Around New England

Fall River City Councilor Eying Plastic Bags Ban, But Concerned About Effect on Poor

March 29, 2019

A Fall River city councilor is considering pushing a ban on thin-film plastic bags in the city, although he says he’s concerned it might hurt poor people.

“I recognize there would be resistance and I also know from my research in other communities that those most adversely affected are lower income people who go to the market and walk home carrying their groceries in those plastic bags. … There needs to be some sensitivity to implementing this kind of thing,” said Steven Camara, a member of the city council, according to the Fall River Herald News.

The Massachusetts chapter of the Sierra Club, an environmental advocacy organization, has a list on its web site of 93 towns and cities that have banned thin-film plastic bags, of the 351 in Massachusetts.

None is on the South Coast, where Fall River is.

A state legislative committee is considering a bill (H. 771) that would ban thin-film plastic bags statewide and impose a 10-cent fee on other types of bags at grocery stores and drug stores.

A hearing on the bill before the state Legislature’s Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources, and Agriculture is scheduled for 1 p.m. Tuesday, April 2 in Room A-2 in the Massachusetts State House in Boston.