N.Y.C. Admin. Code § 17-180.1: § 17-180.1 Overdose prevention and reversal training; needle, syringe, and sharps buyback.

a.

Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:

Adjacent to any school premises. The term “adjacent to any school premises” means any sidewalk that directly abuts a school premises.

Mobile syringe service program. The term “mobile syringe service program” means any person, organization, or entity authorized by the state department of health to distribute hypodermic syringes and needles and operating out of a van, bus, or automobile.

Opioid. The term "opioid" means an opiate as defined in section 3302 of the public health law.

Opioid antagonist. The term "opioid antagonist" means naloxone, narcan or other medication approved by the New York state department of health and the federal food and drug administration that, when administered, negates or neutralizes in whole or in part the pharmacological effects of an opioid in the human body.

Playground. The term “playground” has the same meaning as set forth in section 17-1202.

Portable needle, syringe, and sharp disposal container. The term “portable needle, syringe, and sharp disposal container” means a puncture-resistant, leakproof container designed for the safe collection and disposal of used needles, syringes, lancets, and other sharp medical instruments.

School premises. The term “school premises” has the same meaning as set forth in section 17-702.

Syringe service program. The term “syringe service program” means a program authorized by the state department of health to distribute hypodermic syringes and needles.

b. For as long as the department determines there is an urgent public health need, the department shall offer overdose prevention and reversal training to the general public. Such training shall include:

1. How to recognize an opioid overdose; and

2. How to properly administer common opioid antagonists to reverse an opioid overdose.

c. For as long as the department determines there is an urgent public health need, the department shall offer a public awareness strategy to inform the public of the existence of such trainings and the danger of opioid addiction and abuse.

d. For as long as the department determines there is an urgent public health need, the department shall provide access to opioid antagonists to all syringe service programs operating within the city.

e. The department shall require that the staff at all syringe service programs operating in the city receive overdose prevention and reversal training. Such training shall teach staff:

1. How to identify and respond to an opioid overdose; and

2. How to properly administer common opioid antagonists to reverse an opioid overdose.

f. Thirty days prior to the department's determination that there is no longer an urgent public heath need, pursuant to subdivisions b, c and d of this section, the department shall submit a report to the speaker of the council detailing the reasons for such determination.

g. 1.

Needle, syringe, and sharps buyback pilot program. The department shall establish a needle, syringe, and sharps buyback pilot program. Such program shall offer financial incentives to individuals who collect and return needles, syringes, and sharps that were used for non-medical consumption. In implementing such program, the department shall establish at least 1 buyback location in each of the 5 highest-need council districts in the city, as determined by the department. The department shall set the amount of the buyback incentive for such program, except that such incentive shall not exceed 20 cents per needle, syringe, or sharp and shall not exceed a maximum payout of $10 per day to any individual. The department shall determine eligibility for such program and may consult with overdose prevention centers, the New York city health and hospitals corporation, or any other entity deemed relevant by the commissioner in administering such program.

2.

Implementation. The pilot program shall commence no later than 30 days after the effective date of the local law that added this subdivision and conclude one year after the date such program commences. On or before the date the pilot program commences, the department shall conspicuously post on its website a list of the buyback locations included in the pilot program.

3.

Report. No later than six months following the conclusion of the pilot program, the department shall submit to the mayor and the speaker of the council, and post conspicuously on the department's website, a report on the pilot program established pursuant to this subdivision. Such report shall include, at a minimum, the following information:

(a) The names and addresses of all buyback locations included in the pilot program;

(b) The number of needles, syringes, and sharps returned or disposed of under the pilot program, disaggregated by buyback location;

(c) The total amount of money disbursed to individuals; and

(d) The department's recommendation as to whether to establish a permanent buyback program and whether and how to expand such program.

h. 1.

Community-based plan of action. The department, in conjunction with stakeholders, community-based organizations, providers, and all other entities deemed relevant by the commissioner, shall create a community-based plan of action to address the opioid epidemic in communities that the department deems are at highest risk for opioid abuse and overdose deaths. Such plan shall include, at a minimum:

(a) The creation of a community-based working group, which shall include relevant stakeholders and providers from each community identified by the department pursuant to this paragraph;

(b) A public awareness strategy that targets and addresses each community identified by the department pursuant to this paragraph; and

(c) Information on how and where to access opioid antagonists, as defined in subdivision a of this section, in the community.

i.

Safe disposal and collection of needles, syringes, and sharps.

1.

Guidance and disposal containers. The department shall require each syringe service program to:

(a) Provide guidance to each participant of such syringe service program regarding safe disposal practices for needles, syringes, and sharps, including information about safe disposal sites located in the surrounding community; and

(b) Offer each participant of such syringe service program a portable needle, syringe, and sharp disposal container.

2.

Report. Beginning on September 1, 2026, and every 6 months thereafter, the department shall provide a report to the mayor and speaker of the council, and publish such reports on the department’s website, with the following information for the most recent reporting period:

(a) Specific steps that the department has taken to collect discarded needles, syringes, and sharps in public places;

(b) Specific steps that syringe service providers have taken to collect discarded needles, syringes, and sharps in the areas that they operate; and

(c) To the extent available, the total number of needles, syringes, and sharps collected by the department and syringe service providers.

j.

Prohibition on the distribution of hypodermic syringes and needles by mobile syringe service programs in certain locations. A mobile syringe service program shall not distribute hypodermic syringes and needles in the following locations in the city: within any playground; within 50 feet of a playground, where practicable; on any school premises, or adjacent to any school premises.

(L.L. 2018/128, 6/26/2018, eff. 10/24/2018; Am. L.L. 2018/124, 6/26/2018, eff. 10/24/2018; Am. L.L. 2022/124, 12/23/2022, eff. 1/22/2023; Am. L.L. 2026/020, 1/17/2026, eff. 5/17/2026; Am. L.L. 2026/029, 1/17/2026, eff. 5/17/2026)