Section 17-1401
§ 17-1401 Definitions. As used in this chapter the following terms
have the following meanings:
(1) Carpet. A heavy fabric used to cover a floor and made from wool,
cotton, or other natural or synthetic fibers. Such term shall include
carpet backing.
(2) Carpet business. Any person engaged in the business of selling or
installing carpet or carpet cushion.
(3) Carpet adhesive. Any adhesive labeled for use in the installation
of carpet, vinyl backed carpet, or artificial grass.
(4) Carpet backing. Materials such as fabrics, yarns, or chemical
compounds at the underside of a carpet, used to reinforce the carpet's
construction.
(5) Carpet cushion. A padding made of hair, felt, jute, foam or sponge
rubber, or other natural or man-made materials, that is placed on the
floor before a carpet is laid.
(6) Emission factor. The mass of a compound emitted from a specific
unit area of product surface per unit of time.
(7) Owner. Any person having a legal or equitable interest in or
control of any building, premises or part thereof, including but not
limited to the record owner, a tenant or lessee.
(8) Person. Any natural person, agent, firm, partnership, corporation
or other legal entity.
(9) Total volatile organic compound or TVOC. Sum of the concentrations
of all identified and unidentified VOCs between and including n-pentane
through n-heptadecane (C5 - C17) as measured by the gas
chromatography/mass spectrometry total ion current (GC/MS TIC) method
and expressed as a toluene equivalent value.
(10) Volatile organic compound or VOC. Carbon-containing compounds
with vapor pressures at standard conditions ranging between those for
n-pentane through n-heptadecane (C5 - C17), excluding carbon monoxide,
carbon dioxide, carbonic acid, metallic carbides and carbonates and
ammonium carbonate. For the purposes of this chapter, formaldehyde and
acetaldehyde are considered to be VOCs.
Section 17-1402
§ 17-1402 Sale or installation of non-compliant carpet or carpet
cushion prohibited. On and after July 1, 2013 it shall be unlawful for a
carpet business to sell or offer for sale carpet or carpet cushion
designed for installation or use in the interior of a building or for a
carpet business or owner to install or lay or to cause the installation
or laying of carpet or carpet cushion in the interior of any building,
premises or part thereof in the city that is not compliant with the
standards set forth in section 17-1404.
Section 17-1403
§ 17-1403 Carpet adhesive. Carpet adhesive used in the installation of
carpet in the interior of any building in the city shall comply with
subpart 228-2 of part 228 of title 6 of the official compilation of the
codes, rules and regulations of the state of New York.
Section 17-1404
§ 17-1404 Standard for testing. Testing of materials, other than
carpet adhesive, covered by this chapter shall be in accordance with
American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) D 5116-10 (standard
guide for small-scale environmental chamber determination of organic
emissions from indoor materials/products) or as otherwise specified in
the rules of the department. Carpet shall comply with the emission
factor limits in table I for a 14-day testing period. Carpet cushion
shall comply with the emission factor limits in table II for a 24-hour
testing period.
Section 17-1405
§ 17-1405 Recordkeeping requirements for carpet businesses. Carpet
businesses shall not remove the original manufacturer's labels from
carpets or carpet cushions unless removal is necessary during
installation. Carpet businesses shall obtain documentation from the
manufacturer, in a form the department finds acceptable, that all carpet
or carpet cushion sold, offered for sale or installed within the city is
compliant with the standards set forth in section 17-1404 unless the
manufacturer's label otherwise indicates that the carpet or carpet
cushion is compliant pursuant to section 17-1406. Such documentation
shall be kept on file and available for inspection by consumers and
officers and employees of the department or the department of consumer
affairs within seventy-two hours of the request. If carpet or carpet
cushion is sold outside the city for installation in the city, such
documentation shall be available for inspection by consumers and the
department at the site upon installation.
Section 17-1406
§ 17-1406 Green Label, Green Label Plus and other certification
programs. a. Carpets and carpet cushions that have been certified by,
and carry the seal or symbol of, the following certification programs
shall be deemed to comply with the standards set forth in section
17-1404: i. Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI) Green Label certification
program, version effective February 16, 2010 or such other version as
may be specified in the rules of the department; ii. Carpet and Rug
Institute (CRI) Green Label Plus certification program, version
effective February 16, 2010 or such other version as may be specified in
the rules of the department; and iii. other certification programs as
may be specified in the rules of the department.
b. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision a, this section shall
not apply to any certification program if the emission factor allowed
for any individual VOC or for TVOC by the applicable version of such
program exceeds the standards set forth in section 17-1404.
