Plastic Bags

    By not vetoing a bill passed by the Legislature,  Governor Hogan let Howard County decide to impose a fee on plastic bags.  The issue now goes to the County Council to possibly impose the fee.  Four of the 5 Council Members seem to be in support of the fee legislation.  Here is the legislation:

HB1166 – Howard County – Authority to Impose Fees for Use of Disposable Bags Ho. Co. 04-19

• Authorizing Howard County to impose, by law, a fee on certain retail establishments for the use of disposable bags as part of a retail sale of products; limiting the amount of the fee to not more than 5 cents for each disposable bag used; defining “disposable bag” as a plastic bag provided by a store to a customer at the point of sale; requiring the county to use certain revenue only for a certain environmental purpose or the implementation, administration, and enforcement of the fee; etc.

    Howard County would be the second Maryland county to impose a fee.  This type of legislation is becoming more common as communities attempt to reduce the amount of plastic that ends up in our waterways.  A recent walk along one of the Columbia paths near Lake Elkhorn reveals the frequency of seeing discarded plastic waste on its way to the Lake.

#hocoblogs