Ferguson Township planned to consider a plastic bag fee. Why that won’t happen anytime soon
It’s been over a year since Gov. Tom Wolf signed legislation prohibiting plastic bag bans in the state, but municipalities looking to move on the issue — including Ferguson Township — will have to wait longer.
The ban was to remain in effect for at least one year as legislative agencies studied the economic and environmental impact of impact fees. Two of those studies, released last month, show that a ban on single-use plastic could have a negative impact on the economy rather than environmental benefits. But a 10-cent impact fee could save consumers around $82 million each year, the research concludes.
Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, R-Benner Township, supported last year’s temporary delay — which came in the form of a last-minute budget bill — in an effort to protect Novolex’s Hilex Poly, a plastic bag manufacturer in Milesburg. Though Corman said he had good intentions, some residents and fellow legislators accused him of of catering to one business.
While the studies from the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee and Independent Fiscal Office have been completed, local townships still won’t be able to enact fees or bans on single-use plastic due to Act 23 — a piece of legislation signed into law by Gov. Tom Wolf on May 29. The bill prohibits any government agency from enacting or enforcing any “law, rule, regulation or ordinance” on single-use plastic until July 2021 or six months after Wolf lifts his COVID-19 state of emergency.
The Governor’s Office told the CDT Friday that the delay was made in response to the pandemic.
“The desire of local municipalities to ban the use of single-use plastic bags cannot be made in a vacuum,” Corman said in a statement. “Many of the preconceived notions about single-use plastic bags are not based in the reality of customer re-usage of the bags or the manufacturing process that continues to make improvements in order to reduce its environmental footprint.”
In Ferguson Township, the board of supervisors planned to introduce an ordinance that would impose a 10-cent tax on single-use plastic bags just before last year’s delay took effect. Those who supported the ordinance thought it would decrease the local carbon footprint by reducing waste and encouraging residents to use reusable bags.
The ordinance was pulled from the June 1 board of supervisors agenda due to the state’s extension. Township Manager David Pribulka said he does not expect the board will revisit the ordinance anytime soon.
Pam Steckler, a Ferguson Township resident who supported the ordinance, described the decision to delay as “underhanded.” After pushing for a fee on plastic bags for years, she hoped the township would have used the past year to refine the proposed ordinance and enact it once the research ended.
“This is a classic example of industry trying to exploit something to their own benefit,” Steckler said.
The studies found that a ban on plastic bags could result in a total consumer cost increase of $72 million annually and a per capita cost increase for all Pennsylvanians of $5.06, according to the IFO. It could also lead to an estimated 500 lost jobs throughout the state and would eliminate annual demand for about 3 billion plastic bags, as retailers would shift to paper or heavy-weight plastic bags.
According to the IFO, a 10-cent fee is the “most efficient option” because it motivates “strong consumer response” but lets retailers provide the lowest cost bag option, as plastic bags are less expensive than reusable options. A fee would also eliminate the demand for 1.4 billion bags and 588 million paper bags, according to the report.
Total consumer costs would fall by $82 million and per capita costs would decline by $6.40 with a 10-cent fee, the report said.
The LBFC found the environmental impacts of single-use plastic to be significantly less than those of a paper bag. The study also shows that cotton bags must be used at least 7,100 times before they reduce the environmental impact created by a plastic bag.
The LBFC also listed sanitary concerns with reusable grocery bags. According to research, cloth bags could be transmission pathways for bacteria and viruses. Some retailers even banned the use of reusable bags amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
PennEnvironment, a statewide, citizen-based environmental advocacy organization, disagrees with some conclusions made by the studies. In a statement, PennEnvironment Clean Water & Conservation Advocate Stephanie Wein said the research did not address the question: Who should act when the state refuses to take action?
“It’s a mistake to think local governments don’t want action on single use plastics, when what they really want is the General Assembly to step up on this issue,” she said.
Wein added that the reports downplay the impacts of single-use plastic on the environment and overall public health.
“We know the appetite for solutions to the plastic crisis is growing, and that policy solutions exist ... we’ve seen that municipal action on single-use plastic delivering real results for the environment by reducing demand for something we use once, but that pollutes our environment for centuries to come,” she said. “We maintain that Pennsylvania’s cities and towns have their finger on the pulse of their constituents and know if and when it is the right time to use different policy tools to address plastic waste.”
