HARRISBURG, Pa. — Four Pennsylvania municipalities are suing the state over a law that they say was unconstitutionally slipped into the state budget. The law prevents local governments from banning plastic bags and other single-use plastics in their communities.
Philadelphia, West Chester, Narberth, and Lower Merion Township filed a lawsuit against the state and Pennsylvania’s General Assembly, challenging a provision that lawmakers added to a budget bill last May. The provision prevents any ban on plastic bags until July or six months after Governor Tom Wolf lifts his coronavirus state of emergency order, whichever comes later.
“There’s this growing data that plastic pollution is bad for environments. We are barraged with photos of sea turtles and sea birds choking on plastic bags,” said David Masur, executive director of PennEnvironment. “The way that they did it, the process, is totally unconstitutional under the Pennsylvania constitution and that’s what we’re challenging them on in the courts.”
Some state lawmakers point to two studies— which were commissioned by the General Assembly—that found a ban on plastic bags would hurt local economies.
“Many of the preconceived notions about single-use plastic bags are not based in the reality of customer re-usage of the bags or the manufacturing process that continues to make improvements in order to reduce its environmental footprint,” said Jenn Kocher, spokesperson for Senate President Jake Corman. “The employers that manufacture these bags provide family-sustaining jobs in communities throughout Pennsylvania. These are jobs that would be lost under policies that this research shows do not have the desired environmental impact.”
Environmental advocates strongly disagree and said Pennsylvania is behind the curve in terms of preventing plastic pollution.
“Compared to our neighbors, I have to sadly say we are pretty far behind. We have New York to the north of us, they passed a plastic bag ban. New Jersey just passed the most comprehensive single-use plastic law in the country,” added Masur. “Pennsylvania’s really not only dragging its feet, but going the other way in stopping local communities, who want to do the right thing, from even doing that.”
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