BRIEF OF PROPOSED AMICI CURIAE WE ACT FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE, BEYOND PLASTICS, AND CLEAN AND HEALTHY NEW YORK IN SUPPORT OF NEITHER PARTY

The brief supports the Bag Waste Act's ban on plastic carryout bags but challenges specific DEC regulations that exempt 'reusable bags' made of plastic thicker than 10 mils. Amici argue this contradicts the legislative intent to ban 'any plastic carryout bags' and is arbitrary and capricious based on evidence that thickness thresholds fail to reduce plastic waste. The brief also rejects claims that the COVID-19 pandemic justifies invalidating the Act.

• The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) created a regulatory loophole by adding a 'reusable bag' exemption to the Bag Waste Act and defining such bags to include 'non-film plastic washable material' (plastic 10 mils or thicker), which allows the continued distribution of thick plastic bags.
• The Bag Waste Act's prohibition on the distribution of 'any plastic carryout bags' was intended to be comprehensive, as the Legislature specifically removed the word 'plastic' from the definition of 'reusable bag' in Title 28 and rejected discretionary authority for the DEC to create additional exemptions.
• The DEC's thickness-based exemption is arbitrary and capricious because evidence from other jurisdictions, such as Chicago and Honolulu, shows that banning thin bags while allowing thick ones leads stores to simply purchase thicker plastic bags without reducing overall single-use bag consumption.
• Plastic bags cause health and environmental harms throughout their lifecycle, including the release of toxic chemicals like 1,3-butadiene, toluene, propylene, and benzene during production, and the leaching of additives such as BPA and phthalates during use and disposal.
• The COVID-19 pandemic does not provide a legal or scientific basis to invalidate the Bag Waste Act, as there is no scientific evidence that reusable bags increase disease transmission more than plastic bags, and viruses may actually persist longer on non-porous plastic surfaces.

APA

Earthjustice (2020). BRIEF OF PROPOSED AMICI CURIAE WE ACT FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE, BEYOND PLASTICS, AND CLEAN AND HEALTHY NEW YORK IN SUPPORT OF NEITHER PARTY. https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/cef_029._br._of_proposed_amici_05_20_2020.pdf

Chicago

Earthjustice. BRIEF OF PROPOSED AMICI CURIAE WE ACT FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE, BEYOND PLASTICS, AND CLEAN AND HEALTHY NEW YORK IN SUPPORT OF NEITHER PARTY. 2020. https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/cef_029._br._of_proposed_amici_05_20_2020.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Earthjustice |title=BRIEF OF PROPOSED AMICI CURIAE WE ACT FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE, BEYOND PLASTICS, AND CLEAN AND HEALTHY NEW YORK IN SUPPORT OF NEITHER PARTY |date=20 May 2020 |url=https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/cef_029._br._of_proposed_amici_05_20_2020.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{earthjustice2020brief, author = {{Earthjustice}}, title = {{BRIEF OF PROPOSED AMICI CURIAE WE ACT FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE, BEYOND PLASTICS, AND CLEAN AND HEALTHY NEW YORK IN SUPPORT OF NEITHER PARTY}}, institution = {Earthjustice}, year = {2020}, month = may, url = {https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/cef_029._br._of_proposed_amici_05_20_2020.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }