Brian Lerner on WNYC. So as Albany lawmakers continue to negotiate the Hydra-headed budget that is now almost two months late, the fiscal year began on April 1st. We've been talking

about the many non-budget policy items that they're debating, right, as part of the deal.

Here's a really interesting one about a concept we've talked about on this show for years

that actually might get through this time as legislation. The concept is polluter pays. Now, this bill goes after

the packaging that your stuff comes wrapped in when you buy it. It's called the Packaging Reduction

and Recycling Infrastructure Act, and it would make big companies cut their single-use packaging

by 30% over 12 years. It's got that specific timeline. Cut their single-use packaging by 30% over 12 years. It's got that specific timeline, cut their

single-use packaging by 30% over 12 years, as well as ban some of the most toxic chemicals in that

packaging and put the cost of dealing with the waste on the producers instead of on the taxpayers.

That's the polluter pace. This isn't a new idea.

It's been kicking around Albany even for three years, passing in the state senate twice,

but stalling both times in the assembly. And it's a long-held principle of environmentalism,

polluter pays. So now as lawmakers vote through a budget that rolls back New York's 2019 landmark

climate law in certain respects, almost certainly, even though that's not done yet, but you've

been hearing that's going to be a part of it, advocates believe this could finally be the year that

at least this environmental principle gets put into law.

Here to argue the case for this big plastic reduction bill is Judith Eng, founder of Beyond

Plastics. That's an advocacy group, a professor at Bennington College, and the former EPA

Region 2, that's New York Region plus Puerto Rico, administrator.

Judith Thank, always good to have you. Welcome back to WN.YC.

Brian, thank you so much for having me. And I forgot to add in my bio, unlike the high-profile

Senator Chris Murphy, I also have a book out called The Problem

...