I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2091 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to impose a retail tax on 

single-use carryout bags, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 23, 2009 

Mr. MORAN of Virginia introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee 

on Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to impose 

a retail tax on single-use carryout bags, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Plastic Bag Reduction 

5 Act of 2009’’. 


SMARTINEZ on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
2 

•HR 2091 IH

1 SEC. 2. IMPOSITION OF TAX ON SINGLE-USE CARRYOUT 

2 BAGS. 

3 (a) GENERAL RULE.—Chapter 31 of the Internal 

4 Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to environmental taxes) 

5 is amended by inserting after subchapter C the following 

6 new subchapter: 

7 ‘‘Subchapter D—Single-Use Carryout Bags 

‘‘Sec. 4056. Imposition of tax. 

8 ‘‘SEC. 4056. IMPOSITION OF TAX. 

9 ‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—There is hereby imposed on 

10 any retail sale a tax on any single-use carryout bag. 

11 ‘‘(b) AMOUNT OF TAX.—The amount of tax imposed 

12 by subsection (a) on any single-use carryout bag shall be— 

13 ‘‘(1) $0.05 on and after January 1, 2010, and 

14 before January 1, 2015, and 

15 ‘‘(2) $0.25 on and after January 1, 2015. 

16 ‘‘(c) LIABILITY FOR TAX.—The retailer shall be liable 

17 for the tax imposed by subsection (a). 

18 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 

19 ‘‘(1) SINGLE-USE BAG.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘single-use 

21 carryout bag’ means a carryout bag, including 

22 a grocery sack, dry-cleaning bag, take-out food 

23 bag, retail bag, membership or wholesaler bag, 

24 and service station bag, manufactured or imVerDate Nov 24 2008 06:03 Apr 25, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2091.IH H2091

SMARTINEZ on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
3 

•HR 2091 IH

1 ported for use by a retail seller at a point of 

2 sale with a customer. 

3 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS.—Such term does not 

4 include— 

5 ‘‘(i) any reusable bag, 

6 ‘‘(ii) any bag manufactured for use by 

7 a customer inside a store to package bulk 

8 items such as fruit, vegetables, nuts, 

9 grains, candy, or small hardware items, 

10 such as nails and bolts, 

11 ‘‘(iii) any bag manufactured for use 

12 by a pharmacist to contain prescription 

13 drugs, and 

14 ‘‘(iv) any bag manufactured to be sold 

15 at retail in packages containing multiple 

16 bags intended for use as garbage, pet 

17 waste, or yard waste bags. 

18 ‘‘(2) REUSABLE BAG.—The term ‘reusable bag’ 

19 means a bag that has handles and is— 

20 ‘‘(A)(i) made of cloth or other machine 

21 washable fabric, or 

22 ‘‘(ii) made of a durable plastic that is at 

23 least 2.25 mils thick, and 

24 ‘‘(B) is specifically designed and manufac25 tured for multiple reuse. 


SMARTINEZ on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
4 

•HR 2091 IH

1 ‘‘(e) SPECIAL RULES.— 

2 ‘‘(1) PASS THROUGH OF TAX.—The tax im3 posed by subsection (a) shall be passed through to 

4 the customer and shall be separately stated on the 

5 receipt of sale provided to the customer. 

6 ‘‘(2) RECORDS.—Each retailer shall keep 

7 records for purposes of this section and section 

8 6433. Such records shall include the total number of 

9 single-use carryout bags purchased and the amounts 

10 passed through to the customer for such bags pursu11 ant to paragraph (1). 

12 ‘‘(3) 1ST RETAIL SALE; USE TREATED AS

13 SALE.—For purposes of this section, rules similar to 

14 the rules of subsections (a) and (b) of section 4002 

15 shall apply.’’. 

16 (b) CARRYOUT BAG RECYCLING PROGRAM.—Sub17 chapter B of chapter 65 of such Code is amended by add18 ing at the end the following new section: 

19 ‘‘SEC. 6433. QUALIFIED SINGLE-USE CARRYOUT BAG RECY20 CLING PROGRAM. 

21 ‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—If— 

22 ‘‘(1) tax has been imposed under section 4056 

23 on any single-use carryout bag, and 

24 ‘‘(2) a retailer provides such bag to a customer 

25 in a point of sale transaction, and 


SMARTINEZ on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
5 

•HR 2091 IH

1 ‘‘(3) such retailer has in effect at the time of 

2 such transaction a qualified carryout bag recycling 

3 program, 

4 the Secretary shall pay (without interest) to such retailer 

5 an amount equal to the applicable amount for each such 

6 bag used by the retailer in connection with a point of sale 

7 transaction. 

8 ‘‘(b) APPLICABLE AMOUNT.—For purposes of sub9 section (a), the applicable amount is— 

10 ‘‘(1) $0.01 with respect to transaction on and 

11 after January 1, 2010, and before January 1, 2015, 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(2) $0.05 with respect to transaction on and 

14 after January 1, 2015. 

