N.Y. General Municipal Law § 80-a: Purchasing of products for municipal use

§ 80-a. Purchasing of products for municipal use. 1. As used in this

section:

a. "Practicable" means capable of being used without violating the

following criteria: performance, availability at a reasonable price,

availability within a reasonable period of time and maintenance of a

satisfactory level of competition.

b. "Secondary material" means any material recovered from or otherwise

destined for the waste stream, including but not limited to,

post-consumer material, industrial scrap material and overstock or

obsolete inventories from distributors, wholesalers and other companies,

but such term does not include those materials and by-products generated

from, and commonly reused within, an original manufacturing process.

2. The municipality shall review the procurement specifications it

currently uses to determine whether such require that products be

manufactured from virgin materials or exclude products manufactured from

secondary materials and shall make such changes, on or before January

first, nineteen hundred ninety-one, as may be necessary to ensure that:

a. Where such specifications exclude the use of products manufactured

from secondary materials or require that products be manufactured from

virgin materials only, such exclusions or requirements be eliminated;

provided, however, that specifications need not be revised if the

municipality determines that for a particular end use a product

containing secondary materials would not meet necessary performance

standards.

b. Performance standards, specifications and a product's intended end

use are related, and clearly identified when feasible.

c. Specifications are not overly stringent for a particular end use or

performance standard.

d. Specifications incorporate or require the use of secondary

materials to the maximum extent practicable without jeopardizing the

performance or intended end use of the product; provided, however, where

the municipality determines that for a particular end use a product

containing secondary materials would not meet necessary performance

standards, such specifications need not incorporate or require the use

of secondary materials.