Madison County will not move forward on a proposed plastic carryout bag ban law until it sees what action New York state will take. The county’s Solid Waste and Recycling Committee made the decision to wait at its Oct. 26 meeting.
Although the committee members agreed with the revised proposed county law, any laws or regulations the state implements could preempt anything Madison County may adopt.
Jim Zecca, director of the Madison County Department of Solid Waste, attended a roundtable discussion of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Plastic Bag Task Force held Oct. 11 in Albany. He said the governor is pushing for a recommendation from the task force by the end of this year.
The county still must do a State Environmental Quality Review to move forward with the proposed law. However, committee members didn’t want to go through the expense of that process if there was a chance whatever the state does would negate the county’s law.
Although Madison County has curbside recycling and receptacles at the transfer stations for plastic film bags, the market for recycle bags has dropped dramatically and there is limited market for the material.