A resource for legislative bodies considering laws that limit the use of plastic bags.
Tracking plastic bag laws since 2010
Tracking plastic bag laws since 2010
The tracker is being brought current — case pages for matters filed since 2021 are in preparation.
Hundreds of U.S. cities, counties, and states now regulate carryout bags — through bans, fees, and hybrid approaches — while other states preempt local action entirely. The maps chart both movements, side by side.
Each map links to the underlying laws, so a color on the page always traces back to a citation.
Open the maps
Write-ups of recently enacted laws are in preparation — the maps above reflect them.
Twenty states bar their own cities and counties from regulating plastic bags. These preemption laws — often passed as “auxiliary container” provisions attached to budgets or broader bills — determine where local bag ordinances can, and cannot, exist.
Preemption is regularly tested in court. In State ex rel. Yost v. City of Athens, Ohio sued one of its own cities over a bag ban and prevailed; the ruling became final in 2025.
It also appears in narrower forms: New York blocked New York City’s five-cent bag fee in 2017, before adopting its statewide ban.
PlasticBagLaws.org was founded in 2010 by Jennie Romer, the attorney who built the first centralized tracker of U.S. bag laws. Her work on bag policy spans the landmark San Francisco and New York City efforts, national leadership at the Surfrider Foundation, federal service at the U.S. EPA, and the book Can I Recycle This?
Advising on sustainability strategy, plastics and packaging policy, recycling, and safer chemicals; speaking and presenting at legislatures, campuses, and conferences.
jennieromer.com