Patricia R. Doxsey reports in The Daily Freeman that the Ulster County Legislature voted 15-7 Sept. 20 to ban single-use plastic bags in most retail outlets. The bill needs a public hearing and a signature from Ulster County Executive Michael Hein before it would become law. The Bring Your Own Bag Act would make stores charge five cents for a recyclable paper bag for customers who don’t bring their own reusable bags, and it would fine stores that violate the law when it would go into effect July 15, 2019. Restaurants located outside of grocery stores, supermarkets, convenience stores, food marts, pharmacies, and dry cleaners would be exempt from the law. Environmental groups back plastic bag bans to protect whales, birds, seals, turtles and other animals that mistake the bags for food, such as jellyfish. The retail industry oppose the bans, because of added costs. Read the full story in The Daily Freeman.