Act 87 of 2024 ended Pennsylvania's multi-year moratorium preempting local plastic bag and single-use plastic ordinances, restoring municipal authority to regulate or ban single-use carryout bags.
From 2020 through mid-2024 Pennsylvania imposed a statutory moratorium that preempted municipalities from enacting bans, fees, or restrictions on single-use plastic carryout bags and similar items. Act 87 of 2024 allowed that preemption to expire and clarified that local governments may again regulate single-use plastics. As a result, Philadelphia's longstanding plastic bag ban (which had been operating despite the moratorium under city home-rule authority) and ordinances in Pittsburgh, West Chester, and Narberth are now on firmer legal footing, and other municipalities are free to adopt bag fees, bans, or reusable-bag requirements. The state has not adopted a statewide ban or fee.
Retailers in covered municipalities can be cited by local code enforcement for distributing prohibited bags; statewide there is no penalty.
Reading, PA
Reading enforces residential quiet hours between 10:00 PM and 7:00 AM under Chapter 396 of the city code. During these hours, no person may make or permit no...
Reading, PA
Reading regulates on-street parking through Chapter 576, with metered zones downtown and Residential Permit Parking (RPP) districts in dense neighborhoods. V...
Reading, PA
Reading limits residential fence height to 4 feet in the front yard and 6 feet in side and rear yards under the city's zoning ordinance. Fences taller than 6...
Reading, PA
Reading requires all dogs off their owner's property to be on a leash and under the control of a person able to manage them. The local rule is reinforced by ...
Reading, PA
Reading follows Pennsylvania Act 43 of 2017, which permits consumer-grade fireworks for adults 18+ but bans discharge within 150 feet of any occupied structu...
Reading, PA
Reading limits grass and weed height on residential and vacant properties to 8 inches under the city's property maintenance code. Owners who fail to mow afte...
See how Reading's plastic bag rules rules stack up against other locations.
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