In D.C., the five-cent bag tax that has been in effect since 2010 is limited to stores that sell alcohol or food. In Montgomery County, on the other hand, the tax applies to bags in any store, whether a supermarket or a department store. Now some county legislators want that to changes, writes BethesdaNow:

Three Montgomery County councilmembers on Tuesday are expected to introduce a bill that would limit the bag tax to grocery stores and other food stores.

The move would run counter to the recommendation of the county’s Department of Environmental Protection, which in a lively Council Committee meeting in March argued to maintain the bag tax at all stores that offer plastic or paper bags.

The councilmembers behind the proposed change, Roger Berliner (D-Bethesda-Potomac), Craig Rice (D-Upcounty) and Nancy Floreen (D-At large), have questioned whether a shopper at a Nordstrom’s or Home Depot should be expected to carry a reuseable bag into those stores for non-food products.

Under the proposal, the tax could only be imposed in stores where the sale of food sales exceed two percent of gross sales. Environmental groups oppose changing how the tax is charged, saying that the plastic bags that end up in area rivers can come from any type of store.