1.This Act may be cited as the
Plastic Bag Reduction Act of
2009
.
2.Imposition of tax on
single-use carryout bags
(a)Chapter 31 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to
environmental taxes) is amended by inserting after subchapter C the following
new subchapter:
D
Sec. 4056. Imposition of tax.
4056.
(a)There is hereby imposed
on any retail sale a tax on any single-use carryout bag.
(b)The amount of tax imposed
by subsection (a) on any single-use carryout bag shall be—
(1)$0.05 on and after
January 1, 2010, and before January 1, 2015, and
(2)$0.25 on and after
January 1, 2015.
(c)The retailer shall be liable for the tax imposed by
subsection (a).
(d)For purposes of this section—
(1)
(A)The term single-use carryout bag means a
carryout bag, including a grocery sack, dry-cleaning bag, take-out food bag,
retail bag, membership or wholesaler bag, and service station bag, manufactured
or imported for use by a retail seller at a point of sale with a customer.
(B)Such
term does not include—
(i)any reusable bag,
(ii)any bag
manufactured for use by a customer inside a store to package bulk items such as
fruit, vegetables, nuts, grains, candy, or small hardware items, such as nails
and bolts,
(iii)any bag
manufactured for use by a pharmacist to contain prescription drugs, and
(iv)any bag
manufactured to be sold at retail in packages containing multiple bags intended
for use as garbage, pet waste, or yard waste bags.
(2)The term reusable
bag means a bag that has handles and is—
(A)(i)made of cloth or other
machine washable fabric, or
(ii)made of a durable plastic that is
at least 2.25 mils thick, and
(B)is specifically
designed and manufactured for multiple reuse.
(e)
(1)The tax imposed by subsection (a) shall be passed through to
the customer and shall be separately stated on the receipt of sale provided to
the customer.
(2)Each
retailer shall keep records for purposes of this section and section 6433. Such
records shall include the total number of single-use carryout bags purchased
and the amounts passed through to the customer for such bags pursuant to
paragraph (1).
(3)1st retail sale;
use treated as saleFor purposes of this section, rules similar
to the rules of subsections (a) and (b) of section 4002 shall
apply.
.
(b)Carryout bag
recycling programSubchapter B of chapter 65 of such Code is
amended by adding at the end the following new section:
6433.Qualified
single-use carryout bag recycling program
(a)If—
(1)tax has been
imposed under section 4056 on any single-use carryout bag, and
(2)a retailer
provides such bag to a customer in a point of sale transaction, and
(3)such retailer has
in effect at the time of such transaction a qualified carryout bag recycling
program,
the
Secretary shall pay (without interest) to such retailer an amount equal to the
applicable amount for each such bag used by the retailer in connection with a
point of sale transaction.(b)For purposes of subsection (a), the applicable amount
is—
(1)$0.01 with respect
to transaction on and after January 1, 2010, and before January 1, 2015,
and
(2)$0.05 with respect to transaction on and
after January 1, 2015.
(c)Qualified
single-use carryout bag recycling programFor purposes of this
section, the term qualified carryout bag recycling program means a
program under which the retailer—
(1)to the extent the
retailer provides single-use carryout bags (as defined in section 4056) to
customers—
(A)passes through the tax imposed by section
4056 and tracks the total number of bags purchased and amount of tax passed
through pursuant to section 4056(d), and
(B)has printed or
displayed on each such bag, in a manner visible to a customer, the words
PLEASE RETURN TO A PARTICIPATING STORE FOR RECYCLING
,
(2)places at each
place of business at which retail operations are conducted one or more carryout
bag collection bins which are visible, easily accessible to the customer, and
clearly marked as being for the purpose of collecting and recycling single-use
carryout bags,
(3)recycles the single-use carryout bags
collected pursuant to paragraph (2),
(4)maintains for not
less than 3 years records (which shall be available to the Secretary)
describing the collection, transport, and recycling of single-use carryout bags
collected, and
(5)makes available to
customers within the retail establishment reusable bags (as defined in section
4056(c)(2)) which may be purchased and used in lieu of using a single-use
carryout
bag.
.
(c)Establishment of
trust fundSubchapter A of chapter 98 of such Code (relating to
trust fund code) is amended by adding at the end the following:
9511.Single-use
Carryout Bag Trust Fund
(a)There is established in the Treasury of the United
States a trust fund to be known as the Single-Use Carryout Bag Trust
Fund
(referred to in this section as the Trust Fund
),
consisting of such amounts as may be appropriated or credited to the Trust Fund
as provided in this section or section 9602(b).
(b)There is hereby appropriated to the Trust Fund an
amount equivalent to the amounts received in the Treasury pursuant to section
4056.
(c)Expenditures
from Trust FundAmounts in
the Trust Fund shall be available, as provided by appropriation Acts,
for—
(1)grants to States and localities that
establish taxes on plastic and paper bags which are similar to the taxes
imposed under section 4056, and
(2)making payments
under section 6433.
(d)Transfer to Land
and Water Conservation Fund
(1)The Secretary shall pay from time to time from the Trust
Fund into the land and water conservation fund provided for in title I of the
Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 amounts (as determined by the
Secretary) equivalent to the aggregate of the transactions on which tax is
imposed under section 4056 aggregate amounts determined on the basis of—
(A)$0.01 with respect
to each such transaction on and after January 1, 2010, and before January 1,
2015, and
(B)$0.05 with respect to each such transaction
on and after January 1, 2015.
(2)Special rule
regarding amounts transferredAmounts transferred to the land and
water conservation fund under paragraph (1) shall not be taken into account for
purposes of determining amounts to be appropriated or credited to the fund
under section 2(c) of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (16
U.S.C.
460l–5(c)).
.
(d)Not later than December 31, 2012, the
Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct a study on the
effectiveness of the provisions of this Act at reducing the use of single-use
carryout bags and encouraging recycling of such bags. The report shall—
(1)address measures
that the Comptroller General determines may increase the effectiveness of such
provisions, including the amount of tax imposed on each single-use carryout
bag, and
(2)evaluate whether
imposing taxes on other products, such as food wrappers and containers, could
reduce the use of such products.
The
Comptroller General shall submit a report of such study to the Committee on
Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of
the Senate.(e)
(1)The table of
subchapters for chapter 31 of such Code is amended by inserting after the item
relating to adding at the end thereof the following new item:
Subchapter D. Single-Use Carryout
Bags.
.
(2)The table of sections for subchapter B of
chapter 65 of such Code is amended by adding at the end the following new
item:
Sec. 6433. Qualified single-use carryout
bag recycling
program.
.
(3)The table of sections for subchapter A of
chapter 98 of such Code is amended by adding at the end the following new
item:
Sec. 9511. Single-Use Carryout Bag Trust
Fund.
.
(f)The amendments made by this section shall take effect on
January 1, 2010.