New York Governor Andrew M Cuomo and legislative leaders have approved a budget to ban the use of single-use plastic bags across the state.
The legislation was included in the state’s Enacted Budget of the 2020 fiscal year.
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With this move, New York becomes the third state across the US to implement a state-wide ban on plastics bags.
California is the first state to announce the ban in 2016 followed by Hawaii, which imposed the ban in some counties across the state, reported Associated Press.
The legislation prohibits supermarkets and other stores from offering plastic bags to customers starting 1 March 2020.
It also allows counties and cities to opt into a $0.05 fee on paper bags, with local governments taking $0.02 and Environmental Protection Fund of the state taking the remaining $0.03.
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By GlobalDataCuomo was quoted by the Associated Press as saying: “This budget is probably the strongest progressive statement that we’ve made. If you have big problems, it calls for big solutions.”
In February, Maine representative Nicole Grohoski and two other lawmakers have proposed to ban the use of plastic shopping bags across the state, according to Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM).
Various cities and towns, including Bar Harbor, Bath, Belfast, Blue Hill, Brunswick, Camden, Damariscotta, and Freeport have already imposed restrictions to ban single-use plastic bags. Kennebunk, Manchester, Newcastle, Saco, Southwest Harbor, Rockland, and York have also put forward restrictions.
