report for New York Post
It’s in the bag.
Albany lawmakers have struck a deal to outlaw plastic bags statewide and charge a 5-cent fee on paper ones, legislators said on Thursday.
Legislators were hashing out the details, but the agreement was expected to be enshrined in the state budget, which lawmakers aim to pass by April 1.
The measure would likely take effect next year to give stores time to prepare, said Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D–LI), a sponsor of the plan.
In its current form, the proposal bars retailers from handing out plastic bags but does not outlaw newspaper-delivery bags, dry-cleaner garment bags or the kind of baggies dog-owners use to clean up after their pooches.
Cities and counties can opt into the paper-bag fee. If they do, they would take 40 percent of the revenues, while the remaining 60 percent would got to the state’s Environmental Protection Fund.
Localities must use the revenue to offset the impact on low-income communities by disseminating reusable bags, Albany officials said, adding that food-stamp recipients would be exempt from the fee.
Reactions from shoppers were a mixed bag.
“I have two thoughts: It’s obviously environmentally sound. And it’s just another tax. This money will just go to the economic black hole. Next thing, there will be a tax on breathing,” Shane McAteer, 54, groused as he lugged an armful of plastic bags out of a Key Foods on Queens Boulevard in Sunnyside Thursday.
Another shopper, who gave her name as Esther and said she was 100 years old, gasped at the plan.
“They better not!” she said as she hauled two double-bagged plastic bags out of an Upper East Side Gristedes. “I know [plastic bags are] a problem, but we have to worry about the present as well as the future.”
New York Association of Convenience Stores President Jim Calvin said, “If someone needs ice but there’s no plastic bags offered, either they’re going to drip all the home, or they will skip that purchase.”
Others cheered the plan.
“I’m from Poland. In my country, they charge me like $1 per plastic bag. Now everybody uses the reusable bags. Its a very good idea,” said Gristedes shopper Anna Sufflo, 44.
Seattle imposed a similar measure in 2011, and the volume of plastic bags in the waste stream fell 78 percent, a city report said.
Mayor de Blasio sought a plastic-bag ban in 2017 but was stymied by a Republican-controlled state Legislature. His office was reserving judgment on the latest effort.
“We’ll take a close look at whatever the final details are. I’ll decline to comment beyond that,” said mayoral spokesman Eric Phillips.
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