By DOUGLAS GRAVES

Special to The Press

Lehigh County commissioners have tabled a proposed resolution to tax or place a consumer fee on one-time use plastic bags in the county.

In an 8-0 vote on Dec. 8 they tabled the proposal unless it is reintroduced next year.

Commissioner Amy Zanelli abstained from the vote citing potential conflict as she will be sworn in as a judge next year and possibly would see litigation on the subject on her court docket.

The proposal would authorize the county to require businesses which offer plastic bags to customers to charge a 10 cent fee per bag.

The money collected would go to environmentally friendly causes.

The fee would be effective six months after the law goes into effect.

Eighteen months later, the fee would go up to 15 cents per bag.

The reason for the motion to table the resolution according to Commissioner Dan Hartzell, who made the motion, was to give the board time to carefully consider the implications of the measure and to consider how enforcement would be done.

He also wanted to ensure that businesses have a chance to understand the measure and have a chance to comment on it before it goes up for a vote.

PennEnvironment, an environmental advocacy group, withdrew support when it realized the county’s version of the resolution had the collected money going to the county rather than to retailers.

“We have serious concerns that this is a violation of the Commonwealth Code,” said PennEnvironment representative Faran Savitz via email. “In light of these changes, I wanted to let you know PennEnvironment is no longer supporting this ordinance.”

A state ban on local municipalities that prohibited counties or other municipalities restricting use of plastic bags has expired.

A single-use plastic bag is defined in the resolution as a material made through a blown-film extrusion process.

Some categories of single-use plastic bags would be exempt from the law, for example, bags used by the retailer to package merchandise for resale.

Customers buying merchandise through the SNAP or WIC program are also exempt from the current draft of the resolution.

The law would have teeth in that it provides for a $300 fine and imprisonment for not more than 90 days for retailers who violate the ordinance if passed.

Departing Commissioner Dr. Percy Dougherty, a Republican, who sponsored the bill, said he agreed to the motion to table because he understood Commissioner Zakiya Smalls, a Democrat, would reintroduce the measure next year.