Alabama Code Section 22-22B-1, enacted in 2019, prohibits Birmingham and every other Alabama municipality from regulating, taxing, or banning single-use plastic bags or other auxiliary containers used by retail and food establishments.
AL Code 22-22B-1 broadly preempts local government regulation of auxiliary containers, defined to include plastic and paper bags, cups, bottles, packages, and similar items. The statute prevents Birmingham from adopting bag bans, fees, or recycled-content mandates. Several Alabama cities considered bag fees before 2019; the legislature passed the preemption in response. Retailers are free to charge or eliminate bag fees on their own. State environmental and litter laws still apply, and Birmingham can address bag litter through its general anti-litter ordinances under Title 10. Federal action would be required for any bag-fee change.
There are no local plastic-bag fines for retailers or shoppers in Birmingham. Littering plastic bags remains punishable under city Title 10 anti-litter rules and state litter statutes regardless of bag type.
Birmingham, AL
Birmingham cannot require restaurants to switch to paper straws or adopt straws-on-request rules because Alabama's 2019 auxiliary container preemption (AL Co...
Birmingham, AL
Birmingham cannot ban or restrict polystyrene foam takeout containers because the same 2019 Alabama auxiliary-container preemption (AL Code 22-22B-1) covers ...
See how Birmingham's plastic bag rules rules stack up against other locations.
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