Surfrider Foundation has increasingly been part of local and state bag laws over the years to help reduce a top form of single-use plastic pollution. PlasticBagLaws.org has updated their bag maps and fact sheet. There are 471 local plastic bag ordinances that have been adopted in 28 states, which means 58 new ordinances were passed since May. The bigger news if that the number of states with statewide plastic bag laws has increased significantly. California was once the only state with a uniform bag reduction law. Now this list includes Oregon, New York, Vermont, Maine, Connecticut and Delaware.
Surfrider Foundation has been actively fighting against local preemption for the past five years. Preemption is a plastics industry tactic that undermines progressive plastic bag regulation. PlasticBagLaws.org’s “Shades of Preemption” map illustrates the existing preemption laws as well as states where preemption laws are pending, and states were preemption repeal laws have been introduced. Fourteen preemption laws are now in place, some of which only block plastic bag laws and some of which block all laws relating to auxillary containers (bags, foam foodware, bottles, etc). No new preemption laws were adopted since the last map update in May.
Surfrider Foundation and PlasticBagLaws.org partnered on tracking state preemption on Grassroots Change’s Preemption Watch map. Grassroots Change is an organization that promotes public health movements in local communities. Their state-by-state maps give activists an in-depth, real time look at preemption issues across the nation.
The Breakdown of All Seven Statewide Bag Laws
Many of the new statewide plastic bag laws were in the northeast, plus Oregon. Maine, Vermont, Delaware, Connecticut, and Oregon all passed plastic bag legislation this summer.
Statewide bag laws that fully align with Surfrider Foundation’s policy recommendations (mandatory fee on all available checkout bags):
CALIFORNIA (adopted 2014, effective 2016)
OREGON (adopted 2019, effective January 1, 2020)
MAINE (adopted 2019, effective April 22, 2020)
Statewide bag laws that do not fully align with Surfrider Foundation’s policy recommendations (no mandatory fee on all available checkout bags):
NEW YORK (part of 2019 state budget, effective March 1, 2020)
VERMONT (adopted 2019, effective July 1, 2020)
DELAWARE (adopted 2018, effective January 1, 2021)
CONNECTICUT [at p. 532 of budget] (adopted 2019, fee effective August 1st 2019, ban effective July 21, 2021)
HAWAII*
Hawaii does not have a statewide plastic bag law, but each county has a law in place.