Dive Brief:
- The Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, said that municipal bag bans could be in violation of state law.
- A report issued by the Courthouse News Service (CNS) said that bag bans in multiple cities such as Laredo, Dallas, Austin, and Brownsville are being brought into question.
- The report states that the controlling law the Solid Waste and Disposal Act, prevents cities from banning the sale of a “container or package in a manner not authorized by state law, or assess a fee or deposit on the sale or use of a container or package” for solid waste management purposes.
Dive Insight:
The question is whether or not a single-use bag is considered a container or package and if the ban is imposed for “solid waste management purposes.”
In a letter, Abbott wrote that determining whether a city adopted an ordinance for solid waste purposes will require an investigation into the intent of the governing body. He advised that bans adopted for solid waste purposes are most likely illegal.
Abbott mentions bag bans in Freer and Laguna Vista, TX that were put into place for reasons other than waste disposal management. The ordinance passed in Freer suggests bags as hazards to wildlife on ranch land, while the Laguna Vista ban cites hazards to marine life.
Abbot said he is unable to determine if bag bans are illegal, but did say that the “plain language” of the law does ban cities from charging fees for consumer bags. "[B]ecause a court is likely to conclude a bag is a container… a court would also likely conclude that a city is prohibited from assessing a fee on the sale or use of a replacement bag,” said Abbott.