By Chelyen Davis
RICHMOND
--In an effort to get you to answer the "paper or plastic?" question with "I brought my own reusable bags," a delegate has put in a bill to charge a 5-cent fee for each disposable bag used at grocery and other stores.Del. Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria, said discarded plastic bags clog waterways, where they are unsightly and can harm fish and wildlife. The bags are the third most commonly found item in streams during cleanup operations.
"They're found in the thousands," Ebbin said at a news conference.
He hopes his bill can help clean up waterways, protect wildlife and encourage people to use more environmentally friendly reusable bags.
The revenue created by the fee would go to the state Water Quality Improvement Fund.
Extrapolating from projections by the city of Washington, D.C., which instituted a bag fee recently, the state estimates Ebbin's bill could generate $48 million in its first year, although that would be expected to drop off if the fee reduces consumer usage of disposable bags.
It would also cost the tax department several thousand dollars a year to administer the program. Retailers would keep one cent of the 5 cents, but could face fines if they don't properly charge or remit the fee.
Ebbin's bill would apply to both plastic and paper disposable bags. It will be heard next week by a House subcommittee.
Another disposable-bag bill has already died: Del. Joe Morrissey, D-Richmond, had a bill to ban plastic bags altogether. It failed earlier this week.
Morrissey said he lived in Ireland when that country instituted a fee of 20 pence per disposable bag. He said it changed people's behavior, and that use of plastic bags dropped 96 percent. Many other European and Asian countries have banned plastic bags, he said.
"I'm slightly disappointed that Virginia is not leading the way," Morrissey said.
Morrissey said the average Virginian uses 300 bags per year, but only one or two percent of them get recycled.
"The benefits to the environment are overwhelming" Morrissey said of reduced bag usage.
Chelyen Davis: 804/343-2245
Email: cdavis@freelancestar.com