The Madison County Solid Waste and Recycling Committee has decided to reintroduce legislation to ban certain types of carryout plastic bags from use in the county. The committee’s decision was made during a meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 23.
The committee proposed the law early in 2017 to prohibit nearly every type of store in Madison County from providing plastic carryout bags to customers. The proposed law did not prevent customers from using, or charge a fee for using, reusable bags. Restaurants and liquor stores were exempt from the ban.
The proposed law also required the county to provide free reusable bags to county residents as well as education on the benefits of using such bags. Law violations included civil penalties of $250 for the first violation and $500 for each subsequent violation.
The committee agreed it would like to present the proposed local law with some minor changes for consideration by its March meeting, according to a press release. The committee will consult with the full board via the Committee of the Whole on Feb. 13 in Wampsville to seek consensus for moving forward with the local law.
Because of the minor changes, this law would be introduced as a new law in 2018 and would have to have an additional public hearing as part of the process.
“We have to transition to a new culture where utilizing reusable bags is a very small part of our effort to reverse pollution trends and preserve the environment because if we don’t, we won’t survive as a community, society or species,” said Jim Goldstein, Town of Lebanon Supervisor and Chair of the Madison County Solid Waste and Recycling Committee. “This local law ban would be one very small step in the direction of becoming better stewards of the environment.”
Three public hearings were held on the proposed law in May, June and July 2017 and, according to the committee, public sentiment was two-to-one in favor of the ban. The county board decided to suspend consideration of the proposed law last October, however, in order to see what action New York State may take on the issue, since any laws or regulations the state implements could preempt anything Madison County may adopt.
“Now that the Governor’s task force has issued its report, which takes no specific position or makes no specific recommendation with regards to a statewide solution, we think it makes sense to revisit moving the local law forward,” Goldstein said.
