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Q&A
BIC's enforcement activities and violations
2:06:09
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135 sec
Council Member Shaun Abreu inquires about BIC's enforcement activities, particularly in the Queen Central zone. Commissioner Liz Crotty clarifies that BIC is not responsible for enforcement in Queen Central, as it falls under DSNY's purview. She then details improvements in BIC's violation processing and hearing procedures.
- BIC is not responsible for enforcement in Queen Central zone
- BIC has created a violations unit and cleared backlog of unissued violations
- Improvements made in penalty schedules and hearing procedures
- Transfer from BIC trials to BIC hearings to increase case processing capacity
Shaun Abreu
2:06:09
One second.
2:06:13
Between January 2014 and April 2025 BIC issued approximately 3,086 notices of violations to companies operating in the trade waste industry.
2:06:25
More than 2,000 of the 3,086 violation issued over this period were settled including pending and early settlements.
2:06:33
Half of fines issued were 2,500 or less, approximately 10% of those 3,086 BIC violations included citations to awardees.
2:06:44
What is can you please describe BIC's enforcement activity involving Queen Central awardees and if enforcement is occurring, what is the breakdown in types of violations?
Liz Crotty
2:06:54
Well first, have a we are not doing BIC is not doing enforcement in Queen Central.
2:07:00
That is under the exclusive purview of DSNY.
2:07:05
Second of all, BIC since the Adams administration has started, we have created a violations unit.
2:07:12
There was a backlog of over a thousand unissued violations when I came to BIC in 2022.
2:07:19
We have since gone gone through those.
2:07:21
In 2021, we update the penalty schedule was updated.
2:07:26
We have implemented that penalty schedule, and all of our violations as they settle are settled per a penalty a published penalty schedule.
2:07:36
Third, the other issue that is here we were a BIC.
2:07:39
BIC was subject to oath trials where we could only put 15 cases on one day a week.
2:07:48
So it created a large backlog.
2:07:50
Two changes have happened which that situation created our early settlement program which we have, and then additionally we have since transferred from BIC trials to BIC hearings so that we can hear more cases, but a lot of the violations that BIC issues are prima facie violations of graduated importance.
2:08:11
So we feel as though, especially since the Adams administration, that we have taken violations much more seriously, cleared out backlogs, and held the all the companies to the standards that our rules provide.
Shaun Abreu
2:08:25
Thank you, commissioner.