Sudbury 10-Cent Bag Fee: Key Hearing In Legislature

SUDBURY, MA — A proposed 10-cent bag fee in Sudbury will reach a major legislative point on Tuesday in the state Legislature.

The bag fee, approved at a 2020 Town Meeting, still needs signoff from state lawmakers. The joint Senate and House Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government will take up the fee at a hearing set to begin at 11 a.m. Tuesday.

State Rep. Carmine Gentile brought the issue to the state House this summer following approvals at the town level in fall 2020. The fee would apply to any bag available at checkout — for example, paper bags at a supermarket. Stores will be able to keep the fee, and the Sudbury Board of Health will oversee compliance, according to the bill.

The bag fee follows Sudbury's plastic bag ban, which dates to 2015. Retailers were allowed to give out free paper bags after that ban went into effect. The 10-cent fee is meant to encourage residents to bring reusable bags to the store.

Related: Kill Framingham 10-Cent Bag Fee? Council May Consider It