Int. No. 633
By Council Members Powers, Bottcher, Brewer, Restler, Hanif, Nurse, Gutiérrez, Yeger, Sanchez and De La Rosa
A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the creation of a permanent COVID-19 wastewater testing program and the reporting of testing results, and to repeal section 24-531 of such code, relating to the creation of a pilot program to test sewage for SARS-CoV-2 RNA
Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section 1. Section 24-531 of the administrative code of the city of New York is REPEALED and a new section 24-531 is added to read as follows:
§ 24-531 COVID-19 wastewater testing program. a. Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
PCR using N1 primer. The term “PCR using N1 primer” means the measurement of the copies of the targeted viral RNA segment in wastewater sample using a polymerase chain reaction based method.
SARS-CoV-2. The term “SARS-CoV-2” means severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, which is the strain of coronavirus that causes the disease COVID-19.
Wastewater-based epidemiology. The term “wastewater-based epidemiology” means the chemical analysis of pollutants, viruses, and biomarkers in raw wastewater to obtain qualitative and quantitative data on disease activity among inhabitants within a given wastewater catchment.
b. Wastewater sampling and testing. The commissioner, in consultation with the commissioner of health and mental hygiene, shall conduct wastewater-based epidemiology sampling and testing to quantify the levels of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater at each city wastewater treatment plant in accordance with this section. Such sampling shall occur on a frequency of no less than twice per week and shall measure the number of copies of SARS-CoV-2 RNA levels through the PCR using N1 primer testing method or another testing method that reflects industry best practices.
c. Weekly publication of results. The commissioner of health and mental hygiene shall publish the results of testing provided for in subdivision b of this section no less than weekly on the department of health and mental hygiene’s website.
d. Annual report. No later than August 31, 2023, and every year thereafter, the commissioner of health and mental hygiene, in consultation with the commissioner of environmental protection, shall submit to the mayor and the speaker of the council a report which shall include but not be limited to the following:
1. Results of all sampling of SARS-CoV-2 conducted pursuant to this section, disaggregated by the site where the sample was collected, the date the sample was collected, and the date the sample was tested, in order to monitor the leading indicators of increases or decreases in SARS-CoV-2 present in each drainage area;
2. Any sequencing testing method other than PCR using N1 primer that the department used to test samples for SARS-CoV-2;
3. The total cost of the COVID-19 wastewater-based epidemiology testing program for the previous fiscal year; and
4. Analysis of the effectiveness of the COVID-19 wastewater-based epidemiology testing program in testing for SARS-CoV-2.
§ 2. This local law takes effect immediately.
DPM
LS #6622, 7965, 8241
8/4/2022 4:32 PM