5-Cent Plastic Bag Fee To Be Proposed By Howard County

ELLICOTT CITY, MD — Two Howard County Council members plan to introduce a bill Nov. 4 that would require shoppers to pay a 5-cent fee to use disposable plastic bags, in hopes of prompting residents to instead shop with reusable bags. County Council Chairwoman Christina Mercer Rigby and Councilman Opel Jones are guiding the proposal, which if approved, would apply to disposable plastic shopping bags that are 2.25 millimeters thick.

The bill would take effect July 1, 2020, to allow for a six-month period to help retailers adjust to the law, the Baltimore Sun reported.

During the 2019 Maryland General Assembly session, the Howard County delegation advanced a bill sponsored by Del. Terri Hill to permit the County Council and the county executive to impose a fee, up to 5 cents, on plastic bags. The money collected from the fee would go into the Disposable Plastics Reduction Fund to be used for reusable bags, stream cleanups and other environmental cleanup initiatives.

"The rampant overuse of disposable plastics is a significant danger to our environment, our wildlife, and a sustainable future in Howard County,” Rigby said in a statement. "I am incredibly grateful to the community voices and advocates that have organized around this much-needed change, ensuring that we leave behind a clean planet for our children."

Jones added he is excited to introduce “this historic legislation” with Rigby.

"As a parent and council representative, I believe it is imperative to protect, promote and enhance practices which will ensure an eco-friendly future for our children and growing community,” Jones said in a statement.

Howard County residents can speak out about the proposed bag fee and other bills Nov. 18 beginning at 7 p.m. at the George Howard Building.

Earlier this year, legislation that would enable Howard County to place a fee on disposable bags at the point of sale passed out of the General Assembly. Montgomery County was the first in Maryland to institute a bag fee in 2012. HB1166/CH0725 was enacted into law without Gov. Larry Hogan's signature and was enacted under Article II, Section 17(c) of the Maryland Constitution - Chapter 725.

Melanie Harris created a Change.org petition page in 2018 when the fee proposal first surfaced in order to give people another voice to speak out against it. Harris noted on the website that a similar proposal in Montgomery County was "an abject failure that did not deliver its promise to reduce plastic bag usage."

Also in 2018, the Howard County Conservancy created "Take a Pass on Plastic,” a public awareness program designed to inform residents about the harm from single-use plastics. The conservancy said that just 8 percent of the 30 million tons of plastic Americans discard every year are recycled.