling companies. Kennedy, in the article, calls the new law " an ugly sausage that was cooked up by lobbyists for makers of sugared drinks and their allies in the Legislature".

Lawmakers exited Albany on Wednesday for a long weekend, without acting to fix the expanded bottle law, and they aren't due back until Monday.




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