Assemblyman Nelson L. Castro announced that
his legislation A4243A requiring the sanitization of every used
mattress or bedding material that is transported, stored or sold with
new bedding in New York State has been passed by the state assembly.
Currently,
the New York State General Business Law classifies any mattress or
bedding material that has been returned by the purchaser within 30 days
as new bedding. Legislation A4243A amends the definition of "New
Bedding" by automatically classifying it as used bedding after being
purchased and returned. This legislation also prohibits the
transportation of used bedding with new ones unless they are sanitized
or enclosed in non-permeable plastic, polyethylene film or similar
materials useful to prevent the passage of contaminants.
In
addition, the legislation requires the sanitation of used bedding that
are sold or stored with new bedding, in accordance with regulations
established by the Department of State. It also requires the Department
of State to inspect every place where articles of bedding are made,
remade, renovated, prepared or sterilized. The bill gives the Department
of State the authority to determine the inspection frequency but
requires it to have at least one inspection during any continues three
year period.
Over
the past years, the State of New York has been negatively affected in
many different ways by the spread of bed bug infestation. New York State
has the greatest concentration of bed bug reports in the United
States. [1]
According
to the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and
Development, 13,152 bed bug infestation complaints were received in
2009. "Bed bugs infestation is one of the epidemics that can be
prevented through this legislation. The first step in fighting bed bugs
and other similar epidemics in our state is to educate our citizens on
effective preventive methods to control the spread of contaminants,"
expressed Assemblyman Castro.
The
bill passed the Assembly with bipartisan support (138-1) and is
currently in the Senate Rules Committee, sponsored by Senator Jose
Peralta (S358A). If immediate action is not taken, New York residents,
business owners and tourists will continue to experience the negative
impact of bed bugs and other infestations. "This is an important piece
of legislation that will help in the prevention and treatment of
critical epidemics throughout the state and will prevent used bedding
that has not been properly sanitized from being transported, stored or
sold with new bedding," added Assemblyman Castro.
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