NEW YORK, NY June 02, 2009 —A federal judge has thrown out New York's recently expanded bottle deposit law that was supposed to take effect yesterday. Karen DeWitt has more from Albany.

REPORTER: The water bottlers had complained that they did not have enough time before the June 1 start date to comply with the requirement that they design UPC bar codes exclusive to bottles sold in New York. Judge Thomas Griesa agreed, and he took his decision one step further. He put the entire law on hold until April 2010, including a requirement that New York take 80 percent of unclaimed nickel deposits, worth around $115 million, to state's coffers. Laura Haight with the New York Public Interest Research Group says that's an unpleasant surprise.

HAIGHT: That was totally unexpected. No one expected the judge to rule beyond what was in front of him.

REPORTER: Governor Paterson and the legislature, who received rewards from environmental groups when the law passed, could approve amendments to fix it, but have so far taken no action. In Albany, I'm Karen DeWitt.