Final Letter Report on the New York City Office of the City Clerk & Clerk of the City Council’s Compliance with Local Law 36 Regarding Waste Prevention, Reuse and Recycling by City Agencies
The audit determined whether the City Clerk 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 City Clerk to follow recycling rules established by the New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) pursuant to Local Law 36. Our audit of the City Clerk 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 City Clerk did not fully comply with Local Law 36. The City Clerk, as required by the law, has designated a lead recycling coordinator for its Manhattan office and additional assistant coordinators for offices in each of the other four boroughs. The City Clerk also source separates its recyclable materials. But we found that it did not establish a Waste Prevention, Reuse, and Recycling Plan for its agency, nor did it submit an annual report for Fiscal Years 2012 through 2016 to its agency head or to DSNY, as required by Local Law 36.
In addition to these findings, however, we note that the City Clerk has made efforts to address waste prevention, reuse, and safe handling of hazardous waste beyond the requirements of the local law. Specifically, the City Clerk has set its printers to duplex printing as a default to reduce paper usage. The City Clerk also participates in a citywide contract for the removal of its electronic waste and follows the City’s policy and procedures for the disposal of its surplus items. Those measures have been taken in accordance with DSNY’s rules enacted pursuant to Local Law 36. During the audit the City Clerk provided us with documents to illustrate its efforts (see Exhibits A, B, C, and D).
The audit recommends that the City Clerk establish a Waste Prevention, Reuse, and Recycling Plan for its agency, 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 City Clerk agreed with the report’s findings and stated that “[t]he City Clerk will establish a plan by the close of Fiscal Year [2017]” and “shall submit an annual report to its agency head and to DSNY by July 1 as required by Local Law 36.”