Fairfax County Plastic Bag Tax Public Hearing Set For September

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA — A proposed 5-cent tax on disposable plastic bags in Fairfax County will go to a public hearing on Sept. 14. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors authorized the public hearing Tuesday.

Braddock District Supervisor James Walkinshaw presented the board matter with Chairman Jeff McKay and Mount Vernon District Supervisor earlier in July requesting staff develop an ordinance. The plastic bag tax wouldn't take effect until Jan. 1 if approved.

If the tax is approved, Fairfax County would become the second locality in Virginia to implement a plastic bag tax following the allowance by a 2020 state law. Roanoke's City Council approved a plastic bag tax in May.

The 5-cent tax per bag would apply to single-use plastic bags at grocery stores, convenience stores and drugstores. However, there would be exemptions sold for bags containing meat, fish, poultry, produce, ice cream, unwrapped bulk food or perishable food to avoid damage or contamination; bags used to carry dry cleaning or prescription drugs; and bags sold for garbage, pet waste or yard waste. Reusable plastic shopping or grocery bags with handles at least 4 millimeters thick would also be exempted from the tax.

The state would collect the 5-cent tax and divide the revenue between the county and retailers as specified under the state law. Under the law, the Virginia Disposable Plastic Bag Tax Dealer Discount allows retailers to retain 2 cents from each plastic bag tax as retailers adjust operations to implement the tax until Jan. 1, 2023, when it drops to 1 cent retained by retailers. The remainder would go to Fairfax County minus costs to the state for tax collection.

State law allows for tax revenues to support four kinds of programs: environmental cleanup programs, pollution and litter mitigation programs, educational programs on environmental waste reduction, and reusable bags for recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or Women, Infants, and Children Program (WIC) benefits.

County leaders who support consideration of a plastic bag tax ordinance tout the environmental benefits of encouraging less single-use plastic bag use. When requesting staff develop an ordinance, Walkinshaw cited an environmental survey of the Chesapeake Bay showing the floor of the bay is littered with plastic bags. Clean Virginia Waterways also found plastic bags were the top type of litter found along Fairfax County's coastlines in 2019. The bags are known to break down into micro-particles that can be ingested by animals and people.

Plastic bags cannot be recycled in curbside trash and recycling service by Fairfax County and collectors such as American Disposal Services. Some grocery retailers offer plastic bag recycling at their stores.

Residents can see the proposed plastic bag tax ordinance on the county's website.

Residents can attend the public hearing Tuesday, Sept. 14 at 4:30 p.m. To provide testimony by phone or in person or offer written or video testimony in advance, residents can sign up.