Baltimore County executive vetoes amendments to plastic bag ban
BALTIMORE -- Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. on Wednesday vetoed a series of amendments to the county's upcoming plastic bag ban.
The county council passed carve-outs exempting liquor stores from needing to charge customers for bags and allowing businesses to sell thinner plastic bags along with reusable or paper bags.
One week until Baltimore County’s Bring Your Own Bag law is set to take effect, today I vetoed two pieces of legislation set to weaken the existing law's environmental protection efforts. pic.twitter.com/db2ySdNGEz
— County Executive Johnny Olszewski (@BaltCoExec) October 25, 2023
The council passed the "Bring Your Own Bag Act" with a bipartisan vote in February. Introduced by council member Izzy Patoka and two other council members, the bill passed 5 to 2.
"Now is not the time to undo that progress," the county executive said in a statement. "These two bills will unnecessarily allow more plastic bags to end up in our landfill and in our environment - counter to the goal we set together when we passed the bipartisan Bring Your Own Bag Act."
The ban goes into effect on November 1, but a 90-day enforcement grace period is in place for businesses.