Final Letter Report on the New York City Equal Employment Practices Commission’s Compliance with Local Law 36 Regarding Waste Prevention, Reuse and Recycling by City Agencies
The audit determined whether the Equal Employment Practices Commission (EEPC) is complying with Local Law 36, which governs waste prevention, reuse and recycling by New York City agencies. Local Law 36 is intended to make City agencies, and ultimately the City as a whole, more sustainable through efforts that promote a clean environment, conserve natural resources and manage waste in a cost-effective manner. In addition, in the course of the audit, we noted efforts made by the EEPC to follow recycling rules established by the New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) pursuant to Local Law 36. Our audit of the EEPC is one in a series of audits we are conducting on the City’s compliance with the local law.
In 1989, New York City established Local Law 19, codified at Administrative Code §16-301, et seq., to establish an overarching “policy of the city to promote the recovery of materials from the New York City solid waste stream for the purpose of recycling such materials and returning them to the economy.” The law mandates recycling in New York City by residents, agencies, institutions and businesses, and includes a series of rules to guide implementation. Local Law 19 requires the City to establish environmental policies to conserve natural resources and manage waste in a sustainable and cost-effective manner.
In 2010, the City enacted Local Law 36, which amended the recycling provisions of Local Law 19 (Administrative Code §16-307) to require each City agency to develop a Waste Prevention, Reuse and Recycling Plan and submit the plan to DSNY for approval by July 1, 2011. Local Law 36 also requires each agency to designate a lead recycling or sustainability coordinator for the agency and, where the agency occupies more than one building, to designate an assistant coordinator for each building. By July 1, 2012, and in each year thereafter, the lead recycling coordinator for each agency is required to submit a report to the agency head and to DSNY “summarizing actions taken to implement the waste prevention, reuse, and recycling plan for the previous twelve-month reporting period, proposed actions to be taken to implement such plan, and updates or changes to any information included in such plan.”
In addition, Local Law 36 requires the DSNY Commissioner to adopt, amend and implement regulations governing recycling by City mayoral and non-mayoral agencies. DSNY is also responsible for consolidating the information contained in agency reports and including this information in the agency’s annual recycling report.
Results
Our audit found that the EEPC did not fully comply with Local Law 36. The agency separates its recyclable materials and, as required by the law, has designated a lead recycling coordinator for its single location. However, we found that the EEPC did not establish a Waste Prevention, Reuse, and Recycling Plan pursuant to Local Law 36. Additionally, it did not submit the required annual report for Fiscal Years 2012 through 2016 to its Executive Director or to DSNY. After this audit was commenced, the EEPC informed us that a recycling plan is in progress but that it has not yet been submitted to DSNY for approval. Our findings are outlined in the table below entitled Compliance Summary below.
In addition to these findings, however, we note that EEPC has made efforts to address waste prevention, reuse, and safe handling of hazardous waste beyond the requirements of the local law. Specifically, the EEPC collects and returns the empty toner cartridges from its printers to the manufacturers for recycling. Additionally, the EEPC streamlined its audit process electronically with the use of computer software, to minimize the need for printing unnecessary documents. Those measures have been taken in accordance with DSNY’s rules enacted pursuant to Local Law 36.
The audit recommends that the EEPC establish a Waste Prevention, Reuse, and Recycling Plan and submit the required annual report to its agency head and DSNY by July 1st of each year as required by Local Law 36.
In its response, the EEPC agreed with the report’s findings and stated that “EEPC has established a Waste Prevention, Reuse, and Recycling Plan, which it will submit to the, via the DSNY website before June 30, 2017” and “will ensure that the Waste Prevention, Reuse, and Recycling Plan is submitted to the DSNY before July 1, annually.”