Int. No. 1476
By Council Members Brannan, Powers, Menin, Williams, Gennaro and Lee
A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring food service establishments and retail food stores to donate excess food
Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision a of section 16-306.1 of the administrative code of the city of New York, as amended by local law number 214 for the year 2017, is amended to read as follows:
a. [When] As used in this section or section 16-324 of this chapter, the following terms have the following meanings:
[“Arena”] Arena. The term “arena” means an establishment or facility that hosts live sporting or entertainment events.
[“Capacity”] Capacity. The term “capacity” means the combined capacity of facilities that are capable of accepting and processing, consistent with the terms of this section and exceeding a nominal amount, organic waste expected to be generated by and collected from designated covered establishments.
[“Catering]”] Catering establishment. The term “catering establishment” means any room, place or space in the city, which is used, leased or hired out for the business of serving food or beverages for a particular function, occasion or event, to which the public is not invited or admitted and wherein music or entertainment is permitted.
[“Covered] Covered establishment. The term “covered establishment” means:
1. any location at which a food manufacturer has a floor area of at least [twenty-five thousand] 25,000 square feet;
2. any location at which a food wholesaler has a floor area of at least [twenty thousand] 20,000 square feet;
3. any location at which a retail food store has a floor area of at least [seven thousand] 7,000 square feet, or any retail food store that is part of a chain of [three] 3 or more retail food stores that have a combined floor area space of at least [seven thousand] 7,000 square feet and that operate under common ownership or control and receive waste collection from the same private carter;
4. arenas or stadiums having a seating capacity of at least [fifteen thousand] 15,000 persons;
5. any food service establishment that is part of a chain of [two] 2 or more food service establishments that have a combined floor area of at least [eight thousand] 8,000 square feet and that: (i) operate under common ownership or control; (ii) are individually franchised outlets of a parent business; or (iii) do business under the same corporate name, provided that the requirements of subparagraph (i) of paragraph 1 of subdivision c of this section shall not apply to any such food service establishment when the building or premises in which such food service establishment is located is in compliance with such requirement pursuant to paragraph [seven] 7 of this definition;
6. any location at which a food service establishment has a floor area of at least [seven thousand] 7,000 square feet, provided that the requirements of subparagraph (i) of paragraph 1 of subdivision c of this section shall not apply to any such location when the building or premises containing such location is in compliance with such requirement pursuant to paragraph [seven] 7 of this definition;
7. any building or premises where food service establishments having a total combined floor area of at least [eight thousand] 8,000 square feet are located and where the owner of the building or premises, or its agent, arranges or contracts with a private carter for the removal of waste from food service establishments having no less than [eight thousand] 8,000 square feet of such building or premises, provided that any such food service establishments shall comply with the requirements of subparagraphs (ii), (iii), and (iv) of paragraph 1 of subdivision c of this section, but such requirements shall not apply to the owner or agent of any such building or premises;
8. any location at which a food preparation establishment has a floor area of at least [six thousand] 6,000 square feet;
9. any catering establishment that is required to provide for the removal of waste pursuant to section 16-116 [of this code] whenever the anticipated attendance for any particular event is greater than [one hundred] 100 persons;
10. any food service establishments located within and providing food to [one] 1 or more hotels totaling at least [one hundred] 100 sleeping rooms; and
11. sponsors of a temporary public event.
[“Designated] Designated area. The term “designated area” means within a [one hundred] 100 mile radius of the city.
Excess food. The term “excess food” means edible food that meets all quality and labeling standards imposed by federal, state, and local laws and regulations and is still safe to be consumed but is not being sold or used by a food service establishment or retail food store. “Excess food” does not include unpackaged fresh meat, fish, or poultry; food damaged by storage conditions, pests, mold, bacteria, or other contamination; food that has been offered for sale from a hot, cold, or prepared food bar; food subject to a governmental or producer recall; food returned to a supplier; or food sold to a food remarketer, restaurant, other preparer of food for human consumption, farmer, or other producer.
