WAMPSVILLE, N.Y. (AP) — Madison County in central New York may join two Long Island counties in banning single-use plastic shopping bags at grocery, drug and department stores.

Merchants would be able to give customers paper bags or reusable ones instead.

County legislators are holding a public hearing on the issue May 9 at the Madison County Office Building in Wampsville. They're also taking comments by email.

The ban, if approved, would be the first in upstate New York. Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island have enacted similar bans.

California has the nation's first statewide ban on single-use plastic bags. They've also been banned in several cities including Chicago, Austin and Seattle.

New York City's mayor and city council imposed a fee on plastic bags last winter but Gov. Andrew Cuomo blocked it.

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