Bag Ban Inching Closer to Being Repealed

On Tuesday, June 27, the state Senate approved House Bill 56 by a vote of 33-15. The Bill, which is titled as an “Act to Amend Various Environmental Laws” includes a repeal of the current Plastic Bag Ban for the Outer Banks in Section 10(a.)

The bag ban, which went into effect in 2009, prohibits larger retailers from using plastic bags as an effort to protect sea turtles and other marine life. It also requires retailers to provide a refund of $.05 per bag for customers who bring along their own reusable bags to the store.

The bill also cuts the size of the state Marine Fisheries Commission from nine seats to seven seats by removing two positions that remain at large. Under this scenario, a super majority of five votes would be required in order to approve rules and regulation of fisheries under a fishery management plan.

In addition, any fishery rule changes or temporary rules that were made by the by the director of the Division of Marine Fisheries or the commission itself would be blocked under the following criteria:

“Management measures considered in a supplement shall be strictly limited to those management strategies contained in the original fishery management plan or subsequent amendments to the plan adopted by the Marine Fisheries Commission and shall not include management measures that either (i) were not originally developed in accordance with this section or (ii) result in severe curtailment of the usefulness or value of equipment as provided.”

The bill will now head back to the house for the final vote and approval. Considering that the house voted unanimously to pass the bill on April 27, it is likely that the bill will be approved. It will then be sent to the governor

The 15 “no” voters on Tuesday included 14 Democrats and one Republican.

The bill in its entirety can be found here:

http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2017/Bills/House/PDF/H56v6.pdf