Future of New York City's Disposable Bag Fee Called Into Question

CITY HALL, NY — The city's newly passed bag fee is on its way to a delay.

The legislation, which requires retailers to charge five cents for single-use plastic and paper bags, was passed by a slim City Council majority on May 5, becoming law soon after.

It was supposed to go into effect on Oct. 1, with businesses being given until March 31, 2017 to enforce the fee (until then, they'd just be issued a warning by the city).

But a frontal assault by Albany legislators produced an amendment to the law that moves those dates back.

Under the amendment, passed Monday by the City Council's sanitation committee, the law will go into effect on Feb. 15, 2017, and won't be enforced until August 14 of that year.

Under the bag fee law, the city's sanitation department is also required to conduct a study on the bill's impact on consumers and the city's trash production. The study was supposed to be issued by Jan. 1, 2019, but under the amendment, it would be moved back to March 1 of that year.

Still at issue, though, is whether the bag fee itself will survive in its current form.

Earlier this month, the State Senate passed a bill pushed by Simcha Felder (whose district includes parts of Borough Park, Midwood and Flatbush) invalidating the city's new law.

The legislation was also advanced in the Assembly by Staten Island's Michael Cusick. But according to reports (confirmed Monday by Cusick himself), it was dropped from further consideration during this session after Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito agreed to delay the fee's implementation pending further negotiations.

It wasn't immediately clear, however, what those negotiations would consist of.

A spokesman for Heastie didn't immediately return a request for comment Monday.

In a statement, Mark-Viverito said she was looking "forward to working with the Assembly and the State Legislature in the months ahead to implement" the bag fee "and greatly reduce the use of wasteful plastic bags in our City.”

Similarly, a statement from Mayor Bill de Blasio described the fee as "an environmentally conscious action which will ultimately help create a more sustainable City." However, the statement added that "further discussions" were pending.

On Monday, some of the strongest supporters of the bill in City Council put a positive spin on the delay.

Sanitation committee chairman Antonio Reynoso, whose district includes Williamsburg and Bushwick, said he was "confident this [delay] was a good compromise," adding that more outreach could now be undertaken, and more reusable bags given away.

"I'm very optimistic that through conversations, we will be able not only to implement the bill, but to do it in a way that's even stronger," added Councilman Brad Lander, who represents Park Slope, BoCoCa, Gowanus, Windsor Terrace and Kensington.

But a spokesman for Sen. Felder directed Patch to a recent op-ed by the lawmaker expressing his unequivocal opposition to a fee.

"You have to continue to tell your elected representatives on the City Council and in the Assembly that New Yorkers don’t want a tax on their carry-out bags," Felder wrote, addressing his constituents.

Similarly, Assemblyman Cusick told Patch on Monday that he remains "a firm believer that we should not be taxing plastic bags."

"There are many aspects of this issue that need to be discussed," Cusick said. "Taxing plastic bags should be the last resort, not the first resort."

Top photo by Kate Ter Harr