Section 17-1407
§ 17-1407 Notice. Notice of the requirements of this chapter shall be
posted in a conspicuous location at the premises of a carpet business
within the city where carpet or carpet cushion are sold or offered for
sale to consumers or, provided in written form to consumers at the time
of sale within the city. If carpet or carpet cushion is sold outside the
city for installation in the city, such notice shall be provided to the
consumer prior to installation. The form and wording of such notice
shall be specified by the department of health and mental hygiene.
Section 17-1408
§ 17-1408 Construction. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to
require the removal or replacement of carpet or carpet cushion installed
prior to July 1, 2013.
Section 17-1409
§ 17-1409 Enforcement and penalties. The provisions of this chapter
shall be enforced by the department and the department of consumer
affairs. Any person found to be in violation of section 17-1402 or
17-1403 of this chapter or rules of the department promulgated pursuant
thereto shall be liable for a civil penalty of not more than five
hundred dollars for each violation. Any person found to be in violation
of section 17-1405 or 17-1407 of this chapter or rules of the department
promulgated pursuant thereto shall be liable for a civil penalty of not
more than two hundred fifty dollars for each violation. Such civil
penalties may be recovered in proceedings before the environmental
control board or the administrative tribunal of the department of
consumer affairs or in an action in any court of appropriate
jurisdiction. Notices of violation returnable to such board or tribunal
may be served by officers and employees of the department and the
department of consumer affairs. In any proceeding it shall be an
affirmative defense that the respondent is a laborer in the employ of
the carpet business to do the physical work of installing the carpet and
that he or she has no ownership interest in or control of the business
or in any corporation, partnership or other legal entity that owns or
controls the business and that he or she has no managerial or
supervisory responsibility.
Section 17-1410
§ 17-1410 Exemptions. This chapter shall not apply to antique or
hand-made rugs or carpets made of natural fibers such as wool, cotton or
jute with no VOC containing carpet cushion or carpet backing.
Table I
Carpet 14-Day VOC Emissions Test Criteria
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Volatile Organic Compound Chemical Maximum Emission
Abstract Factor (ugm{2}/hr)
Service #
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Acetaldehyde 75-07-0 130
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Benzene 71-43-2 55
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carbon disulfide 75-15-0 744
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carbon tetrachloride 56-23-5 37
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chlorobenzene 108-90-7 930
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chloroform 67-66-3 279
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dichlorobenzene (1,4-) 106-46-7 744
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dichloroethylene (1,1) 75-35-4 65
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dimethylformamide (N,N-) 68-12-2 74
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dioxane (1,4-) 123-91-1 2790
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Epichlorohydrin 106-89-8 2
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ethylbenzene 100-41-4 1860
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ethylene glycol 107-21-1 372
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ethylene glycol monoethyl ether 110-80-5 65
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ethylene glycol monoethyl ether 111-15-9 279
acetate
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ethylene glycol monomethyl ether 109-86-4 55
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ethylene glycol monomethyl ether 110-49-6 83
acetate
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Formaldehyde 50-00-0 16.7
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hexane (n-) 110-54-3 6510
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Isophorone 78-59-1 1860
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Isopropanol 67-63-0 6510
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Methyl chloroform 71-55-6 930
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Methylene chloride 75-09-2 372
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Methyl t-butyl ether 1634-04-4 7440
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naphthalene 91-20-3 8.2
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Phenol 108-95-2 186
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prophylene glycol monomethyl 107-98-2 6510
ether
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Styrene 100-42-5 410
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tetrachloroethylene 127-18-4 32
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Toluene 108-88-3 280
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trichloroethylene 79-01-6 558
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vinyl acetate 108-05-4 186
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Xylenes, technical mixture 108-38-3 651
(m-, o-, p-xylene combined) 95-47-6
106-42-3
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table II
Carpet Cushion 24-Hour VOC Emissions Test Criteria
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Volatile Organic Compound 24-hour Testing Period: Maximum
Emission Factor (ug/m{2} per hour)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Butylated hydroxytoluene 300
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Formaldehyde 50
------------------------------------------------------------------------
4-Phenylcyclohexene (4PCH) 50
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Volatile Organic Compounds 1000
------------------------------------------------------------------------