BOSTON – Massachusetts might become the first state to outlaw plastic bags if a measure before the Legislature is passed, the Lowell Sun reports. The Environment, Natural Resources, and Agriculture Committee pushed the House and Senate versions of the bill forward after a hearing that had no one testifying from the plastic bag industry.

Both proposals would forbid single-use plastic bags at retail locations with more than 4,000 square feet. Smaller stores would have an exemption, as would plastic produce and bakery bags available within supermarkets. 

State Sen. Marc Pacheco, one of the committee’s co-chairs, said he favored a statewide ban because of numerous communities enacting their own ordinances. “I think there is a growing movement across society [for such bans],” he said. 

The bills reflect a growing interest in communities around the country to ban plastic bags or to assess use of those bags with a per-bag tax. Rhode Island and California are also looking into similar bans. In Massachusetts, Manchester by the Sea and Brookline have plastic bag bans. The plastic bag ban recently went into effect in Austin, Texas, while Sacramento’s proposed ban is moving forward.