[“Food] Food manufacturer. The term “food manufacturer” means any establishment that processes or fabricates food products from raw materials for commercial purposes, provided that it shall not include any establishment engaged solely in the warehousing, distribution or retail sale of product.
[“Food] Food preparation establishment. The term “food preparation establishment” means a business that is primarily engaged in providing food or food services for a temporary, fixed time, or based on contractual arrangements for a specified period of time at locations other than such establishment’s permanent place of business.
[“Food] Food service establishment. The term “food service establishment” means any premises or part of a premises that is required to provide for the removal of waste pursuant to section 16-116 [of this code] where food is provided directly to the consumer, whether such food is provided free of charge or sold, and whether consumption occurs on or off the premises. [Food] The term “food service establishment” [shall include] includes, but is not [be] limited to, full-service restaurants, fast food restaurants, cafes, delicatessens, coffee shops, and business, institutional, or government agency cafeterias, but [shall] does not include retail food stores, convenience stores, pharmacies, and mobile food vending units, as such term is defined in section 89.03 of the health code. “Food service establishment” [shall] also does not include any premises or place of business where the sole or primary source of food is a refreshment counter where the available food is limited to items such as beverages, prepackaged items, and snacks.
[“Food] Food wholesaler. The term “food wholesaler” means any establishment primarily engaged in the wholesale distribution of groceries and related products including, but not limited to, packaged frozen food, dairy products, poultry products, confectioneries, fish and seafood, meat products, and fresh fruits and vegetables but shall not apply to establishments that handle only pre-packaged, non-perishable foods.
[“Hotel”] Hotel. The term “hotel” [shall have] has the same meaning as set forth in section 27-2004 of the housing maintenance code.
[“In] In vessel composting. The term “in vessel composting” means a process in which organic waste is enclosed in a drum, silo, bin, tunnel, reactor, or other container for the purpose of producing compost, maintained under controlled conditions of temperature and moisture and where air-borne emissions are controlled.
["Organic] Organic waste. The term “organic waste” [shall have] has the same meaning as set forth in section 16-303 [of this title], except that organic waste shall not include food that is donated to a third party or qualifying entity, food that is sold to farmers for feedstock, and meat by-products that are sold to a rendering company.
[“Private] Private carter. The term “private carter” means a business licensed by the business integrity commission pursuant to title 16-A [of this code].
Qualifying entity. The term “qualifying entity” means a religious or other not-for-profit organization that provides food for free to persons in need of such food, including, but not limited to, a food pantry, food bank, soup kitchen, or other similar organization.
[“Retail] Retail food store. The term “retail food store” means any establishment or section of an establishment where food and food products offered to the consumer are intended for off-premises consumption, but [shall exclude] does not include convenience stores, pharmacies, greenmarkets or farmers’ markets, and food service establishments.
[“Sponsor] Sponsor of a temporary public event. The term “sponsor of a temporary public event” means the applicant for a street activity permit pursuant to chapter 1 of title 50 of the rules of the city of New York, or any successor provision, for any activity on a public street, street curb lane, sidewalk or pedestrian island or plaza with an anticipated attendance of greater than [five hundred] 500 persons per day where the activity will interfere with or obstruct the regular use of the location by pedestrian or vehicular traffic. Such term [shall] does not include activities conducted pursuant to a valid film permit, demonstrations, parades, or block parties.
[“Stadium”] Stadium. The term “stadium” means an establishment or facility that hosts live sporting or entertainment events.
§ 2. Section 16-306.1 is amended by adding a new subdivision d to read as follows:
d. Each food service establishment and retail food store shall enter into an agreement to donate excess food generated by such food service establishment or retail food store to a qualifying entity or qualifying entities.
§ 3. This local law takes effect 180 days after it becomes law.
MBB
LS # 2289, 6657, 12616, 16314, 20134, 20135
11/06/2025