Charge for Single-Use Bags in Lincoln!

MAY 15, 2021 UPDATE

Residents of Lincoln today voted to approve the warrant article to authorize the Board of Selectmen to petition the State Legislature to establish a minimum bag charge in Town to properly incentivize reusable bags!!

This presents the opportunity for the State Legislature to approve the bag charge, enabling Lincoln to pass a good local bag law that includes the charges on paper and reusable bags, which we know are needed for good policy. 

Stay tuned as the next phases ensue of securing permission from the State, and then securing a good local bag law! Reach out to engage.

MAY 3, 2021 UPDATE

The proposed bag charge authorization has been accepted as a warrant article for Lincoln’s 2021 Annual Town Meeting, which is scheduled to start at 9:30 AM on Saturday, May 15, 2021 in the Hartwell Parking Lot. The measure is Article 38 and has received the endorsement of Lincoln’s Board of Health. The town’s Select Board has declined to take a position.

Registered voters in Lincoln, MA are urged to attend the Town Meeting and vote in support of Articles 38 (as well as 37 + 39, the polystyrene foam foodware and straws, splash sticks, and stirrer reduction proposals!).

Please contact campaigns@ma.surfrider.org for more information or to get involved!

RECENT UPDATES

Due to the COVID pandemic and to limit potential exposure time of residents during Town Meeting (required to be in person by MA law), the Town of Lincoln elected to only address essential, legally-required business during the 2020 Town Meeting.

The Chapter and local allies are in communication to explore the possibility of leveraging the extensive preparation and outreach work of the previous year, and resubmitting the article for the 2021 Annual Town Meeting (presently rescheduled to start on Saturday 15 May 2021). Analogous articles passed in neighboring Sudbury, MA in late 2020.

HISTORIC ACCOUNT

The article would authorize the Lincoln Board of Selectmen to petition the Massachusetts General Court for a special law establishing a minimum 10-cent charge for all new checkout bags distributed in Town. The special law would need to be passed by the legislature and signed into law by the governor to go into effect. For more details about this article, please email campaigns@ma.surfrider.org.

Volunteers from the Chapter are working closely alongside volunteers from Mothers Out Front - Lincoln and the Lincoln-Sudbury High School Environmental Club. The chapter drafted petition language and enough signatures were collected ahead of the deadline to ensure inclusion of the proposed article in the town meeting warrant.

A presentation was made to the Lincoln Board of Health on 1/22/2020, after which the Board of Health endorsed the article.

Extensive outreach efforts in town are underway in advance of the Town Meeting, which was initially set to begin at 930AM on 3/28/2020 but was postponed due to COVID-19. When Lincoln conducted their Town Meeting, a decision was made to drop everything from the agenda but for the essential budget items needed to keep the Town functioning.

The Chapter is tracking progress and aims to add this proposed bylaw to a future Town Meeting agenda.

Lincoln residents are urged to contact the MA Chapter to get involved, and to learn more about the complex issues surrounding local bag fees in the State of Massachusetts. 

For more information on why fees are so important, check out our plastic bag toolkit.

Thank you!