Letter Report On The New York City Department Of Probation’s Compliance With Local Law 36
The City of New York Office of the Comptroller Audit and Special Reports
Letter Report On The New York City Department Of Probation’s Compliance With Local Law 36
Executive Summary
The audit determined whether the New York City Department of Probation’s (DOP) complied with Local Law 36, which governs waste prevention, reuse and recycling by City agencies. The objective of this audit was to determine whether DOP is complying with the local law, which 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 DOP made to follow additional recycling rules established by the New York City Department of Sanitation (DNSY) pursuant to Local Law 36. Our audit of DOP is one in a series of audits we are conducting of compliance with the local law.
In 1989, New York City established Local Law 19, codified as 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 by which it 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 the agency occupies. By July 1, 2012, and in each year thereafter, the lead recycling coordinator for each agency is required to submit a report to the head of its agency 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
The audit found that DOP did not fully comply with Local Law 36. DOP did not establish a waste prevention, reuse and recycling plan until April 2015, notwithstanding that Local Law 36 requires such a plan to have been submitted to DSNY no later than July 1, 2011. The audit also found that DOP did not submit the required annual reports to its Commissioner or to DSNY for Fiscal Years 2012, 2013, and 2014. Although Local Law 36 requires that each agency designate one assistant coordinator for each building it occupies, the audit found that DOP has designated only two additional assistant coordinators to assist its agency’s lead coordinator for its thirteen City-owned (DOP occupied) office buildings.
During a site visit to the Bay Street office in Staten Island, auditors noted that the waste generated from the office, including shredded papers and cans, is collected and placed in a trash compactor before it is picked up by the waste management company. A trash compactor allows more waste to fit into a smaller space by compaction. However, once the trash is compressed, recyclables are difficult to separate; this practice may hinder DOP’s effort to comply with Local Law 36. In addition, 7 of DOP’s 11 facilities did not have proper recycling signage posted at the receptacles. Signage and labeling provide instruction for the proper disposal of designated recyclable materials.
The audit recommends that DOP submit the required annual reports to its Director and DSNY by July 1st of each year and designate additional assistant coordinators as required by Local Law 36. The audit also recommends that DOP review its waste collection process at the Staten Island office to ensure it is in compliance with New York City Recycling Law and label each recycling receptacle at the other six locations to indicate what recyclable materials should be placed in each container.
In its written response, DOP agreed with the report’s findings and stated that it has appointed an Assistant Coordinator for each building it occupies; that it will submit the annual reports in a timely manner; and that it has obtained recycling signage from DSNY and has posted it at all receptacles. DOP also addressed the finding at the Bay Street office in Staten Island by contacting the landlord “to explore the feasibility of separating” the recyclable materials.