Raleigh cannot enforce a plastic bag ban or fee. Section 12.10 of S.L. 2023-134 (HB 259) preempts NC cities and counties from regulating auxiliary containers. The 2017 repeal of the Outer Banks bag ban (S.L. 2017-209) had already signaled the General Assembly's preemption stance.
Section 12.10 of S.L. 2023-134 (HB 259, the 2023–2025 biennial budget bill) provides that no city or county may 'restrict or regulate the use, sale, disposition, or distribution of auxiliary containers' — broadly defined to include bags, cups, bottles, and packaging. The preemption has been reaffirmed in subsequent budget cycles. Earlier, in 2017, the General Assembly enacted S.L. 2017-209 to repeal the Outer Banks bag ban (former Part 2G of Article 9 of Chapter 130A), overriding Governor Cooper's veto. Raleigh considered a bag fee in 2018 as part of the city's Community Climate Action Plan but dropped it after legislative pushback. Raleigh Solid Waste Services operates curbside Big Blue (recycling) and Big Green (yard waste) carts; plastic bags are not accepted in either. The Wake County Solid Waste Management Division operates four Multi-Material Recycling Facilities (East Wake, North Wake, South Wake, and Yard Waste) where plastic film can be dropped off. Raleigh's Community Climate Action Plan and the Strategic Plan targets voluntary diversion within state-law limits.
Raleigh cannot cite retailers for bag distribution. Bag-related litter is enforced under Raleigh City Code Chapter 12 (Solid Waste) and N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-399 (criminal littering). Plastic bags in the curbside Big Blue Cart are contamination addressed through education and oops-tag warnings.
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