15 ‘‘(c) QUALIFIED SINGLE-USE CARRYOUT BAG RECY16 CLING PROGRAM.—For purposes of this section, the term 

17 ‘qualified carryout bag recycling program’ means a pro18 gram under which the retailer— 

19 ‘‘(1) to the extent the retailer provides single20 use carryout bags (as defined in section 4056) to 

21 customers— 

22 ‘‘(A) passes through the tax imposed by 

23 section 4056 and tracks the total number of 

24 bags purchased and amount of tax passed 

25 through pursuant to section 4056(d), and 


SMARTINEZ on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
6 

•HR 2091 IH

1 ‘‘(B) has printed or displayed on each such 

2 bag, in a manner visible to a customer, the 

3 words ‘PLEASE RETURN TO A PARTICI4 PATING STORE FOR RECYCLING’, 

5 ‘‘(2) places at each place of business at which 

6 retail operations are conducted one or more carryout 

7 bag collection bins which are visible, easily accessible 

8 to the customer, and clearly marked as being for the 

9 purpose of collecting and recycling single-use carry10 out bags, 

11 ‘‘(3) recycles the single-use carryout bags col12 lected pursuant to paragraph (2), 

13 ‘‘(4) maintains for not less than 3 years records 

14 (which shall be available to the Secretary) describing 

15 the collection, transport, and recycling of single-use 

16 carryout bags collected, and 

17 ‘‘(5) makes available to customers within the 

18 retail establishment reusable bags (as defined in sec19 tion 4056(c)(2)) which may be purchased and used 

20 in lieu of using a single-use carryout bag.’’. 

21 (c) ESTABLISHMENT OF TRUST FUND.—Subchapter 

22 A of chapter 98 of such Code (relating to trust fund code) 

23 is amended by adding at the end the following: 


SMARTINEZ on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
7 

•HR 2091 IH

1 ‘‘SEC. 9511. SINGLE-USE CARRYOUT BAG TRUST FUND. 

2 ‘‘(a) CREATION OF TRUST FUND.—There is estab3 lished in the Treasury of the United States a trust fund 

4 to be known as the ‘Single-Use Carryout Bag Trust Fund’ 

5 (referred to in this section as the ‘Trust Fund’), consisting 

6 of such amounts as may be appropriated or credited to 

7 the Trust Fund as provided in this section or section 

8 9602(b). 

9 ‘‘(b) TRANSFERS TO TRUST FUND.—There is hereby 

10 appropriated to the Trust Fund an amount equivalent to 

11 the amounts received in the Treasury pursuant to section 

12 4056. 

13 ‘‘(c) EXPENDITURES FROM TRUST FUND.—Amounts 

14 in the Trust Fund shall be available, as provided by appro15 priation Acts, for— 

16 ‘‘(1) grants to States and localities that estab17 lish taxes on plastic and paper bags which are simi18 lar to the taxes imposed under section 4056, and 

19 ‘‘(2) making payments under section 6433. 

20 ‘‘(d) TRANSFER TO LAND AND WATER CONSERVA21 TION FUND.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall pay 

23 from time to time from the Trust Fund into the 

24 land and water conservation fund provided for in 

25 title I of the Land and Water Conservation Fund 

26 Act of 1965 amounts (as determined by the SecVerDate Nov 24 2008 06:03 Apr 25, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2091.IH H2091

SMARTINEZ on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
8 

•HR 2091 IH

1 retary) equivalent to the aggregate of the trans2 actions on which tax is imposed under section 4056 

3 aggregate amounts determined on the basis of— 

4 ‘‘(A) $0.01 with respect to each such 

5 transaction on and after January 1, 2010, and 

6 before January 1, 2015, and 

7 ‘‘(B) $0.05 with respect to each such 

8 transaction on and after January 1, 2015. 

9 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE REGARDING AMOUNTS

10 TRANSFERRED.—Amounts transferred to the land 

11 and water conservation fund under paragraph (1) 

12 shall not be taken into account for purposes of de13 termining amounts to be appropriated or credited to 

14 the fund under section 2(c) of the Land and Water 

15 Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460l– 

16 5(c)).’’. 

17 (d) STUDY.—Not later than December 31, 2012, the 

18 Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct 

19 a study on the effectiveness of the provisions of this Act 

20 at reducing the use of single-use carryout bags and en21 couraging recycling of such bags. The report shall— 

22 (1) address measures that the Comptroller Gen23 eral determines may increase the effectiveness of 

24 such provisions, including the amount of tax im25 posed on each single-use carryout bag, and 


SMARTINEZ on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
9 

•HR 2091 IH

1 (2) evaluate whether imposing taxes on other 

2 products, such as food wrappers and containers, 

3 could reduce the use of such products. 

4 The Comptroller General shall submit a report of such 

5 study to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House 

6 of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the 

7 Senate. 

8 (e) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.— 

9 (1) The table of subchapters for chapter 31 of 

10 such Code is amended by inserting after the item re11 lating to adding at the end thereof the following new 

12 item: 

‘‘Subchapter D. Single-Use Carryout Bags.’’. 

13 (2) The table of sections for subchapter B of 

14 chapter 65 of such Code is amended by adding at 

15 the end the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 6433. Qualified single-use carryout bag recycling program.’’. 

16 (3) The table of sections for subchapter A of 

17 chapter 98 of such Code is amended by adding at 

18 the end the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 9511. Single-Use Carryout Bag Trust Fund.’’. 

19 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

20 this section shall take effect on January 1, 2010. 

Æ 


SMARTINEZ on PROD1PC64 with BILLS