A year into ban, plastic bags still an issue
Proposal would allow polypropylene, other plastic-derived reusable bags
Feb. 23, 2021 Updated: Feb. 23, 2021 6:23 p.m.
ALBANY — It's been just about a year since lawmakers banned reusable plastic bags, but the battle continues.
State officials have issued warnings to a handful of stores and other businesses that continue to dispense the bags after the ban belatedly took effect.
And Gov. Andrew Cuomo's budget proposal includes language that would allow some use of plastic materials such as polypropylene in woven heavy duty bags that can be reused.
Environmentalists say that would be a backward step. But state officials say the language is needed to clear up the initial confusion surrounding the ban last year.
According to records from the state Department of Environmental Conservation, they have issued 42 warnings but no fines since the ban took effect to establishments that have continued to give out the bags.
That's according to a response to a Freedom of Information Law request from Beyond Plastics, an organization working to remove plastic from the waste stream.
The response also notes that DEC did not actually begin enforcing the ban until Oct. 19, 2020 due to a lawsuit against the legislation.
"If further complaints are received regarding parties that have already been issued warnings and these violations are witnessed by agency staff, DEC will take further appropriate enforcement action, including the issuance of Notices of Violation with potential payable penalties," reads the FOIL response. Multiple violators of the ban can be fined up to $500.
More warnings may be on the way.
Beyond Plastics founder and President Judith Enck, a former EPA administrator, said that volunteers with her group have documented well over 100 stores that aren't complying with the ban. Most are in the New York City area and have been reported to the DEC.
Still unsettled is the precise definition of what a banned bag is, according to language in the governor's proposed budget.
The proposal would allow woven bags that include substances like polypropylene and polyethylene-terephthalate. Those bags would have to be re-usable and have re-usable characteristics such as handles.
Still banned are the thin film non-cloth bags, which were the main target of the original ban, however.
DEC's plastic bag ban was so confusing that state must pay plaintiffs' court costs, judge rules
Despite that, the proposed exemption rankled environmentalists like Enck.
"Weakening the law to allow for thicker plastic bags, even under the guise that some of them may be reused, is a step backwards and should be rejected by state legislators," she said.
The change appears to stem from a now-settled lawsuit against the initial ban by PolyPak Industries, a Long Island bag maker.
While the state eventually prevailed in upholding the ban, the Acting State Supreme Court in Albany Justice Gerald Connolly criticized DEC for the confusion surrounding the new law, ordering court costs to go to PolyPak.
"The budget proposal serves to clarify certain exempt bags and what constitutes a reusable bag, including examples of the types of fabric in reusable bags and examples of commonly used reusable bags that contain some plastic content, including polyester, woven polypropylene, and nylon bags, among other examples," according to DEC.
The court ruling made it clear that film bags, regardless of their thickness or weight, fell under the ban.