Trending
There are dozens of water bottling companies located throughout New York state.
Legislation introduced recently in the state Senate would keep that number from growing unless the bottling companies go through an environmental impact statement that considers the facility's impact to the state's supply of freshwater, the health of watersheds around the facility and the water supply needs of the surrounding community.
S.7639 is sponsored by Sen. Rachel May, D-Syracuse, and has been referred to the Senate Health Committee. She proposes changing Section 225 of the state Public Health Law to prohibit the certification of new water bottling facilities when the facility was not previously certified to bottle water.
"As the climate crisis grows worse across the world and throughout the country, it is important that New York take steps to protect our natural resources," May wrote in her legislative justification. "Though we have been fortunate to not experience the same catastrophic droughts in New York that California has experienced in the last several years, we must take appropriate measures to protect our natural resources. To protect our supply of freshwater for our residents, we need to ensure that water bottling facilities are not causing a local shortage of fresh water in the communities they are based."
Washington state Senators passed legislation in 2020 that would ban bottling companies from tapping spring-fed sources, though the bill failed to pass the state House of Representatives. Legislation in Michigan and Maine was introduced in 2020 to restrict the bottling of groundwater or tax bottling companies while local ballot measures were passed in Oregon and Montana to restrict the industry, according to the Tribune News Service.
Last year, California water officials drafted a cease-and-desist order to stop Nestle from taking water from the San Bernardino forest as the state dealt with drought conditions.
"As a result, it is imperative that we make sure facilities are evaluated on their statewide impact to the water supply, as well as the ability of local watersheds to handle the extra strain on their supplies. This bill helps to prevent water shortages in communities by requiring that before each facility is certified or recertified, an environmental impact statement is performed to evaluate whether the local and statewide environment can handle the additional facility," May wrote.