Newtown Legislative Council Ordinance Committee Chairman Ryan Knapp has been barraged with questions since the full council recently voted to enact a plastic bag ban around the same time the Connecticut legislature passed a law phasing out plastic bags statewide.

So given the information Mr Knapp has amassed as he shepherded the local ordinance while keeping a close eye on similar actions in Hartford, he has issued a release to The Newtown Bee that unpacks a lot of details on both initiatives — with one important caveat.

“Firstly, I want to clarify that I am not an attorney and this is simply my understanding having worked on this, not legal advice,” the councilman states.

Mr Knapp explains that Newtown’s plastic bag ordinance was passed by the council on June 5.

“Per the Charter 5-05 we have to do an adoption notice after we vote to approve an ordinance and it can’t go into effect until a period of time after that,” he said. “The notice was in the June 14th issue of The Bee because our Wednesday night action missed the deadline for the Friday, June 7th issue.”

As a result, the official notice of the council’s action, which had to allow a minimum 14 day period before taking effect, became official on June 28.

“Technically the ordinance is already in effect. However, in the approved language it gives a four month time [frame] to allow retailers to use up their existing [plastic bag] inventory. This is noted as the ‘operative date’ in the ordinance,” Mr Knapp clarified.

Four months from the June 28 effective date puts the operative date at October 28.

The ordinance text is posted for residents to review online in the Code Book section of the town website under “new laws” — and will be added to the eCode tabulated structure on the town website as well.

The local ordinance stipulates that as of October 28, “No Business Establishment shall provide or sell a plastic checkout bag to a consumer in the Town of Newtown,” although certain exemptions apply: 1. Newspaper bags, door-hanger bags, laundry dry cleaning bags. 2. Bags sold in packages containing multiple bags intended for use as garbage, pet waste bags, yard waste bags. 3. Bags without handles that are used by consumers inside stores to package bulk items; such as fasteners, nuts and bolts; produce, nuts, grains, candy, meat, or fish, whether packaged or not; and unwrapped prepared foods or bakery goods. 4. Bags used to carry flowers, potted plants or other items where dampness may be a problem. 5. Bags used to carry pharmacy prescriptions; or items that required bags to safeguard public health during the transportation of hospital waste. 6. Any other bags that the enforcement officer deems to not fit the definition or intent of a carryout bag.

The Newtown ordinance stipulates any Newtown business establishment engaged in retail sale is permitted to provide to customers either reusable bags; and/or recyclable paper bags.

That business establishment shall charge at minimum ten-cent ($0.10) user fee per paper bag, and all revenue from paper bags sold may be retained by the business establishment.

Restaurants and establishments offering freshly prepared foods are exempted from the requirement to charge for paper bags.

Gift store/boutiques shall charge a minimum ten-cent (10¢) user fee per gift bag — plastic gift bags shall not be permitted.

And any business establishment making available non-recyclable paper bags or bags that do not meet the recyclability content requirements set forth in this ordinance (for example paper bags bearing a logo) may charge a minimum of fifteen-cent (15¢) per bag.

The charge for each paper bag sold in quantity and per bag rate shall be indicated on the customer’s itemized receipt. If receipts are not routinely provided, notice of the charge shall be posted and visible from every point of sale.

Nothing in the local ordinance shall preclude any establishment from making reusable checkout bags available for sale to customers or utilize recyclable paper bags.

And nothing in the ordinance shall prohibit consumers from using bags or containers, of any type, at the point of checkout that they have brought to a business establishment for the purpose of carrying away goods

State Bag Law

“Regarding the respective state law, the Department of Revenue Services (DRS) has released some information regarding the new plastic bag fee that was enacted by Public Act by 19- 117, which will take effect on August 1,” Mr Knapp states.

Of note, as it relates to Newtown’s local ordinance, Mr Knapp points out:

*The Plastic Bag Fee does not need to be collected if there is no sale to a customer.”

*Municipalities may enact or enforce an ordinance concerning single-use plastic checkout bags, provided the ordinance is as restrictive or more restrictive as the state legislation. In addition, municipalities may enact or enforce an ordinance concerning paper checkout bags, including, but not limited to, enabling each store to charge a fee for any such bag distributed to a customer.”

