This article shall be known as the "Plastic Carryout Bag Waste
Reduction Act."
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
APPLICABLE BUSINESS
A.
Any of the following establishments located within the County
of Rockland:
(1)
Any corporation, partnership, business, facility, vendor, or
organization located in the County of Rockland that sells or provides
merchandise, goods or materials, including, but not limited to, clothing,
food, or personal items of any kind, directly to a consumer. An applicable
business shall include but is not limited to any retail establishment,
department store, apparel store, home center and hardware store, stationary
and office supply store, drug store, pharmacy, supermarket, convenience
food store, food mart, food market, farmers market vendor, liquor
store, minimart or gasoline station store.
(2)
A restaurant, deli or any other business that receives 90% or
more of its revenue from the sale of prepared food to be eaten on
or off its premises.
B.
Applicable business does not include:
(1)
Emergency food providers; or
(2)
Mobile food service vendors; or
EMERGENCY FOOD PROVIDER
Any facility, including soup kitchens and food pantries operated
by a not-for profit corporation or by a federal, state or local government
agency, that provides food to needy individuals at no charge to the
person receiving the food.
MOBILE FOOD SERVICE VENDOR
A self-contained food service operation, located in a readily
movable pushcart, motorized wheeled or towed vehicle, used to store,
prepare, display or serve food intended for individual portion service.
POSTCONSUMER MATERIAL
A material that, having completed its intended end use or
productive life, is ordinarily disposed of through solid waste disposal
or recycling. Postconsumer material does not include materials and
byproducts generated from, and commonly reused within, an original
manufacturing and fabrication process.
RECYCLED PAPER BAG
A paper single-use carryout bag provided by an applicable
business to a customer that meets all of the following applicable
requirements:
A.
Except as otherwise provided in this section, the recycled paper
bag contains a minimum of 40% postconsumer materials, except that
an eight-pound-rated or smaller recycled paper bag shall contain a
minimum of 20% postconsumer material;
B.
The recycled paper bag should be 100% paper, with no coatings
or liners;
C.
The recycled paper bag is accepted for curbside recycling in
Rockland County per the Rockland County Solid Waste Management Authority;
and
D.
Printed on the recycled paper bag are the percentage of postconsumer
material content and any of the following words and/or phrases: "recyclable,"
"reusable," "Choose to Reuse" or "I'm Recyclable" on the outside of
the bag.
REUSABLE BAG
A bag with handles that is designed and manufactured for
multiple reuses and meets all of the following requirements:
A.
Is machine washable or easily cleaned or disinfected, and if
made of plastic, is a minimum of at least 2.25 mils (thousandths of
an inch) thick; and
B.
Does not contain lead, cadmium, or any other heavy metal in
toxic amounts, as defined by applicable state and federal standards
and regulations for packaging or reusable bags; and
C.
Has a minimum lifetime of 125 uses which, for purposes of this
subsection, means the capability of carrying a minimum of 22 pounds
125 times over a distance of at least 175 feet.
SINGLE-USE PLASTIC CARRYOUT BAG
A.
Any bag that:
(1)
Is predominantly made of plastic derived from petroleum or biobased
sources, such as corn or other plants; and
(2)
Is less than 2.25 mils (thousandths of an inch) thick; and
(3)
Is provided by an applicable business, as defined herein, to
a customer at a check stand, cash register, point of sale or other
location for the purpose of carrying purchased items such as food
or merchandise.
B.
Single-use plastic carryout bags do not include:
(1)
Bags used to:
(a)
Package loose bulk items, such as fruit, vegetables, nuts, grains,
candy, cookies, or small hardware items;
(b)
Contain or wrap frozen foods, meat, or fish, whether prepackaged
or not;
(c)
Contain or wrap flowers, potted plants, or other items where
damage to or contamination of other goods placed together in the same
bag may be a problem (includes paper bags to protect bottles, newspaper
bags, laundry dry-cleaning bags, plastic bags around ice cream or
other wet items, and small paper bags for greeting cards); or
(d)
Contain unwrapped prepared goods or bakery goods.
(2)
Bags provided by pharmacists to contain prescription drugs;
or
(3)
Newspaper bags, door-hanger bags, or laundry-dry cleaning bags.
No applicable business shall provide or distribute a single-use
plastic carryout bag to a customer.
The Director of Consumer Protection and Public Advocate, in
addition to any other duties and powers, is authorized to adjudicate
any and all violations and levy and collect any and all penalties
for violation of this article.
Any applicable business that violates the provisions of this
article shall receive the following penalties:
A. Per violation as follows:
(1) A fine not to exceed $250 for a first violation.
(2) A fine not to exceed $500 for a second violation within a twelve-month
period.
(3) A fine not to exceed $1,000 for a third and each subsequent violation
committed within a twelve-month period.
B. In addition to the above-referenced penalties, the Rockland County
Office of Consumer Protection shall have the authority to confiscate
any and all single-use plastic carryout bags from an applicable business
found to have violated this article.
C. For the purpose of this section, each commercial transaction shall
constitute no more than one violation.
The Director of the Rockland County Office of Consumer Protection
shall promulgate any rules and regulations as it deems necessary and
appropriate for the implementation and enforcement of any provisions
of this article.
This article shall be null and void on the day that statewide
legislation goes into effect, incorporating either the same or substantially
similar provisions as are contained in this article, or in the event
that a pertinent state or federal administrative agency issues and
promulgates regulations preempting such action by the County of Rockland.
The County Legislature may determine by resolution whether or not
identical or substantially similar statewide legislation or pertinent
preempting state or federal regulations have been enacted for the
purposes of triggering the provisions of this section.
If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section or
part of this article or the application thereof to any person, individual,
corporation, firm, partnership, entity or circumstance shall be adjudged
by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid or unconstitutional,
such order or judgment shall not affect, impair, effect or invalidate
the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in its operation to the
clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section or part of this
article or in its application to the person, individual, corporation,
firm, partnership, entity or circumstance directly involved in the
controversy in which such order or judgment shall be rendered.
[Amended 10-2-2019 by L.L. No. 6-2019]
This article shall take effect March 1, 2020