BILL NUMBER: S1064
SPONSOR: SERRANO
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to
prohibiting the purchase and use of glyphosate by certain entities
 
PURPOSE:
This legislation will protect public health by prohibiting the purchase
of and use of glyphosate on New York State property.
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section one amends subdivision 12 of section 33-1301 of the environ-
mental conservation law. Section two sets forth the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Under the legislation passed in 2020, New York State no longer permits
glyphosate use on state property, however, a handful of exceptions were
included which have allowed the continued use of glyphosate in certain
areas, despite evidence that it is harmful to human health.
Bayer, the maker of Roundup weed killer, announced in July 2021 that it
will be removing glyphosate from its residential lawn and garden
products by 2023. Further, the company set aside $4.5 billion to be used
for future glyphosate-related litigation. Thousands of people have
already filed suits against Bayer citing adverse health implications
from the use of Roundup.
Glyphosate was declared a probable human carcinogen in 2015 by the World
Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer and
researchers at the University of Washington found that exposure to
glyphosate may increase the risk of developing non-Hodgkin lymphoma by
as much as 41%. In 2018, a San Francisco man was awarded $289 million in
damages after using glyphosate products for years as a school groundsk-
eeper and later developing non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Plenty of alternatives to glyphosate exist that do not pose a public
health risk and with companies acknowledging the threat that glyphosate
poses, it is time that New York State fully implement its ban on the use
of glyphosate on state property, without exceptions. This legislation
will remove the exceptions in the 2020 glyphosate law and also prohibit
New York State from purchasing new glyphosate products.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-24: S262 - Referred to Environmental Conservation
2021-22: S.8245 - Referred to Environmental Conservation
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Undetermined.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the same date and in the same manner as
section 1 of chapter 19 of the laws of 2021, takes effect.