The bill amends and reenacts sections of existing law (RCW 70A.530.010 and RCW 70A.530.020) and repeals some prior restrictions on plastic carryout bags. It sets precise definitions for terms such as "carryout bag," "compliant paper carryout bag," and "retail establishment," and directs the Department of Ecology as the administering agency. Retailers are prohibited from providing paper or film plastic carryout bags that fail to meet the statutory recycled content, compostability, or product requirements and must comply with related standards in chapter 70A.455 RCW and ASTM D6868 (as of January 1, 2020). The bill requires retail establishments to collect and retain a pass-through charge of eight cents for every carryout bag provided (subject to exceptions in RCW 70A.530.030, text not provided), to treat that charge as a taxable retail sale, and to show all pass-through charges and penalties on customer receipts. Compliant paper carryout bags must contain at least 40 percent combined postconsumer recycled materials and/or nonwood renewable fiber and be capable of composting consistent with ASTM D6868; film plastic carryout bags must contain at least 20 percent postconsumer recycled content until July 1, 2022, and 40 percent thereafter. Food banks and other food assistance programs are excluded from the definition of "retail establishment." Legally, this is a modification of existing statutory law that imposes regulatory standards for types of carryout bags and a procedural/tax change requiring a per-bag pass-through charge and specific receipt disclosures. The provided facts do not include the text of RCW 70A.530.030 (the exceptions to the pass-through charge), the detailed contents of RCW 70A.530.060 or the Washington State University study, or the full prior language showing exactly which prior restrictions are repealed, so those details and any enforcement or penalty mechanisms beyond receipt disclosure are uncertain from the supplied excerpts.

If enacted, retail businesses statewide will generally have to stop handing out ordinary plastic or noncompliant paper bags and instead provide only bags that meet specific compostability and recycled-content standards, charge customers eight cents for each bag, keep that revenue, and itemize the charge (and any penalties) on receipts; the charge itself counts as a taxable retail sale. This likely raises retailers’ direct costs for purchasing higher-spec bags, adds a small recurring administrative step at checkout, shifts a modest added expense onto customers who take bags, and involves the Department of Ecology for standards and oversight. Who is most affected: retail establishments (including delivery services, temporary vendors, and market sellers) will bear higher procurement costs and new collection and receipt duties; consumers will face the explicit per-bag fee; food banks and other food assistance programs are not covered by this law. Important implementation details are missing here, notably the exceptions referenced in RCW 70A.530.030, specific enforcement and penalty mechanics, and how the recycled-content rules apply across all bag types, so some operational impacts and compliance obligations remain unclear.