Bill Bans Local Governments' Right to Impose Plastic Bag Bans

A bill that would stop local governments from banning retailers’ use of plastic bags, or imposing a fee on them, is headed for Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder’s request, over objections that the legislation would take away local control.

The Michigan House of Representatives passed the bill, which had been approved by the Senate last spring, on Thursday. Business groups, including the Michigan Restaurant Association and the Michigan Grocers Association, are solidly behind the proposed ban on bag bans and fees and argue for consistency across the state.

Among the most vocal opponents of the bill is Democratic Sen. Jeff Irwin of Ann Arbor.
“This is a bill that attacks local control,” he said, according to a Detroit Free Press report. “Many of you in your communities aren’t considering this, but in Ann Arbor, we are. And that causes the state Legislature to become very reactionary in an attempt to subvert one city’s interests in making their city more beautiful.”

Ann Arbor is in Washtenaw County, where the county commission in June joined some 200 jurisdictions across the country in imposing a 10-cent fee on the use of most plastic bags retailers use to package their products. Plastic bags create multiple environmental problems, damage recycling equipment and take up space in the landfill, according to backers, who called the legislation a model of environmentalism.

• See Also: State Ban on Plastic Bag Bans, Fees a Step Closer

There are some exceptions: Low-income residents wouldn’t have to pay the fee, and it wouldn’t be imposed on plastic bags used to wrap frozen foods, meat or fish, newspapers, laundry dry cleaning or pet waste bags or bags used to prevent spills from prepared foods such as soups or salads.

• Tell Us: Should Gov. Rick Snyder sign this bill, or is it a matter best left to local control?

If Snyder signs the bill, it will nullify the Washtenaw County ordinance, which was scheduled to take effect in April 2017.

Image via Public Domain