Ohio Revised Code §3737.83 (enacted 2019, effective 2020) preempts Ohio cities from banning or taxing single-use plastic bags, voiding Cuyahoga County's pioneering 2020 bag-fee ordinance and blocking any Cleveland ban.
Ohio Revised Code §3737.83, signed in 2019 with delayed effect through 2021, expressly preempts political subdivisions from imposing taxes, fees, assessments, or bans on auxiliary containers — defined broadly to include single-use plastic bags, cups, packaging, and containers. The law nullified Cuyahoga County's January 2020 bag-fee ordinance, which had been one of the first in Ohio. Cleveland cannot enact a plastic bag ban or fee while §3737.83 stands. Voluntary retailer programs and the Cleveland Sustainability Master Plan still encourage reusable bags, but compliance is strictly voluntary, not mandated.
Because the state preempts local action, Cleveland cannot cite retailers for distributing plastic bags; any local ban ordinance would be unenforceable in court under §3737.83.
Cleveland, OH
Ohio Revised Code §3737.83 also blocks Cleveland from banning expanded polystyrene foam food containers, which fall under the same auxiliary-container preemp...
Cleveland, OH
Plastic straw bans and on-request rules are also preempted by Ohio Revised Code §3737.83, leaving Cleveland restaurants free to distribute plastic straws abs...
See how Cleveland's plastic bag rules rules stack up against other locations.
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