"The next bill before me is Introductory Number 431-A, sponsored by Council Members McMahon, Brewer, Fidler, Gerson, James, Liu, Mendez, Stewart, Mark-Viverito, Foster, Gennaro, Seabrook, Lappin, Jackson, Sears, Recchia, Comrie and Weprin.  This bill requires residents to place yard waste in paper bags or rigid containers for Department of Sanitation collection during seasonal yard waste collection periods.  It also prohibits landscapers and gardeners from placing yard waste at the curb for collection by the Department.

"Municipal recycling and composting are a major component of the City's solid waste management system.  The Department of Sanitation has operated a composting program since 1990, when the City opened its first yard-waste composting facility at Fresh Kills. 

"Introductory Number 431-A will improve the City's composting program by reducing overall composting costs, eliminating odors caused by the anaerobic digestion of leaf and yard-waste material, and creating a better and more marketable horticultural end product.  In addition to requiring residents to place yard waste in paper bags or rigid containers, the legislation will also require landscapers and gardeners to collect and dispose of yard waste at a permitted composting facility as of October 2008, provided there is sufficient composting capacity in the City or at a facility within ten miles from the borough in which the yard waste was generated.

"I would like to thank Sanitation Commissioner John Doherty and his staff for their work on this bill.  I would also like to thank the Council for approving this legislation."