On January 15, the Independent Fiscal Office issued an invitation via Twitter to interested stakeholders to submit comments in connection with the economic impact study it is required to do of any regulation of "single-use plastics, reusable plastics, auxiliary containers, wrappings or polystyrene containers."

The IFO is taking this step because the issue they were given to analyze is very broad and impacts industry, retailers, customers, environmental interests, municipalities and others and they wanted to be sure to capture their experiences with plastics bans and regulations.

Comments should be sent by email to the IFO at: contact@ifo.state.pa.us by March 31.

The Legislative Budget and Finance Committee is also required to do an evaluation of the environmental impact and any impact on residents of the state from any regulation impacting "single-use plastics, reusable plastics, auxiliary containers, wrappings or polystyrene containers."

The Committee just completed and is compiling the results of a survey of all 2,500+ municipalities in the state to determine their interest in a plastics ban and what their opinions are on the issue.

The Committee is also looking at the plastics ban issue and how it was dealt with in other states, including New York which has done some significant analysis already on bans and their impacts.

The requirement for these studies was included in the Fiscal Code bill-- Act 20 page 29-- enacted as part of the budget last year.

Both agencies are required to submit their findings to the General Assembly by July 1, 2020.

Until the reports are submitted, the Act says the General Assembly and any local government or agency may not enact a law, rule, regulation or ordinance imposing a tax on the use or prohibit the sale of or restrict "single-use plastics, reusable plastics, auxiliary containers, wrappings or polystyrene containers."

(Photo: TribLive.com.)

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