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Montgomery County merchants aren't worried that the county's new bag fee will eat into their sales.

The law, which takes effect Jan. 1, requires all retailers to charge customers 5 cents per plastic or paper bag. Shoppers can avoid the nickel charge by bringing their own bags.

“It hasn't affected sales in our stores in Washington, D.C.,” said Gregory A. TenEyck, director of government relations and public affairs for Safeway's Eastern Division in Lanham. “Five cents a bag hasn't made a big difference. If people forget their reusable bags, they buy what they need. The money is going to a good cause.”

TenEyck was among those at a news conference Wednesday at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda to launch the county's education campaign. Montgomery is the first jurisdiction in Maryland to follow Washington, which in January 2010 started requiring food retailers to charge shoppers for disposable bags.

Shoppers Food & Pharmacy also doesn't expect sales to drop at Montgomery stores when the fee kicks in, said Kathy Gargano, a company spokeswoman. Stores will be distributing some free reusable bags to customers, she said.

County Executive Isiah Leggett (D), who proposed the fee as a way to cut down on litter in streams and other public areas, encouraged people to start bringing reusable bags to stores now.

“We'd like to turn Black Friday into Green Friday,” he said, referring to the day after Thanksgiving that's typically one of the busiest of the year for merchants.

Silver Spring media giant Discovery Communications will send out internal communications to its roughly 1,500 employees in the county, said Catherine Carroll, the company's director of public policy. Barwood Taxi will be distributing reusable bags in taxis, said CEO Lee Barnes.

Other business partners for the outreach campaign include Wal-Mart, Whole Foods Market, Giant Food, the Rockville Chamber of Commerce and Comcast. Numerous environmental and community groups, such as the Audubon Naturalist Society and Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless, also are involved.

Retailers will keep 20 percent of the fee — one penny of the nickel per bag — to help cover administrative costs. The county's Finance Department will oversee the collection process through a website.

Revenues from collections — estimated at $1.5 million in the first full year — are earmarked for the Water Quality Protection Fund that pays for stormwater management, watershed restoration, litter cleanup and similar programs.

Plastic bags are among the top four items found in streams and stormwater basins, according to the county, which spent about $3 million for litter prevention and cleanup programs in 2009.

Some groups opposed the fee during the County Council approval process, primarily due to raising grocery costs. Those included the American Chemistry Council, a Washington, D.C., trade group that represents companies that include plastic bag manufacturers. The Montgomery council vote on the issue in May was 8-1, with Councilwoman Nancy M. Floreen (D-At large) of Garrett Park the lone opponent.

The General Assembly this year considered legislation, which was opposed by the Maryland Retailers Association and others, that would have implemented a 5-cent disposal bag fee for all Maryland retailers. The proposal did not make it out of committees.

San Francisco became the first U.S. city to ban non-biodegradable bags from grocery stores and pharmacies in 2007, according to a state legislative analysis.

kshay@gazette.net

Bag fee law

Starts: Jan. 1.

Where 5-cent bag fees will go: Stormwater management, watershed restoration, litter cleanup and similar programs.

Information: montgomerycountymd.gov/bag.