For county consumers, a proposed 5- cent plastic bags tax could make shopping at retail stores a bit more expensive.
Prince George’s County will look to join both Montgomery County and Washington in promoting sustainable consumer practices, as both state and county officials push for legislation that would encourage the use of reusable shopping bags in the county. The state legislature, led by the efforts of Del. Barbara Frush (D-Anne Arundel and Prince George’s) and Sen. Paul Pinsky (D-Prince George’s), will present a bill in the next legislative session to allow the county council to impose mandatory fees on customers when using disposable bags at retail stores.
The legislation will encourage customers to bring reusable shopping bags to stores, which would cut down on the use of plastic bags, according to District 1 Councilwoman Mary Lehman. Plastic bags have proven to be a significant pollutant in the area, specifically the Anacostia River, according to Brent Bolin, director of advocacy at the Anacostia Watershed Society, a nonprofit environmental organization dedicated to restoring the river.
Officials have pointed to the success of last year’s legislation in Washington — the first city in the nation to impose such a tax — which has seen an 80 percent decline in the use of plastic bags and generated nearly $2 million in revenue, according to Bolin.
“We support the policy because it keeps trash from getting in the river in the first place,” Bolin said.
Lehman, who is working with the county’s state assembly representatives to push for the legislation, said she hopes the county will be able to charge 5 cent fees to customers who use disposable bags at retailers, while offering 5 cent credits to those who use reusable alternatives.
“I think it’s a really creative way to help the environment,” she said. “It’s the kind of thing we need to be doing.”
The bill that would enable the county to set fees on the use of disposable bags passed the state Senate in the last legislative session but failed in the House of Delegates because its members were wary to pass the legislation without a public hearing. Saturday was the first public hearing in the county on the issue.
Critics of the bag fee said the policy is regressive because it harms low-income earners unable to front the added 5 cent fees per plastic bag. Shari Jackson, director of the Progressive Bag Affiliates of the American Chemistry Council, wrote in an email that reducing waste does not warrant further government intervention.
“Promoting recycling is a more effective way to reduce bag litter and waste,” she wrote. “Encouraging consumers to reduce, reuse and recycle doesn’t require a new layer of government bureaucracy or increase grocery costs for struggling families.”
Lehman said the council has considered the impact bag fees could have on low-income earners and said the council plans to address the concerns with such remedies as free reusable bag giveaways that would assist those on a tight budget.
“I am very sensitive to low-income people and senior citizens,” she said.
University alumnus Davey Rogner said he has seen the prevalence of plastic bags polluting roads as he and a team of people travel across the United States with cleaning up highways with the “Pick Up America” project he started. Rogner said the legislation would bring about long-lasting solutions.
“It sort of reminds the consumers that the bag is not actually free,” he said. “The bag fee is a way of bringing the environmental cost to the consumer.”
Bolin added that stores have to buy plastic bags as a cost to the business and often pass those hidden costs on to the consumer.
Bolin said he felt the law would empower to the consumer.
“It’s pro-consumer because if you don’t want these plastic bags, you don’t have to pay for them,” he said. “I’ve heard people say that in a bad economy we shouldn’t enact this type of policy that hits people in the pocket book.”
Lehman said while the program would be a potential revenue generator, its primary focus is weaning consumers off plastic bags.
“I will feel this law is truly a success when we stop collecting money from it,” she said.
Student Government Association Director of Sustainability Michelle Kim said she believes the SGA would pass legislation supporting the 5 cent fee if the county debates the issue. Last year, the body voted to support the bill.
“Clearly the bag tax in D.C. is really successful, and there really isn’t anything negative about it,” Kim. “I’m just surprised it’s taken this long for other counties in Maryland to pick up on it.”
bach@umdbk.com
