Synopsis: House Bill 392 (HB 392) enacts the Single-Use Plastic Bag Act which prohibits retail establishments from making or delivering goods using single-use plastic bags. It creates exceptions and provides for penalties 

 

 House Bill 392 (HB 392) enacts the Single-Use Plastic Bag Act. It prohibits a retail establishment from providing a single-use plastic bag or another bag or box that is not a reusable or recycled container to carry groceries, food or other goods from the establishment. It provides eight definitions ranging from carryout bag to single-use plastic bag.
HB 392 establishes nine exceptions to this prohibition on single-use  plastic bags including for use with loose bulk products; to separate items under certain circumstances; to avoid leakage on takeout orders;  for use by laundries or dry cleaning businesses; and to protect newspapers from inclement weather. It requires the NM Environment Department (NMED) to promulgate rules for the provisions of this Single-Use Plastic Bag Act.
HB 392 allows a retail establishment to provide a customer with one or more paper carryout bags if the customer pays not less than ten cents ($.10) per paper bar or a higher fee if a municipality or county raises the fee by ordinance. It creates exceptions to this charge for programs supporting low-income individuals and families.  It requires the retail establishment to indicate on the customer receipt the number of bags provided, and the establishment may not directly or indirectly refund the fee or a portion of the fee. It obliges the retail establishment to transmit seven cents ($.07) of the fee to the municipality in which it is located or in the county in which it is located if outside a municipality. If a municipality or county imposes a higher fee, the retail establishment may only retain three cents ($.03) of the fee. HB 392 requires quarterly payments to the municipality’s or county’s finance department or its equivalent unless the total collected in any quarter is less than twenty dollars.
HB 392 enacts a new section of Chapter 74 NMSA 1978 which establishes injunctive relief and civil penalties as remedies for violations of this Act. It directs that there will be no civil penalty for a first violation. A second violation results in a five hundred dollar ($500) penalty; a third violation, one thousand dollars ($1,000).  The NMED may enforce a violation of this Act if the local government fails to do so. Each retail sale violation is a single violation of this section.
HB 392 authorizes a local government, beginning on 1 January 2026, to enact, implement or enforce any ordinance that is as stringent as or more stringent than the Single-Use Plastic Bag
Act. It authorized the NMED to enforce the Single-Use Plastic Bag Act on the same date and orders that any civil penalties collected by the NMED will be deposited into the Recycling and Illegal Dumping Fund. 
HB 392 would be effective 1 January 2026.


 

 The city of Santa Fe passed a prohibition on single-use plastic bags and required a fee for the use of paper bags at retail stores (Ord 2015-12). Santa Fe County followed suit in 2024 (Ord. 2024-06).  The county’s ordinance includes plastic bags, straws, plastic cup covers, and balloons. The city’s ordinance does not contain penalty provisions; the county’s penalties range from fifty dollars up to three hundred dollars or up to three days in jail.
Bernalillo County passed an ordinance to prohibit retailers from using single-use plastic bags and polystyrene containers in 2020. Las Cruces banned most single use plastic bags at checkout on 1 January 2022 with some exceptions and imposed a ten cent charge on each paper bag given to a consumer at a retail establishment.  Taos passed a similar ordinance in 2020 with a misdemeanor being the penalty for noncompliance. In 2023, Taos repealed some of the prohibitions in the 2020 ordinance including the banning of plastic straws because of ADA requirements according to the Taos city attorney. It dispenses with an outright ban on single use plastic bags but does require a fee from the consumer for their use.
 

 2/27/25
The House Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee introduced a committee substitute for HB 392 (CS/HB 392 HENRC) that enacts the Single-Use Plastic Bag Act. It prohibits a retail establishment from providing a single-use plastic bag or another bag or box that is not a reusable carryout bag, recycled content paper bag or recyclable cardboard box to carry groceries, food or other goods from the establishment. It provides eight definitions ranging from carryout bag to single-use plastic bag.
CS/HB 392 HENRC establishes nine exceptions to this prohibition on single-use plastic bags including for use with loose bulk products; to separate items under certain circumstances; to avoid leakage on takeout orders;  for use by laundries or dry cleaning businesses; and to protect newspapers from inclement weather. It permits the NM Environment Department (NMED) to promulgate rules for the provisions of this Single-Use Plastic Bag Act. 
CS/HB 392 HENRC allows a retail establishment to provide a customer with one or more paper carryout bags if the customer pays not less than ten cents ($.10) per paper bar or a higher fee if a municipality or county raises the fee by ordinance. It creates exceptions to this charge for programs supporting low-income individuals and families.  It requires the retail establishment to indicate on the customer receipt the number of bags provided, and the establishment may not directly or indirectly refund the fee or a portion of the fee. CS/HB 392 HENRC allows a retail establishment to retain three cents ($.03) of the fee collected per recycled content bag and requires retail establishment to transmit the balance of the fee to the municipality in which it is located or in the county in which it is located if outside a municipality. If a retail establishment is located in a municipality that has not implemented an ordinance to assess and collect the fee, it will transmit the balance of the fee to the NMED. CS/HB 392 HENRC requires all fees transmitted to a municipality or county to be used for waste and litter reduction programs.
Beginning on 1 January 2026, CS/HB 392 HENRC requires quarterly remittances from the total amount of these recycled fees collected in the previous quarter to the municipality or county within which the retail establishment or to the NMED unless the total collected in any quarter is less than twenty dollars.
It enacts a new section of Chapter 74 NMSA 1978 that allows a municipality or county to enforce a violation of the Single-Use Plastic Bag Act in the manner the municipality or county chooses as long as the ordinance is as stringent as or more stringent than those required under this Act.  It establishes injunctive relief and civil penalties as remedies for violations of this Act but mandates that there will be no civil penalty for a first violation even if the municipality or county chooses to enforce the ordinance. A second violation results in a five hundred dollar ($500) penalty; a third or subsequent violation, one thousand dollars ($1,000). The NMED may enforce a violation of this Act if the local government fails to do so. 
CS/HB 392 HENRC allows the NMED beginning on 1 January 2026 to administer and enforce the Single-Use Plastic Bag Act. It directs the NMED to deposit any fees or penalties collected under this act into the Recycling and Illegal Dumping Fund. 
CS/HB 392 HENRC would be effective 1 January 2026.