Delegates to the state legislature are writing a bill that would require retailers to charge five cents per paper and plastic bag. The legislation is part of ongoing efforts to decrease the amount of trash dumped into the Chesapeake Bay.

“Despite our best efforts with recycling and reusing, lots of plastic bags end up as litter and go into the Chesapeake Bay,” said Alfred Carr, bill sponsor in the House. “This bill would hopefully prevent the trash from getting there in the first place.”

Delegates hope the small fee will encourage people to avoid using bags for small items and opt for recyclable bags instead.

D.C. Council member Tommy Wells sponsored a similar bill last year in D.C. that went into effect Jan. 1, 2010. The D.C. law mandates that the government charge five cents for plastic and paper bag. D.C. retailers saw about an 80 percent reduction in the number of paper and plastic bags given to shoppers after the law went into effect, said Brent Bolin, director of advocacy at the Anacostia Watershed Society.

“We didn’t expect it to have an impact that quickly, but it really was amazing,” Bolin said.

Though members of the Maryland House Environmental Matters Committee didn’t pass similar bills in 2009 or 2010, Carr said he hopes a year of positive results in D.C. would address any doubts about the bill’s effectiveness. Delegates are currently working on the wording of the bill and don’t yet know when it will reach the House.

“The bill is a step in moving towards a cleaner and healthier environment,” said Senior Caitlyn Guh, a Green Team member. “With societal pressures, people would be more willing to reduce their plastic bag use. Five cents isn’t a lot, but I think it’s enough to get people to change their attitudes and habits.”

Some stores, such as 7-Eleven, voiced their concerns over a similar bill last year.

“Our customer base will be disproportionately affected,” 7-Eleven wrote in opposition to last year’s bill. “Many of our customers tend to walk to our locations, making bags a necessity, not an option.”

Plastic and paper bag producers felt the fee was unwarranted, as many customers already recycle their bags.

“Taxing bags simply punishes and adds another burden on working families that currently get these bags with their groceries and extensively reuse them,” wrote the American Chemistry Council, a lobbying group employed by plastic bag producers.

Members of the Maryland Farm Bureau, an organization that helps improve farmers’ quality of life, also opposed the bill, arguing that the tax would unfairly hurt farmers who run roadside stands.

However, the current bill would provide some exemptions for farmers, Carr said. It also wouldn’t require shoppers to pay for bags used to carry meat, fish and hot carry-out food.

One to two pennies of the fee will go to the retailer, and the remaining three cents will be diverted towards implementation costs, which include providing free bags for low-income families, Carr said. Any remaining money will go to a non-profit organization that helps clean Maryland waterways. Officials have yet to decide which non-profit organization will receive the money.

“The bill could do great things for the environment,” Bolin said. “The average use of a plastic bag is only about 12 minutes and the bag never degrades.”