*Any municipal charges for a bag are subject to sales tax.”

The state DRS also includes several frequently asked questions and answers, which Mr Knapp included in his release:

Question 1: What is the “Plastic Bag Fee”?

Answer: The Plastic Bag Fee is a statewide fee of $0.10 per “single-use checkout bag” that must be collected by retailers making sales in Connecticut of tangible personal property to the public.

Question 2: Who is required to collect the Plastic Bag Fee?

Answer: All “stores” are required to collect the Plastic Bag Fee. The new law defines a “store” as any retailer who is registered for Connecticut sales tax that sells goods directly to the public and maintains a retail location in Connecticut that provides plastic bags to its customers.

Question 3: When must stores start collecting the Plastic Bag Fee?

Answer: Stores must start collecting the Plastic Bag Fee on August 1, 2019.

Question 4: What is a “single-use checkout bag”?

Answer: A “single-use checkout bag” means a plastic bag with a thickness of less than four mils that is provided by a store to a customer at the point of sale.

Question 5: What is not considered to be a “single-use checkout bag”?

Answer: A “single-use checkout bag” does not include: *Paper bags; *Reusable (four mils or thicker) plastic bags; *Thin plastic bags on a continuous, perforated roll that are used to contain meat, seafood, loose produce or other unwrapped food items; *Newspaper bags; or *Laundry or dry cleaning bags.

Question 6: What if stores already charge a fee for their bags?

Answer: If a store charges its own fee for a plastic bag, the store’s fee would have to be in addition to the state Plastic Bag Fee. Any store charges for a bag are subject to sales tax.

Question 7: What if a store uses donated plastic bags?

Answer: The imposition of the Plastic Bag Fee is based on the provision of a plastic bag to a customer, not on a store’s purchase of plastic bags. As a result, even the use of donated bags would be subject to the Plastic Bag Fee if the donated bags are provided to customers as part of a sales transaction.

Question 8: Are plastic bags provided by restaurants for take-out meals or to contain leftover meals being taken with customers considered single-use plastic checkout bags?

Answer: Yes. Restaurants must collect the Plastic Bag Fee on each single-use plastic checkout bag that is provided to customers to take meals off the premises.

Question 9: What if a store uses plastic bags for reasons other than sales transactions?

Answer: The Plastic Bag Fee does not need to be collected if there is no sale to a customer. As a result, plastic bags used by a store for other purposes, such as providing promotional materials or offering free items unrelated to a sales transaction, are not subject to the Plastic Bag Fee.

Question 10: What must a store include on the transaction receipts it provides to customers?

Answer: The store must indicate the number of single-use plastic checkout bags provided and the total amount of the fee charged on any transaction receipt provided to a customer.

Question 11: Is the Plastic Bag Fee included in gross receipts for purposes of the sales tax?

Answer: No. Sales tax is not imposed on the single-use plastic checkout bag fee. However, any municipal charges for bags are subject to sales tax. See Question 13, below.

Question 12: How does a store report the single-use plastic checkout bag fees it collected?

Answer: Each store must report all Plastic Bag Fees it collects to DRS with its sales tax return under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 12-414, and remit such fees at the same time and in the same form and manner required under that section.

Question 13: May municipalities pass their own ordinances regarding checkout bags?

Answer: Yes. Municipalities may enact or enforce an ordinance concerning single-use plastic checkout bags, provided the ordinance is as restrictive or more restrictive as the state legislation. In addition, municipalities may enact or enforce an ordinance concerning paper checkout bags, including, but not limited to, enabling each store to charge a fee for any such bag distributed to a customer. Any municipal charges for a bag are subject to sales tax. If a municipality were to charge its own plastic bag fee, it would be in addition to the state plastic bag fee.

Question 14: Is there a ban on plastic bags?

Answer: As of July 1, 2021, single-use plastic checkout bags are scheduled to be banned in the State of Connecticut. Municipalities may enact bans of plastic bags prior to that date.

Anyone with additional questions regarding the state’s Single-Use Plastic Bag Fee can send an e-mail to the DRS Legal Division at [naviga:u]legal.division@po.state.ct.us[/naviga:u].