§ 27-1015 — Violations

§ 27-1015. Violations.\n 1. Except as otherwise provided in this section and section 27-1012 of\nthis title, any person who shall violate any provision of this title\nshall be liable to the state of New York for a civil penalty of not more\nthan five hundred dollars, and an additional civil penalty of not more\nthan five hundred dollars for each day during which each such violation\ncontinues. Any civil penalty may be assessed following a hearing or\nopportunity to be heard.\n 2. Any distributor, deposit initiator, redemption center or dealer who\nviolates any provision of this title, except as provided in section\n27-1012 of this title, shall be liable to the state of New York for a\ncivil penalty of not more than one thousand dollars, and an additional\ncivil penalty of not more than one thousand dollars for each day during\nwhich each such violation continues. Any civil penalty may be assessed\nfollowing a hearing or opportunity to be heard.\n 3. It shall be unlawful for a distributor or deposit initiator, acting\nalone or aided by another, to return any empty beverage container to a\ndealer or redemption center for its refund value if the distributor or\ndeposit initiator had previously accepted such beverage container from\nany dealer or operator of a redemption center or if such container was\npreviously accepted by a reverse vending machine. A violation of this\nsubdivision shall be a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than\nfive hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars and an amount\nequal to two times the amount of money received as a result of such\nviolation.\n 4. Any person who willfully tenders to a dealer, distributor,\nredemption center or deposit initiator more than forty-eight empty\nbeverage containers for which such person knows or should reasonably\nknow that no deposit was paid in New York state may be assessed by the\ndepartment a civil penalty of up to one hundred dollars for each\ncontainer or up to twenty-five thousand dollars for each such tender of\ncontainers. At each location where a person tenders containers for\nredemption, dealers and redemption centers must conspicuously display a\nsign in letters that are at least one inch in height with the following\ninformation: "WARNING: Persons tendering for redemption containers on\nwhich a deposit was never paid in this state may be subject to a civil\npenalty of up to one hundred dollars per container or up to twenty-five\nthousand dollars for each such tender of containers." Any civil penalty\nmay be assessed following a hearing or opportunity to be heard.\n 5. The department, the department of agriculture and markets, the\ndepartment of taxation and finance and the attorney general are hereby\nauthorized to enforce the provisions of this title and all monies\ncollected shall be deposited to the credit of the environmental\nprotection fund established pursuant to section ninety-two-s of the\nstate finance law. In addition, the provisions of section 27-1005 of\nthis title and subdivisions one, two, three, four, five, ten and eleven\nof section 27-1007 of this title may be enforced by a county, city, town\nor village and the local legislative body thereof may adopt local laws,\nordinances or regulations consistent with this title providing for the\nenforcement of such provisions.\n * 5-a. The city of New York, Nassau county and Suffolk county are\nentitled to retain twenty-five percent of all monies collected as fines\nor penalties pursuant to enforcement of section 27-1005 of this chapter.\n * NB Repealed April 1, 2026\n 6. (a) Any person who willfully violates or directs another to violate\nthe requirements to collect or charge the refund value imposed by\nsection 27-1005 or paragraph a of subdivision nine of section 27-1012 of\nthis title on five thousand or more beverage containers in one or more\nseparate transactions within one year shall be guilty of a class B\nmisdemeanor.\n (b) Any person, having previously been convicted of a violation of\nparagraph (a) of this section within the past three years, who willfully\nviolates or directs another to violate the requirements to collect or\ncharge the refund value imposed by section 27-1005 or paragraph a of\nsubdivision nine of section 27-1012 of this title on five thousand or\nmore beverage containers in one or more separate transactions within one\nyear shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor.\n (c) Any person who willfully violates or directs another to violate\nthe requirements to collect or charge the refund value imposed by\nsection 27-1005 or paragraph a of subdivision nine of section 27-1012 of\nthis title on twenty thousand or more beverage containers in one or more\nseparate transactions within one year shall be guilty of a class E\nfelony.\n Nothing in this subdivision shall apply to common or contract carriers\nor warehousemen while engaged in lawfully transporting or storing such\ncontainers as merchandise, nor to any employee of such carrier or\nwarehouseman acting within the scope of his or her employment.\n 7. A violation of this title, except as otherwise provided in this\nsection and section 27-1012 of this title, shall be a public nuisance.\n