Pol: Sanitation fines not backed by law

The city Department of Sanitation has, for years, fined New Yorkers for not following a department policy that's not backed by city law, state Sen. Tony Avella said at a news conference Friday. The fines violate the City Administrative Procedure Act, he said, which requires that any enforceable rule be published, reviewed and voted on citywide.

The fines concern a time limit on when trash from private residences can be left on the street for collection. A Department of Sanitation booklet states that trash cannot be put out earlier than 5 p.m. the day before a scheduled collection. Between Oct. 1 and April 1, that time changes to 4 p.m. Rule violators may be fined from $100 to $300.

"We checked and, lo and behold, the law has nothing to do with the policy," Avella said. "By law, the city can't issue a ticket by policy."

For a policy to become a law, it must undergo a public comment period and a vote by the City Council, Avella said. And it must be well-publicized.

In a statement, the Department of Sanitation said the time limit was changed from 8 p.m. in 2006 to prevent waste from being stored curbside. That information is publicly available in an April 2006 report, the statement said.

Sanitation department spokesman Keith Mellis said the City Council concurred with the 2006 time change. He didn't comment further on Avella's distinction between department policy and city law.

Avella said he had received many more fine complaint letters than usual from his constituents in the past month, some urging him to investigate the fines.