Because it is part of the regional biosolids management market, it was a major concern for the Northeast back in June as a bill began moving through the New York State Senate that would have put a 5-year statewide moratorium on the sale and use of biosolids. NEBRA’s Reg-Leg Committee had been watching the legislation, A06192, since February but there wasn’t much action on it and it didn’t seem like there was going to be.

The purpose of A06192 as stated in the text is “to address the threat of PFAS contamination through sewage sludge, or biosolids, on New York state farmland and water supplies”. It started out as a bill to require testing and the establishment of a state task force to look at the issue. In early June, the bill was moved from Environmental Conservation to Ways and Means in the Senate where it was stripped down to basically the 5-year moratorium, It was then quickly referred to the Senate Rules committee where it passed on June 12th by a vote of 48 for, 11 against. It then went to the full body where it ran out of time to be voted on. It was ordered to a third reading which means it will be back in the 2026 session.

For the Northeast states, Massachusetts and Vermont would be severely impacted if such a moratorium were to be enacted. So would the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec.

A coordinated effort was made to reach out to legislators and inform them of the impacts the bill could have both locally and regionally. The New York Water Environment Association was quoted in opposition. And the Mid-Atlantic Biosolids Association submitted a formal comment letter to the New York Senate Agriculture Committee and New York Assembly Committee on Environmental Conservation. New York stakeholders were able to rally enough to push back on this year’s effort and educate lawmakers on the unintended consequences of the 5-year moratorium. Outreach by Water Resource Recovery Facilities and others made a difference; cost arguments were acknowledged.

Unfortunately, the New York press continues to perpetuate bad science when it comes to biosolids. For example, a local newspaper, the Times Union, reported in “New York could issue a temporary ban on biosolid fertilizer” that the “impacts of land spreading biosolids on human health is clear” and goes on to reference a 2013 study conducted by the University of North Carolina, Duke University, and Concerned Citizens of Tillery (NC). The Virginia Biosolids Council had issued this statement at the time regarding this study, pointing out that it utilized qualitative interviews from neighbors of land application sites.

There have been many other local bans enacted or proposed in New York State the last few years, including in Schoharie, Albany, Steuben and Clinton Counties as well as the Towns of Thurston, Goshen and Cameron.