Federal Laws
U.S. Congress
The Plastic Bag Reduction Act of 2009
- H.R. 2091, introduced 4/22/09
- Similar to Washington DC’s Anacostia River Clean Up & Protection Act, would place 5-cent fee on single-use bags (increased to 25-cent fee in 2015).
- status: currently in committee (committee assignments)
Resolution encouraging state and local governments to establish plastic bag recycling programs
- H. Res. 1506, introduced 7/1/10
- This is just a non-binding resolution encouraging the adoption of state and local recycling laws.
- Mandatory recycling laws are often industry-sponsored and often preempt local bans and/or fees (tread carefully!).
- status: referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
DISCLAIMER: This is not a complete list. plasticbaglaws.org is currently focused on California ordinances and does not have the resources to maintain a complete comprehensive national database For more comprehensive information on a national scale, we recommend Florida Department of the Environment’s Retail Bag Report website and Hilex Poly ‘s (a plastic bag manufacturer) website. plasticbaglaws.org is in no way affiliated with these organizations.
