Sponsored by:
Senator BOB SMITH
District 17 (Middlesex and Somerset)
Senator RAJ MUKHERJI
District 32 (Hudson)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senator Greenstein
SYNOPSIS
Prohibits food service businesses from providing single-use plastic utensils and condiments to customers, except upon request, and requires certain food service businesses to provide reusable, washable utensils to customers eating on site.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the provision, by food service businesses, of single-use plastic utensils and condiments to customers, amending P.L.2002, c.128, and supplementing Title 13 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. As used in P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):
Commissioner means the Commissioner of Environmental Protection.
Condiment means packaged ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, hot sauce, salt, pepper, or any other herb, spice, seasoning, sauce, or substance that is used to give a special flavor to food.
Covered food service business means a food service business that does not exclusively provide customers with eco-friendly alternative utensils and condiments, and which, therefore, is not exempt from the provisions of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), as provided by subsection d. of section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
Department means the Department of Environmental Protection.
Eco-friendly alternative utensils and condiments means and includes: utensils and condiment packets or packages which are composed of compostable material or another material approved, by the department or the United States Environmental Protection Agency, as an eco-friendly alternative to conventional plastics, regardless of whether such utensils and condiment packages are designed to be discarded, by the consumer, after a single use; utensils and condiment packets or packages which are designed to be used multiple times and are not intended to be discarded after a single use, regardless of whether such utensils and condiment packages are composed of conventional plastics; and any other utensils and condiment packets or packages that are approved, by the department or the United States Environmental Protection Agency, as eco-friendly alternatives to single-use plastic utensils or condiments.
Food service business means and includes a restaurant, caf, food truck, vendor station, cafeteria, or any other facility or premises, or section or part thereof, including, but not limited to, a section or part of a grocery store, convenience store, hospital, school, sports arena, entertainment venue, or other similar facility or venue, where meals are prepared and served to customers for immediate consumption thereby on or off the premises, whether on a take-out, eat-in, drive-thru, or delivery basis.
Single-use plastic utensils or condiments means utensils or condiment packets or packages which are composed of conventional plastics and are designed to be discarded, by the consumer, after a single use.
Utensil means an instrument, including, but not limited to, a knife, fork, or spoon, which is commonly used by humans to eat meals served thereto by a food service business.
2. a. Commencing on the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):
(1) no food service business operating in the State shall provide single-use plastic utensils or condiments to any customer, except upon, and in accordance with, the express request of that customer. The provisions of this paragraph shall be applicable regardless of whether a customer is receiving meals from the food service business on an eat-in, take-out, drive-thru, or delivery basis, and regardless of whether the customers meal order is placed in person, over the phone, online, or using other available means or methods; and
(2) a food service business that has on-site seating capacity for 50 or more customers shall provide its on-site customers with easy access to reusable, washable utensils for use thereby while consuming meals on the premises, and shall require each customer using such utensils to return those utensils to the food service business, for the purposes of cleaning and reuse, upon completion of the customers on-site meal.
b. Any food service business that elects to supply customers with single-use plastic utensils or condiments, upon request, as authorized by paragraph (1) of subsection a. of this section:
(1) shall provide each customer with only those types and amounts of single-use plastic utensils and condiments that have been expressly requested thereby; and
(2) shall not create, acquire, or provide customers with bundled packages that contain more than one type of single-use plastic utensil or condiment, regardless of the nature of any customer request therefor.
c. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to:
(1) require a food service business to provide any single-use plastic utensils or condiments to customers, upon their request, as authorized by paragraph (1) of subsection a. of this section; or
(2) in any way restrict a food service business ability to provide its customers with eco-friendly alternative utensils and condiments, either on an exclusive basis, as provided by subsection d. of this section, or otherwise.
d. Any food service business that exclusively provides eco-friendly alternative utensils and condiments to its customers shall be exempt from compliance with the provisions of this section.
3. a. Any covered food service business that violates the provisions of section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall be liable to a civil penalty of $1,000 for the first offense, $2,500 for the second offense, and $5,000 for the third and each subsequent offense. Each day on which a violation occurs shall constitute a separate and distinct offense.
b. A penalty imposed pursuant to this section shall be collected, by the commissioner, in a summary proceeding commenced, pursuant to the provisions of the Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999, P.L.1999, c.274 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.), before a court of competent jurisdiction. The Superior Court and municipal courts shall have jurisdiction to enforce the provisions of the Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999, P.L.1999, c.274 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.), for the purposes of this section.
c. Any moneys collected from penalties imposed pursuant to this section shall be deposited into the Clean Communities Program Fund, established pursuant to section 5 of P.L.2002, c.128 (C.13:1E-217).
d. Notwithstanding any provision of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) to the contrary, a food service business shall be authorized to acquire, and to maintain on its premises, an adequate supply of non-bundled single-use plastic utensils or condiments for the purposes of providing such single-use plastic utensils or condiments to customers, upon request, in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (1) of subsection a. of section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), and no food service business shall be subject to a penalty, pursuant to subsection a. of this section, for acquiring, possessing, or maintaining a supply of single-use plastic utensils or condiments for the limited purposes authorized by this subsection.
4. Section 5 of P.L.2002, c.128