Enforcement of a statewide ban on plastic bags has been pushed to June 15 due to the coronavirus pandemic. AP file photo

The state Department of Conservation has pushed back enforcement of its plastic bag ban until June 15.

It is the third time the ban’s enforcement has been delayed in the wake of a lawsuit by New York business owners and then the COVID-19 pandemic.

At least one member of the state Assembly wants to see the ban’s enforcement delayed until next year. Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte, D-Brooklyn, recently introduced A.10354 to permit the use of plastic bags until Jan. 1, 2021, and suspend any rules or regulations concerning plastic bag reduction in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Reusable tote bags can sustain the COVID-19 and flu viruses and spread the viruses throughout a store,” Bichotte wrote in her legislative justification. “Viruses and bacteria can survive in the tote bags up to nine days. According to a study of supermarkets in Arizona and Loma Linda University found large numbers of bacteria in almost all the reusable bags and no contamination in any of the new single-use plastic bags. In light of the highly contagious coronavirus, use of reusable bags at this time should be postponed.”

Companion legislation has not been introduced in the state Senate.

Rodneyse Bichotte

In March, state Sen. John Flanagan, R-Smithtown, called on the state DEC to suspend the plastic bag ban, pointing to a National Institute of Health study that said the coronavirus can live on plastic for up to three days.

“It is time to protect New Yorkers from the continuing spread of coronavirus by taking the additional steps of suspending the plastic bag ban and saying no to policies – at this time – that could lead to any additional cases,” Flanagan said at the time.

Governors in Massachusetts and Illinois have banned or strongly discouraged the use of reusable grocery bags. Oregon suspended its brand-new ban on plastic bags this week, and cities from Bellingham, Washington, to Albuquerque, New Mexico, have announced a hiatus on plastic bag bans as the coronavirus rages.

Add to that a rise in takeout and a ban on reusable cups and straws at the few coffee stores that remain open, and environmentalists worry COVID-19 could set back their efforts to tackle plastic pollution for years.

Environmental groups were at first silent on moves to temporarily roll back plastic bag bans. But they responded forcefully after the plastics industry asserted bag bans could worsen the pandemic’s toll.

“The fear-driven gains the industry was able to win this month are likely to be extremely short-lived,” John Hocevar of Greenpeace USA said to the Associated Press in mid-April. “The movement away from throwaway plastic is the kind of awakening that is not going to be that easy for the plastic industry to stop.”