The database here includes all laws, important land use decisions, and significant resolutions passed by the New York City Council since January 2002. Use the search options to the right to find bills by year, topic, keyword and/or bill number. Also see how each council member voted and if the mayor signed or vetoed the legislation.
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SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT PLAN
(INTRO 402)Introduced: 2006
Passed City Council: July 19, 2006
Passed Mayor: July 26, 2006
The New York City Council approved Mayor Michael Bloomberg's plan to change the way the city handles its garbage. Under the plan, the city will move its trash to out-of-state landfills by barge and rail, rather than by trucks, as it does today. The version of the plan that the council approved was altered to lessen the environmental impact on neighborhoods that will have to play host to garbage facilities and to further encourage recycling. The city's current system of garbage management has been criticized mainly because of its negative environmental impact. Over the next twenty years, the lifespan of the new plan, truck traffic is expected to be reduced by 3 million miles. The city expects the immediate financial impact of the new plan to actually raise the cost of handling garbage from about $77 a ton to about $107, but supporters of the plan believe it will be financially beneficial in the long term. For residential waste, the city is planning to open four "marine transfer stations" where trucks will dump garbage onto barges. Two are in Brooklyn, one in Manhattan, and one in Queens. The council strengthened language guaranteeing that these neighborhoods will see a reduction in the amount of waste handled at privately-run truck-based garbage facilities already operating there. The South Bronx is also guaranteed such a reduction, since it has been overburdened for years. A transfer station for commercial waste is also being planned at 59th Street and the Hudson River in Manhattan. The council added a commitment to look for alternative sites in Manhattan as well. The plan must still be approved by the state.
How Councilmembers Voted :
45-Yes 5-No 0-Abstain 1-Absent
| Name | Party | District | Vote |
| Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr. | Democrat | 32 | Yes |
| Maria del Carmen Arroyo | Democrat | 17 | Yes |
| Tony Avella | Democrat | 19 | Yes |
| Maria Baez | Democrat | 14 | Yes |
| Charles Barron | Democrat | 42 | Yes |
| Gale A. Brewer | Democrat | 6 | No |
| Yvette D. Clarke | Democrat | 40 | Yes |
| Leroy G. Comrie, Jr. | Democrat | 27 | Yes |
| Bill de Blasio | Democrat | 39 | Yes |
| Inez E. Dickens | Democrat | 9 | Yes |
| Erik Martin Dilan | Democrat | 37 | Yes |
| Simcha Felder | Democrat | 44 | Yes |
| Lewis A. Fidler | Democrat | 46 | Yes |
| Helen D. Foster | Democrat | 16 | Yes |
| Dennis P. Gallagher | Republican | 30 | Yes |
| Daniel R. Garodnick | Democrat | 4 | No |
| James F. Gennaro | Democrat | 24 | Yes |
| Vincent J. Gentile | Democrat | 43 | Yes |
| Alan Gerson | Democrat | 1 | Yes |
| Eric N. Gioia | Democrat | 26 | Yes |
| Sara M. Gonzalez | Democrat | 38 | Yes |
| Robert Jackson | Democrat | 7 | Yes |
| Letitia James | Working Families | 35 | Yes |
| Melinda R. Katz | Democrat | 29 | Yes |
| G. Oliver Koppell | Democrat | 11 | No |
| Andrew J. Lanza | Republican | 51 | Yes |
| Jessica S. Lappin | Democrat | 5 | No |
| John C. Liu | Democrat | 20 | Yes |
| Melissa Mark Viverito | Democrat | 8 | Yes |
| Miguel Martinez | 10 | Yes | |
| Michael E. McMahon | Democrat | 49 | Yes |
| Darlene Mealy | Democrat | 41 | Yes |
| Rosie Mendez | Democrat | 2 | Yes |
| Hiram Monserrate | Democrat | 21 | Yes |
| Michael C. Nelson | Democrat | 48 | Yes |
| James S. Oddo | Republican | 50 | Yes |
| Annabel Palma | Democrat | 18 | Yes |
| Christine C. Quinn | Democrat | 3 | Yes |
| Domenic M. Recchia, Jr. | Democrat | 47 | No |
| Diana Reyna | Democrat | 34 | Yes |
| Joel Rivera | Democrat | 15 | Absent |
| James Sanders, Jr. | Democrat | 31 | Yes |
| Larry B. Seabrook | Democrat | 12 | Yes |
| Helen Sears | Democrat | 25 | Yes |
| Kendall Stewart | Democrat | 45 | Yes |
| James Vacca | Democrat | 13 | Yes |
| Peter F. Vallone, Jr. | Democrat | 22 | Yes |
| Albert Vann | Democrat | 36 | Yes |
| David I. Weprin | Democrat | 23 | Yes |
| Thomas White, Jr. | Democrat | 28 | Yes |
| David Yassky | Democrat | 33 | Yes |