Politics on the Hudson

The potential start of the state’s collection of 5-cent deposits on bottles of water was delayed Tuesday by a federal court judge.

U.S. District Court Judge Deborah Batts delayed a Thursday hearing in Manhattan in which the state had hoped to get the go ahead to implement the program, which was approved in April.

Batts notified the parties that the hearing would be delayed because of an ongoing criminal trial she’s overseeing. The sides are also working on a potential settlement that could end the court’s involvement, officials said.

Either way, the expectation that the new deposit on water could start Thursday has been washed away. There was no new hearing date set.

“This will be resolved very soon,” said Judith Enck, Gov. David Paterson’s deputy secretary for environment. “We wish it was this week, but we’re not going to lose sleep over a short period of time.”

In August, Batts lifted an injunction that had barred the state from beginning the program. The ruling gave the bottle-water industry until Thursday to implement the initiative, unless it could prove that it needed more time.

Bottlers expected to seek more time, although they and supermarkets had been preparing for a potential Thursday start date—and an influx of recyclable bottles.

“Hopefully when this gets back on track, we’ll be able to give our water bottlers in New York state and other places a clear idea when they will have to have the proper labeling requirements in place,” said Tom Lauria, spokesman for the International Bottled Water Association.

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