(a) General prohibition; minimum level of service.
(1) An awardee may not deny, suspend, or terminate commercial waste collection service to any commercial establishment within a zone for which the awardee has been awarded an agreement, except as otherwise provided in this section and as set forth in the agreement between the awardee and the Department pursuant to § 16-1002 of the Administrative Code.
(2) An awardee must offer to each commercial establishment within a zone for which the awardee has been awarded an agreement including the following minimum level of service:
(i) At least two days of refuse collection per week;
(ii) At least one day of designated recyclable materials collection per week; and
(iii) If the commercial establishment is a designated covered establishment, at least one day of source separated organics collection per week.
(3) Nothing in this subdivision shall prevent a commercial establishment and an awardee from mutually agreeing on terms of service that include less frequent or more frequent collection than the minimum level of service described in paragraph (2) of this subdivision.
(b) Suspension or termination of service for non-payment.
(1) An awardee may suspend or terminate commercial waste collection service to a commercial establishment within a zone for which the awardee has been awarded an agreement if the commercial establishment is a current customer and owes full or partial payment to the awardee for services rendered for more than 45 days and the awardee has followed the procedures set forth in this subdivision.
(2) When a current customer has failed to pay the full amount due for 30 days, the awardee must notify the customer in writing that the account is past due, and that nonpayment may result in service suspension or termination, including the timeframe when such suspension or termination may occur.
(3) After at least 45 days of non-payment, the awardee may suspend or terminate service by notifying the customer by certified mail of such suspension or termination and the reason therefor. Such notice shall state that the customer may seek Department review of the awardee's decision to suspend or terminate service by submitting such request to the Department in writing no later than 120 days after receipt of such notice, along with evidence that service should not be suspended or terminated, and a copy of the postmarked certified mail receipt. The customer must also send a copy of such review request to the awardee.
(4) The Department will review each customer request for Department review and may ask either party to provide additional information necessary to make a determination. The Department will issue a final determination within 30 days of receipt of such request, unless such additional information is requested from either party, in which case the Department shall notify the parties of its determination within a reasonable timeframe. The awardee is under no obligation to provide service pending such review. If the awardee continues to provide service, any late fees set forth in the awardee's customer service agreement with the customer shall continue to accrue while such service is being provided in accordance with such agreement.
(c) Denial, suspension or termination for other allowable reasons.
(1) Except in authorized cases of non-payment as described in subdivision b, an awardee may only deny, suspend, or terminate commercial waste collection service to a commercial establishment within a zone for which the awardee has been awarded an agreement after prior approval by the Department in accordance with this section.
(2) The Department will only grant approval pursuant to this subdivision if the awardee has followed the procedures set forth in this subdivision and demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Department one or more of the following:
(i) The commercial establishment has set out commercial waste in a form or manner that presents a direct health or safety threat to employees of the designated carter or to the public;
(ii) The commercial establishment has caused substantial damage to property of the awardee or its designated carter;
(iii) Provision of service to the commercial establishment would jeopardize the awardee's ability to meet the requirements of the awardee's agreement with the Department pursuant to § 16-1002 of the Administrative Code; or
(iv) The awardee has other good cause for denial, suspension or termination of service, consistent with the purposes of Title 16-B of the Administrative Code.
(3) An awardee may seek denial, suspension or termination of service by notifying the commercial establishment by certified mail of its intention to deny, suspend or terminate service and informing the commercial establishment of the reason therefor. Such notice shall state that no later than 30 days after the postmark date on such notice, the commercial establishment may submit evidence to the Department demonstrating that circumstances described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of this section have not occurred or other evidence that service should not be denied, suspended or terminated, along with a copy of the postmarked certified mail receipt of such notice.
(4) The awardee must provide a copy of the notice described in paragraph (1) of this subdivision to the Department along with evidence that circumstances described in paragraph (2) of this subdivision have occurred. In the case of subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of paragraph (2), the awardee shall provide photographic documentation where feasible. In all other instances, such evidence may include but need not be limited to photographic or video evidence, invoices, insurance reports, or police reports. The Department may ask either party to provide additional information necessary to make a determination.
(5) The Department shall notify the awardee and the commercial establishment of its determination regarding whether the awardee's request for approval for denial, suspension or termination of service has been granted no later than 45 days after receipt of a copy of the notice described in paragraph (4) of this subdivision, unless additional information is requested by the Department from either party, in which case the Department shall notify the parties of its determination within a reasonable timeframe. Within 15 days of receipt of such determination, either party may appeal such determination in writing to the Commissioner.
(6) If the commercial establishment is a current customer, the awardee must continue providing service to such customer until a final determination by the Department has been made.
(d) Nothing in this section shall preclude the awardee from seeking to enforce the terms of its agreement with a customer, including but not limited to terms governing damages or other remedies for breach of contract.
(e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to alter, amend or negate any obligation of the awardee to provide service to any commercial establishment in accordance with the terms of the agreement between the awardee and the Department entered into pursuant to § 16-1002 of the Administrative Code.
(f) A written contract for the removal, collection, or disposal of commercial waste that contains no provision regarding duration shall be terminable at will by the customer.
(g) (1) Subdivisions (a) through (c) of this section shall not apply to containerized commercial waste awardees providing collection, removal or disposal of containerized commercial waste in accordance with an agreement with the Department to provide such containerized commercial waste collection, removal and disposal service citywide pursuant to § 16-1002 of the Administrative Code.
(2) An awardee providing containerized commercial waste collection, removal or disposal service citywide in accordance with such an agreement with the Department must not suspend or terminate such service to a customer unless at least 14 days' written notice to the customer is given. No contract for the removal, collection, or disposal of containerized commercial waste shall provide that an awardee may suspend or terminate service upon shorter notice.
(h) If a customer's service is suspended or terminated, the awardee shall provide written notification to the Department within 24 hours and shall include in this notification the customer name and address, reason for suspension or termination, and any unresolved customer complaints.
(Added City Record 11/16/2021, eff. 12/16/2021*)
* Editor's note: For specific effective date provisions, see the editor's note at 16 RCNY Ch. 20.