BILL NUMBER: S5759C
SPONSOR: HARCKHAM
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to
establishing a moratorium on the sale and use of biosolids
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To address the threat of PFAS contamination through sewage sludge, or
biosolids, on New York state farmland and water supplies.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Sec. 1 - amends article 27 of the environmental conservation law by
adding a new title 8 establishing a 5 year moratorium on the land
spreading, sale, and distribution of biosolids;
Sec. 2 - establishes a person who violates the provisions of this legis-
lation shall be liable for a penalty of up to twenty-five hundred
dollars for each such violation, and an additional penalty of up to five
hundred dollars each day the violation continues.
Sec. 3 - establishes the provisions of this legislation are severable.
Sec. 4 - states the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
NYS has already recognized the risk of PFAS and banned their use in
outdoor apparel, food packaging, firefighting equipment, and firefight-
ing foam. NYS' allowable limit for PFAS in drinking water is also 10
parts per trillion, yet there is currently no regulatory or statutory
limit for PFAS in biosolids spread on farmland (6 CRR-NY 361-3.0). In
fact, in 2023, New York's Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC)
released a draft Solid Waste Management Plan, which states that the DEC
would "continue to support local efforts to increase biosolids recycling
as a means to provide nutrients and organic matter to soils..." in order
to reduce landfilling of biosolids.
While it is an honorable goal to reduce waste going to landfills,
bioso-lids are far too toxic to continue spreading directly on farmland
that produces our food. A 2019 The Guardian Article titled "Biosolids:
mix human waste with toxic chemicals, then spread on crops," details the
risk of biosolids, stating: "By the time the mix lands in treatment
plants, it can teem with pharmaceuticals, hormones, pathogens, bacteria,
viruses, protozoa and parasitic worms, as well as heavy metals like
lead, cadmium, arsenic or mercury. It often includes PCBs, PFAS, diox-
ins, BPAs and dozens of other harmful substances ranging from flame
retardants to hospital waste." There are nearly 80,000 man-made chemi-
cals from industrial discharge and sewage systems, with the EPA identi-
fying 350 pollutants, of which 61 are acknowledged as "1. Acutely
hazardous, 2. hazardous, or 3.priority pollutants." Furthermore, the
Federal Government bars dumping of biosolids in oceans because it causes
marine dead zones, while Whole Foods, Dole, Heinz, and Del Monte won't
buy crops grown in biosolids.
The impacts of land spreading of biosolids on human health are clear. A
2013 study from the University of North Carolina which found that 75% of
people living near farms that spread biosolids experienced health issues
like burning eyes, nausea, vomiting, boils, and rashes, while others
contracted penicillin-resistant M RSA. While PFAS are only one of the
many contaminants in biosolids, an EPA web page titled "Our Current
Understanding of the Human Health and Environmental Risks of PFAS"
recognizes health effects of this chemical includes: "decreased fertili-
ty or increased high blood pressure in pregnant women; developmental
effects or delays in children, including low birth weight, accelerated
puberty, bone variations, or behavioral changes; increased risk of
cancers including prostate, kidney, and testicular; reduced ability of
the body's immune system to fight infections, including reduced vaccine
response; interference with the body's natural hormones; increased
cholesterol levels and/or risk of obesity."
There is no reason why New York's food should not be as protected as our
drinking water. Continuing the spreading of biosolids that are not
treated to neutralize the known effects of contaminants like PFAS,
-other known toxic chemicals including PCBs, dioxins, and BPAs, and
heavy metals will only contaminate New York's land, food, and people,
costing millions to mitigate and taking prime farmland offline for many
decades.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
To be determined.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have
become a law.