Letter Report on the New York City Economic Development Corporation’s Compliance with Local Law 36

SPECIAL REPORTS

Letter Report on the New York City Economic Development Corporation’s Compliance with Local Law 36

LETTER REPORT IN BRIEF

This brief summarizes our audit findings regarding the compliance by the New York City Economic Development Corporation (“EDC”) with Local Law 36, which governs waste prevention, reuse and recycling by City agencies.  The objective of this audit is to determine if EDC complied 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 made by EDC to follow additional recycling rules established by the Department of Sanitation for the City of New York (“DSNY”) pursuant to Local Law 36.  Our audit of EDC 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 over arching “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, and each year after.  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 commissioner of DSNY 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 department’s annual recycling report.

Results

Our audit found that that EDC generally complies with Local Law 36.  We found that EDC source separates its recyclable materials, and has designated a lead recycling/sustainability coordinator and assistant coordinators.  However, we found that EDC did not establish a waste prevention, reuse and recycling plan until the fall of 2013, after this audit had commenced.  We also found that EDC did not submit the required annual report to its President or to DSNY for fiscal years 2012 and 2013. 

In addition to these findings, we observed that EDC has made additional efforts to address waste prevention, reuse, and safe handling of hazardous waste beyond the requirements of the local law.  Following our audit electronic survey, EDC has expanded its recycling efforts by adding additional recycling stations and establishing a waste prevention, reuse and recycling plan to bring the agency into compliance with Local Law 36.  In addition, EDC coordinates with building management for the collection and proper disposal of its electronic waste, such as lighting and ballasts.  These observations are based on DSNY’s additional guidelines.

The audit recommended that EDC submit the required annual reports to its Commissioner and DSNY by July 1st of each year as required by Local Law 36.

Agency Response

EDC generally agreed and stated that “going forward we will ensure that an annual report is submitted to our agency head and to the DSNY Commissioner by July 1st of each year.”