Austin Bags The Bags
City to decide penalties next
Thursday, Apr 12, 2012 | Updated 4:07 PM CDT
The Austin City Council has passed one of the broadest bag bans in the country, but still must determine penalties for refusing to comply with the law.
The Austin American-Statesman reports that the law, which goes into effect March 2013, will prohibit retailers from offering single-use paper and plastic bags at all retail checkout counters.
Penalties will be worked out later. A spokeswoman for the city's trash and recycling department said only retailers, not customers, will face penalties.
Austin is the first big Texas city to pass a bag ban. More than two dozen U.S. cities have bag laws, most of them prohibiting plastic bags and imposing a fee on paper.
The city plans to do a $2 million campaign to remind shoppers to bring reusable bags.
