Sponsored by:
Senator STEVEN V. OROHO
District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)
Senator HOLLY T. SCHEPISI
District 39 (Bergen and Passaic)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senators A.M.Bucco, Johnson and Stanfield
SYNOPSIS
Amends law to exempt food banks and food pantries from prohibition on sale and distribution of single-use plastic and paper carryout bags.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the use of single-use carryout bags by food banks and food pantries and amending P.L.2020, c.117.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 3 of P.L.2020, c.117 (C.13:1E-99.128) is amended to read as follows:
3. a. Beginning 18 months after the effective date of P.L.2020, c.117 (C.13:1E-99.126 et al.):
(1) no store or food service business shall provide or sell a single-use plastic carryout bag to a customer; and
(2) no grocery store shall provide or sell a single-use paper carryout bag to a customer.
b. A municipality or county shall not adopt any rule, regulation, code, or ordinance concerning the regulation or prohibition of single-use plastic carryout bags or single-use paper carryout bags after the effective date of P.L.2020, c.117 (C.13:1E-99.126 et al.).
c. Beginning 18 months after the effective date of P.L.2020, c.117 (C.13:1E-99.126 et al.), this section shall supersede and preempt any municipal or county rule, regulation, code, or ordinance concerning the regulation or prohibition of single-use plastic carryout bags or single-use paper carryout bags that was enacted prior to the effective date of P.L.2020, c.117 (C.13:1E-99.126 et al.).
d. [Notwithstanding the provisions of] The prohibitions set forth in subsection a. of this section [to the contrary, beginning 24 months after the effective date of P.L.2020, c.117 (C.13:1E-99.126 et al.), no] shall not apply to a food bank or food pantry [shall provide a single-use plastic carryout bag to a customer] .
As used in this subsection:
"Food bank" means the same as the term is defined in section 2 of P.L.1982, c.178 (C.24:4A-2).
"Food pantry" means a nonprofit organization or government entity that distributes food to individuals in need of assistance, including, but not limited to, a soup kitchen, homeless shelter, or religious organization.
(cf: P.L.2022, c.6, s.1)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would exempt food
banks and food pantries from
section 3 of P.L.2020, c.117 (C.13:1E-99.128), which prohibits stores and food
service businesses from selling or providing single-use plastic or paper
carryout bags to customers. The prohibitions in the law concerning single-use
plastic or paper carryout bags take effect 18 months after the effective date
of P.L.2020, c.117 (C.13:1E-99.126 et al.), i.e., on May 4, 2022, and, pursuant
to P.L.2022, c.6, the prohibition concerning single-use plastic bags would
apply to food banks and food pantries beginning 24 months after the effective
date of P.L.2020, c.117, i.e., November 4, 2022.
As used in the bill "food bank" means "a nonprofit food clearinghouse that solicits, stores, and distributes donations of edible but unmarketable surplus food. The food is distributed to nonprofit organizations that feed the needy." The bill defines "food pantry" as "a nonprofit organization or government entity that distributes food to individuals in need of assistance, including, but not limited to, a soup kitchen, homeless shelter, or religious organization."