
BAGS - IMPLEMENTATION
ENFORCEMENT
- Penalties can range from warnings to fines to more severe penalties, such as jail time.
- Some regulations call for regular or random inspections.
- Clearly indicate what the penalties are and who/what department is responsible for enforcing the regulation.
EFFECTIVE DATES
The phase-in period for regulations can vary in time allotted, pace at which it happens, and can differ for large and small stores. Choose an adoption date that reasonably gives stores time needed to exhaust inventory and adjust. While many regulations allow for 6 months to a year after adoption for stores to exhaust inventory, we recommend 3 months for larger stores and 6 months for smaller ones.
EXAMPLES
Rincon, Puerto Rico started with written notice of violation and phased in a stronger penalty after 1 year
Rwanda + Kenya punish anyone making, selling or importing plastic bags with as much as 4 years in jail or $19,000 fine
Los Angeles County, California allowed a phase in of smaller stores after 6 months to give the smaller stores more time to comply