THE GAZETTE
Thursday, December 12, 2013 bo
FEE
Continued from Page A-1 by the rest of us in our shopping bills,” Ainsworth said. “The purpose is to offer an incentive that will reduce litter and protect the environment, not to raise revenue.” Julie Lawson of Accokeek, director of the Trash Free Maryland Alliance, said a Department of the Environment study has shown bag fees have reduced bag consumption in the District. “Eighty percent of D.C. residents are carrying reusable bags with them, to avoid paying the fee,” said Lawson. Lawson said plastic bags make up approximately 20 percent of the trash cleaned from the Anacostia River and 50 per-
cent of the trash cleaned from its tributaries. Last year, the bill had enough votes to pass, said Del. Barbara Frush (D-21) of Beltsville, the House sponsor of the bill, but other delegates looking for a way to fund a bill requiring county schools install turf fields, attached amendments to her bill directing the revenue towards the fields. “The primary purpose of the bill was to protect the environment, and turf fields do not protect the environment,” Frush said. “So I withdrew the bill.” Frush said the bag fee is not a tax on county residents who already pay for the bags. “It’s not a tax, you pay for the bags every time you make a purchase,” Frush said. “It’s a
hidden fee.” Lehman said the “clean” bill drew support from over 30 environmental, business, labor, local government and civic groups. “It really enjoys broad support across many different types of stakeholder organizations,” Lehman said. Lehman said that if the bill is approved, the County Council will then vote whether to approve the fee and where the revenue from the fee will go. “I don’t mind spelling out that it needs to be spent for environmental purposes and for free [reusable] bags for low-income people, for education and for outreach,” Lehman said. janfenson-comeau@ gazette.net
ROAD
Continued from Page A-1 through.” But in Apperson’s case, she said that didn’t happen. “[The officer] told us we would ‘get used to it,’” Apperson said. William Cavitt, president of community group Indian Head Highway Area Action Council, said he has received about two dozen complaints — some of which are from officers of civic associations representing about 3,000 people — regarding residents being denied the ability to bypass the detour. The council advocates on behalf of Oxon Hill and Fort Washington residents in the Indian Head Highway area. It remains to be seen if officers will actually let the residents through, Cavitt said. “It has taken as much as 30 minutes to work your way through National Harbor and back,” he said of the alternative for Oxon Hill Road residents. Alexander said police have received a lot of positive praise on social media regarding traffic control efforts after the mall’s opening and that some residents might prefer the detour during high traffic congestion because it could be faster than waiting in traffic on Oxon Hill Road. Apperson said she hopes police will get the situation figured out so she can return to using Oxon Hill Road and get home faster. “I’d like to have us get our road back,” Apperson said. “It seems like it is just an access road for Tanger Outlets, and that’s upsetting.”
DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE
Police on Oxon Hill Road direct traffic to overflow lots outside of the Tanger Outlets on Nov. 29.
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