Vote on NYC Bag Fee Delayed Until May

Pictured: Environmental groups and elected officials gathered at New York City Hall last week in support of the bag fee bill. Photos by John V. Santore

BROOKLYN, NY — Come Earth Day 2016, the choice between paper or plastic still won't cost New Yorkers a nickel.

The Brooklyn-based backers of drafted legislation to add a 5 cent charge to single-use paper and plastic bags had hoped to pass the measure by Mother Nature's big day, which falls on April 22.

But spokespeople for the two councilmembers spearheading the bill — Brad Lander, representing Park Slope, Cobble Hill and adjacent neighborhoods, and Margaret Chin of Manhattan — confirmed Wednesday that it has been delayed.

The legislation currently has 26 co-sponsors — a slim majority of the 51-person Council.

However, Paul Leonard, a spokesman for Chin, said the planned April 20 vote was postponed because several co-sponsors were out of town.

"We know this is going to be a vote that will be close, and we're looking forward to having all the support that we can," Leonard said.

The bag-bill vote is now expected to take place on Thursday, May 5, Leonard said. If it becomes law, the fee will be imposed at all grocery and retail stores — but not liquor stores and non-profit food carts — starting Oct. 1.

In 2013, 84,000 tons of plastic retail bags and sleeves were hauled away by garbage workers, at a cost of $8.4 million to taxpayers, according to estimates prepared by the city's sanitation department.

A 2006 study found that after Ireland implemented a single-use bag fee, use of the bags dropped by 90 percent.

A 5 cent fee implemented in Washington, D.C. cut bag use there by half, according to local government data.

New York's original version of the legislation, which would have placed a 10-cent fee on bags, was introduced in 2014.

As recently as a month ago, the bill remained stuck at 22 co-sponsors — just short of a majority.

Last week, though, the legislation changed.

The newest version of the bill drops the bag fee from 10 cents to 5 cents.

It also requires the city to launch an education campaign informing the public about reusable bag use, while working with for-profit companies and non-profits to distribute free reusable bags — especially to low-income individuals.

The legislation states that starting in 2018, the city must issue an annual assessment of the law's impact on the NYC waste stream. And an additional study, due on the first day of 2019, must detail the bag fee's impact on residents.

New Yorkers buying goods using public assistance won't have to pay the fee. It also won't apply to bags without handles, or those used to wrap non-prepackaged foods, drugs from pharmacies and some garments.

Last Wednesday, environmental groups, lawmakers and local school children rallied at City Hall in support of the bill.

"The point is to make sure plastic bags go the way of the subway token," said Mark Griffith, the executive director of the Brooklyn Movement Center, a Bed-Stuy-based organization focused on quality-of-life issues.

Pictured: Brad Lander greets the "Bag Monster," a.k.a. John Weber, a member of the Surfrider Foundation and a supporter of the bill.

The bag fee, however, still has its detractors.

The American Progressive Bag Alliance, a plastics industry trade group, has long argued bag fees place an unfair burden on working families, and will cost thousands of American jobs by reducing plastic bag production.

And last week, members of Bag The Tax NYC — a coalition of officials, community representatives and several local unions organized by plastic bag manufacturer Novolex — held their own rally in opposition to the bill.

At the event, Councilman James Vacca, representing the Bronx, argued that if the legislation becomes law, "making ends meet will become that much harder" for those without economic means.

#NYC united against the regressive plastic bag tax - it will hurt poor families & communities of color #bagthetax. pic.twitter.com/l3H9vApNZ9

— The Black Institute (@TheBlackInst) April 13, 2016

Today I rallied against the plastic bag tax! We don’t need another tax on those least able to pay. pic.twitter.com/RTyRyMeJpG

— James Vacca (@JamesVacca13) April 13, 2016

Anticipating that line of argument at the pro-bill rally, Councilman Antonio Reynoso — who represents parts of Bushwick, Willimsburg and Ridgewood — emphasized that plastic bag waste is processed in poor sections of the city, while trucks transporting bag-filled trash pollute the air, a further danger to low-income residents.

"The notion that poor black and brown community [members] can't get with the program on environmental issues is insulting and wrong," Reynoso said.

Pictured: Students from Middle School 246 Walt Whitman and Tompkins Square Middle School rallied Wednesday in support of an NYC bag fee.

Bill backers have argued that its goal is not to force people into parting with their nickels. Instead, it's to encourage them to opt for reusable bags — a goal that has succeeded across ethnic and economic lines in other cities with fees, according to Lander.

As attorney and fee advocate Jenny Romer, who helped write the legislation, explained at the rally: Te bill will be a success if people "think about whether they need a bag" before they accept one from a store.

And when it comes to achieving that goal, Romer said, "Five cents is effective."

Photo courtesy of artist Dorothee Pierrard