No more plastic shopping bags? Council considering countywide ban

The Montgomery County Council is considering a near-complete ban on plastic shopping bags under a bill introduced during Tuesday’s meeting.

The “Bring Your Own Bag” bill, sponsored by council Vice President Kate Stewart (D-Dist. 4) and co-sponsored by councilmembers Natali Fani-Gonzàlez (D-Dist. 6), Evan Glass (D-At-large), Will Jawando (D-At-large) and Laurie-Anne Sayles (D-At-large), would prohibit retail establishments from providing plastic shopping and carryout bags, with some exceptions. It would allow the establishments to provide paper bags at a 10-cent tax per bag.

The county currently imposes a 5-cent tax on plastic bags; that tax would be repealed under the proposed legislation. A June 2023 report from the Office of Inspector General revealed the county lost up to a potential of $8.2 million from not properly enforcing its plastic carryout bag tax that was enacted in 2012.

“While Montgomery County has been a leader in this arena dating back to 2011, many other jurisdictions continue doing this work, and actually have been making a little bit more progress than we have here in Montgomery County in the elimination of single-use plastic bags,” Stewart said when introducing the legislation Tuesday.

County businesses such as grocery stores, convenience stores and restaurants are required to charge a 5-cent tax on single-use plastic and paper bags since the council passed a bill in 2011 “to help fund the county’s stormwater management program to support the goals of a cleaner environment,” according to the report.

The tax also was created to encourage residents to use their own reusable bags when shopping and to limit plastic waste, according to the inspector general’s office.

Retailers collecting the tax must remit 4 cents per bag tax to the county and can keep 1 cent to recoup administration costs associated with complying with the tax. The tax revenue goes into  the county’s Water Quality Protection Charge fund, which is overseen by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The fund is used primarily to clean county waterways of litter, according to the inspector general’s report. DEP is also responsible for managing the tax collection.

The inspector general’s office found that not only were many county businesses not collecting or remitting the tax, the county didn’t have an efficient way to identify businesses that had never remitted taxes they may have collected.

According to the proposed bill, a retailer could provide a plastic bag for exceptions such as purchases of prescription drugs, drycleaning items and to hold perishable items such as meat. Newspaper mailer bags also would be allowed.

The proposed 10-cent tax on paper bags would not apply to those exceptions either and also would not apply to paper bags provided for restaurant leftovers, food delivery or fast food passed through a drive-thru window. Customers who receive Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and/or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits would also be exempt from the tax.

Retailers would be allowed to retain half of the 10-cent tax collected per bag to cover administrative and implementation costs and would be required to remit the remainder to the county.

Any retail establishment found in violation would first receive a written warning. An additional violation would be subject to a $500 fine and further violations would be subject to a $750 fine and potential legal proceedings.

Plastic bag bans are growing in popularity across the country due to environmental concerns. Last month, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed a statewide ban on plastic shopping bags. Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington state also have bans in place.

Within the county, Takoma Park, which has its own city government, already bans plastic bags.

Within Maryland, Anne Arundel County has a policy similar to the council’s proposal — with a ban on plastic bags and a 10-cent tax on paper bags. Annapolis, Baltimore, Frederick and Baltimore and Prince George’s counties are among the jurisdictions that ban plastic bags.

If the council’s proposed legislation is passed, the county ban would go into effect July 1, 2025. A public hearing is expected to be scheduled for a later date. A vote on the proposed legislation has not been scheduled.

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