Connecticut General Statutes 22a-246a – Single-use checkout bags. Definitions. Fee for provision by stores. Report of fees collected. Regulations. Prohibition on provision of single-use checkout bags by stores. Preemption of less restrictive municipa…
(a) As used in this section:
Terms Used In Connecticut General Statutes 22a-246a
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- Ordinance: means an enactment under the provisions of section 7-157. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1
- Personal property: All property that is not real property.
(1) “Single-use checkout bag” means a plastic bag with a thickness of less than four mils that is provided by a store to a customer at the point of sale. “Single-use checkout bag” does not include: (A) A bag provided to contain meat, seafood, loose produce or other unwrapped food items; (B) a newspaper bag; or (C) a laundry or dry cleaning bag;
(2) “Store” means any retailer, as defined in section 12-407, that maintains a retail store within the state and sells tangible personal property directly to the public.
(b) (1) For the period commencing August 1, 2019, and ending June 30, 2021, each store shall charge a fee of ten cents for each single-use checkout bag provided to a customer at the point of sale. The store shall indicate the number of single-use checkout bags provided and the total amount of the fee charged on any transaction receipt provided to a customer. Any fees collected pursuant to this subsection shall be excluded from gross receipts under chapter 219.
(2) Each store shall report all fees collected pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection to the Commissioner of Revenue Services with its return due under section 12-414 and remit payment at the same time and in the same form and manner required under section 12-414.
(3) Any fees due and unpaid under this subsection shall be subject to the penalties and interest established under section 12-419 and the amount of such fee, penalty or interest, due and unpaid, may be collected under the provisions of section 12-35 as if they were taxes due to the state.
(4) The provisions of sections 12-415, 12-416 and 12-421 to 12-428, inclusive, shall apply to the provisions of this section in the same manner and with the same force and effect as if the language of said sections had been incorporated in full into this section and had expressly referred to the fee imposed under this section, except to the extent that any such provision is inconsistent with a provision of this section.
(5) The Commissioner of Revenue Services, in consultation with the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection, may adopt regulations in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, to carry out the provisions of this section.
(6) At the close of each of the fiscal years ending June 30, 2020, and June 30, 2021, the Comptroller is authorized to record as revenue for such fiscal year the amount of the fee imposed under the provisions of this section that is received by the Commissioner of Revenue Services not later than five business days from the last day of July immediately following the end of such fiscal year.
(c) On and after July 1, 2021, no owner or operator of a store shall provide or sell a single-use checkout bag to a customer.
(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit a municipality from enacting or enforcing an ordinance concerning single-use checkout bags made of plastic, provided such ordinance is as restrictive or more restrictive as the provisions of this section concerning the provision or selling of such bags to customers by stores. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit a municipality from enacting or enforcing an ordinance concerning single-use checkout bags made of paper, including, but not limited to, enabling each store to charge a fee for any such bag distributed to a customer.