New York lawmakers poised to pass statewide plastic bag ban

New York is poised to become the second state to adopt a plastic bag ban.

Lawmakers in Albany are heading to a vote on a plan that would ban plastic retail bags and give cities and counties the choice of levying a 5-cent fee on paper bags.

Details of the plan, included in a $175 billion state budget proposal supported by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and released late March 28, did not seem to entirely satisfy any side in the debate.

If adopted, New York would join California, where lawmakers passed the first statewide plastic bag ban and paper bag fee in 2014 and voters ratified it in 2016.

Environmental groups called it a step forward but said it may trade a plastics bag problem for a paper bag problem.

Businesses complained as well. New York's trade group for convenience stores, which supported a 5-cent fee on both plastic and paper bags, on social media called the move the "worst policy: [a] patchwork of taxes, confused customers, retailers stuck collecting, explaining, & incurring new costs."

The American Progressive Bag Alliance, which represents the plastic bag industry, said the plan "missed the mark on sustainability by forcing consumers to use bags that are worse for the environment" and is a "massive" cost increase for retailers.

"It is clear that this provision was hammered out behind closed doors in a last-ditch effort for a press release," APBA said in a March 29 statement. "There are significant problems with the language that will need to be addressed by follow-up legislation. It is safe to say this is not a done deal."

The budget plan also does not include another environmental measure Cuomo has backed: an expansion of the state's bottle bill to include deposits on non-carbonated beverages, liquor, wine and cider.

But it was plastic and paper bags that generated much more discussion in the state.

After rumors flew all week about what was coming, details of the bag plan were released March 28. Lawmakers were scheduled to vote on the state budget package by March 31.

The bag provision would take effect in March 2020. It would exempt many types of plastic bags, including those used for uncooked meat, fruits, vegetables and candy, newspapers, carryout bags in restaurants and for prescription drugs.

Cuomo has said it is important to ban plastic bags because they pollute waterways and the environment and impose significant cleanup costs on cities. New York City alone spends $12.5 million a year cleaning up plastic bags, he said last year.

But the environmental organization New York Public Interest Group said the state "missed the mark" in not requiring a fee on paper bags, as California did.

"New York decided to trade one environmental issue for another by opting to ban plastic bags without including a fee on paper bags," said Liz Moran, environmental policy director for the group. "The state should have learned from other areas that only banned plastic without a paper bag fee — they just don't work."

Moran said it could take several years for cities and counties to adopt paper bag fees, if they do at all. Environmental groups pointed to Portland, Ore., which saw a nearly 500 percent increase in paper bag use when it banned plastic bags.

"Overall, how this will play in N.Y. is a huge question mark," Moran wrote on social media. "We could have simply used California's very successful model, but instead we are rolling the dice, hoping cities and counties will opt-in."

Others saw the measure as a move in the right direction.

Julie Tighe, president of the New York League of Conservation Voters, called it a "big step forward ... when you consider where the legislature was just two years ago."

"Advocacy groups will work with local [governments] to address paper bags," she said. "We all need to get in the habit of using reusable bags."

At least 10 local governments in New York have bans or fees on plastic bags. One that was held up as a model by some state business groups, including New York Association of Convenience Stores, is in Suffolk County, which puts a 5-cent fee on both paper and plastic.

Mike Durant, president of the Food Industry Alliance of New York State, which represents grocery stores, said by contrast the state's plan for "opt-in is a total disaster for grocery stores. A patchwork of local laws on paper just furthers N.Y.'s reputation as unfriendly to business."

Some plastics industry officials had targeted New York as one of the most likely places for bag ban legislation to move this year, after it failed in previous sessions.

New York is not alone, with other nearby states moving similar measures. New Hampshire's state House, for example, passed a plastic bag ban in mid-March.

But legislation favored by the plastics bag industry to push back against bans is also gaining in some places.

Tennessee's state Senate March 28 passed a bill preventing local governments from regulating bags and some other plastic packaging. That measure, which passed the state House earlier in March, now goes to the state's Republican Gov. Bill Lee.

In practice, Hawaii also has a statewide ban. The state Legislature did not pass it, but all of the state's counties have adopted their own individual plastic bag bans.