City, State Propose Rival Bills On Plastic Bags
To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.
Then come back here and refresh the page.
The City Council and state lawmakers are in a turf war over plastic bag recycling rules. NY1’s Grace Rauh filed the following report.The politics of plastic bags are taking center stage.
Last month, Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed the city charge New Yorkers at least five cents for every plastic bag they take from a store.
Earlier this year, the council passed its own law requiring many city stores to recycle plastic bags for customers. But then state lawmakers passed their own legislation.
“In the middle of the night, without notice to anyone, Albany passed a bill which protected, basically, the supermarkets and the special interests, without saying a word to anybody and which guts our bill. It's typical Albany,” said Queens Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. “We are asking Governor [David] Paterson not to let this happen. Veto this bill, exempt New York City.”
The city law requires stores of 5,000 square feet or larger and chain stores, including franchises, to recycle plastic bags.
The state law, however, will only apply to stores that are 10,000 square feet or larger and only certain change stores. This bill reached Paterson's desk on Monday.
A spokesman for the governor says Paterson is reviewing the bill and will take action by the end of next week.
Council Speaker Christine Quinn said it would not be out of the ordinary for state rules to not apply to the city.
“Typically, when New York has a law that is stronger than the one the state has, in advance of the state law, we are exempted from the state law,” said Quinn.
Grocery stores owners are backing the state bill, arguing that there should be only one set of rules.
The mayor's proposed plastic bag tax, however, is not getting caught up in the fight over recycling rules.
The mayor and council speaker's offices say that despite their different approaches to dealing with the bags, the two sides of City Hall share a common goal: reducing the number that wind up in landfills.
The governor now has to decide whether to exempt the city from the bill or veto it altogether.