The City Council voted Thursday afternoon to pass a bill to require grocery stores and other retailers to charge shoppers a nickel for every plastic bag they use. NY1's Bobby Cuza filed the following report.

For years, advocates have argued the ubiquitous plastic bag comes with an environmental cost. Now, it’ll come with a cost to consumers: 5 cents for every plastic or paper bag, to be collected by retail stores across the city, under a bill that passed the City Council Thursday and that Mayor Bill de Blasio says he’ll sign into law.

"It helps us take another step toward a cleaner and more sustainable city," said City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito.

The issue was contentious, and Thursday’s vote was unusually close: 28 in favor, 20 opposed. Critics say it amounts to a tax, disproportionately hurting the city’s poor, and complain the stores themselves will keep the revenue.

"It’s a tax that hurts my constituents, a tax (that) will take more money out of their pockets and, adding insult to injury, will give that money to a private business," said City Councilman Steven Matteo of Staten Island.

To address those concerns, the bill’s sponsors had already reduced the charge from the original 10 cents to 5. There are exemptions for those using food stamps, for restaurant takeout or delivery, supermarket produce bags and prescription drugs. And proponents say the aim isn’t to collect money, but to change behavior.

"It works by irritating people into remembering to bring reusable bags. So we understand why people find it irritating," said City Councilman Brad Lander of Brooklyn.

"We are not merely irritating people. We are imposing financial pain. That is the purpose of the bill," said City Councilman Rory Lancman of Queens.

City officials say they’ll conduct a significant outreach campaign, including a large-scale reusable bag giveaway. They say New Yorkers use more than 9 billion single-use bags a year, at a cost of $12.5 million a year to the city to transport them to landfills.

"You can buy something as small as a roll of breath mints and be offered a plastic bag. If you upgrade to a can of beans, you might get a double bag. This is not rational," said City Councilman Mark Levine of Manhattan.

The Sanitation Department expects the fee could reduce bag waste by about 60 percent, based on the experience of other cities that have implemented a similar fee. The law is expected to take effect October 1, though city officials say there won’t be active enforcement until next April.