NYC bill would charge dime for store bags

Paper or plastic? If the City Council approves a new law it won't matter because both will cost extra.

Council members Brad Lander and Margaret Chin announced Tuesday a bill that would charge customers a dime if they used one of the bags at grocery and retail stores.

"The truth is, there are a lot of times that we don't really need a plastic bag," Lander said in a statement.

Under the legislation, which will be introduced Thursday, customers at food and retail stores would be charged for the bags and the money would go directly to the shop owners.

The law is designed to encourage New Yorkers to carry their own reusable bags.

The charge will be waived for food stamp users, restaurants and street vendors. Customers who use bags within stores for produce, meat and bulk food bags won't be charged for them because they are used to preserve the food.

The mayor is reviewing the bill, his spokesman said. It costs the city $10 million to transport 100,000 tons of plastic bags to landfills annually, according to the council members.

The city's Sanitation Department said New Yorkers carry out 5.2 billion bags per year and most aren't recycled. The bill's co-signers pointed out similar laws in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., were successful in reducing plastic bag use by as much as 90 percent.

Dan Hendrick, a spokesman for the city's League of Conservation Voters, said he was confident the bill would pass soon.

"We have an environmentally friendly City Council and an environmentally friendly mayor. There is no reason we can't get this done now," said Hendrick, whose husband, Councilman Jimmy van Bramer, is one of the bill's co-sponsors.