This bill amends and reenacts parts of chapter 70A.530 RCW (specifically RCW 70A.530.005, .010 (reenacted and amended), .020, .030, .040, and .050) to prohibit single-use plastic carryout bags beginning January 1, 2021, restrict certain paper carryout bags and reusable film-plastic bags, and establish material, performance, and labeling requirements for compliant paper and reusable carryout bags. Compliant paper bags must meet minimum recycled-content or nonwood renewable fiber content (40 percent) and certain compostability standards (ASTM D6868 or D8410 as of January 1, 2020) and display those percentages; reusable bags must meet minimum lifetime and washability or cleanability standards, and film-plastic reusable bags must meet minimum postconsumer recycled content and thickness and display content, thickness, and that they are reusable. Compostable film bags must meet the requirements of chapter 70A.455 RCW. The bill creates procedural requirements and fee rules: it requires a pass-through charge collected and retained by retail establishments (8 cents per compliant paper bag of one-eighth barrel or greater; 12 cents per reusable film-plastic bag currently, increasing to 15 cents on January 1, 2028, and 18 cents on January 1, 2030). Retailers must show pass-through charges on receipts and, if using third-party ordering platforms, must list and collect the charges through those platforms. A retail establishment that offers for sale a reusable film-plastic bag with thickness of 4 mils or more must collect an additional 4 cent penalty on that bag; that penalty is deposited in the waste reduction, recycling, and litter control account (RCW 70A.200.140). Persons using WIC vouchers or state-administered cash and food assistance programs under Title 74 RCW are excluded from being charged the pass-through charge. The bill makes enforcement and administrative changes: it authorizes the Department of Ecology to adopt rules, directs enforcement to be complaint-based with a department forum and local government participation, requires the department and local governments to provide education and outreach in collaboration with retailers and other organizations, sets a civil penalty of up to $250 per violation per calendar day (appealable to the pollution control hearings board under chapter 43.21B RCW), and preempts local carryout bag ordinances enacted as of April 1, 2020 while prohibiting cities, towns, counties, and municipal corporations from implementing local carryout bag ordinances. Some text and cross-referenced subsections are missing from the provided material (including an incomplete sentence in Sec. 3(3)(b), full text of some amended sections, and the bill's overall effective date), so certain specifics and the complete statutory language cannot be confirmed from the excerpts provided. The bill notes a new section effective January 1, 2028.

If enacted, retailers statewide will have to stop distributing single-use plastic carryout bags and paper bags that don’t meet new recycled-content and compostability standards, switch to compliant paper or durable reusable bags that meet specified labeling, strength, and recycled-content rules, and charge customers small pass-through fees for compliant paper bags and film-plastic reusable bags (with those fees rising in stages through 2030). Retailers keep the bag fee revenue but must display fees on receipts and collect them through third-party ordering platforms when used; they also face civil penalties up to $250 per day for violations and will be the primary actors responsible for compliance, education to staff and customers, and changes to bag purchasing and labeling practices. The Department of Ecology and local governments will run rulemaking, a complaints-based enforcement forum, and outreach, while people using WIC or state cash/food assistance under Title 74 are explicitly exempt from being charged the bag fees. Some implementation details are missing from the provided text (parts of certain sections and the full effective date language are not included), so a few operational specifics and cross-referenced requirements remain unclear.