Resolution At Pittsburgh City Council Meeting Would Ban Plastic Bags In The City

By: KDKA-TV News Staff

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - A new proposal is on the table to ban plastic bags in the City of Pittsburgh.

The resolution was introduced at Tuesday's city council meeting would be just the first step to adopting an ordinance.

Currently, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania prohibits local governments from banning plastic bags.

The City of Philadelphia has filed a lawsuit against the commonwealth and Pittsburgh is looking to join the lawsuit.

The goal is to overturn that law and allow individual cities to make their own decisions.

"The reason for the lawsuit is this has now been attached to the state budget two years in a row," said City Councilwoman Erika Strassburger. "We are worried we are going to have a whole other year where cities won't be able to make its own rules. We want to punch back a little bit and say no cities should be able to regulate, it's not up to the state on how we deal with our waste."

Councilwoman Strassburger said her office is working with the public and businesses to get feedback before formally introducing the ordinance later this summer.

Currently, she's working on equity concerns and whether some people should be exempt based on income levels.