Fahy pushes closing bag ban loophole

Before the ink could dry on the budget deal that restricts plastic bags in New York, a legislative effort was launched to close an exception in the policy.

Assemblywoman Patricia Fahy, an Albany Democrat, announced last week that she will introduce legislation to extend the ban on single-use plastic bags to restaurants. Bags for leftovers, takeout and delivery from restaurants were exempted from the ban agreed upon by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and the Legislature. The recently enacted ban takes effect next March.

“The plastic bag provisions included in the budget can go one step further in minimizing the more than 23 billion plastic bags New Yorkers dispose of each year,” Fahy said in a statement. “Further reducing plastic pollution requires that the state target all major contributors, not just grocery stores.”

She noted that the “environmental loophole” posed by the 50,000 eating and drinking establishments in the state was too large to ignore.

The ban prohibits retailers that collect sales tax from handing out disposable plastic bags, with 11 exceptions, including plastic garment bags; trash bags; plastics used to wrap meat, poultry or fish; prescription drugs; and newspapers.

The state budget legislation also authorized counties and cities to impose a 5-cent fee on paper bags to deter their use and encourage shoppers to bring reusable bags with them. Revenue from the fee will go to the state’s Environmental Protection Fund, as well as the purchase and distribution of reusable bags to low-income New Yorkers.

Fahy’s legislation would allow retailers to retain 2 cents of the fee — the portion dedicated to reusable bags — to offset the additional costs associated with paper bags. The change would happen a year after a fee was implemented.

Under the new law, individuals who receive public assistance benefits, such as food stamps, would be exempt from the fee where authorized.