Photo by sjshoreman

A few weeks after it seemed doomed to failure, a five-cent bag fee for Prince George’s County passed a key Maryland House Committee this morning and could well become law later this year. Greater Greater Washington’s Julie Lawson has the details:

This morning, delegates that represent Prince George’s County in the Maryland House of Delegates voted 12 to 9 in support of HB895, which would let let the county enact a 5¢ fee on disposable plastic and paper bags. This was the most significant hurdle, and the bill now has a very high chance of becoming law.

The bill now moves to the Environmental Matters Committee of the House, and then to the floor of the full House. For local bills like this one, those votes are usually a formality, as the current legislature prefers to support the counties’ wishes.

The county’s senators must also support the bill, but it passed easily last session and no senators are known to have changed their position.

If the measure makes it through the Maryland General Assembly, the Prince George’s County Council, which has in the past voted in favor of a bag fee, would gain the right to impose one.

Montgomery County enacted its own bag fee in January, and reported $154,000 in revenue in its first month.