The District of Columbia, in an effort to, among several things, help alleviate pollution in the Chesapeake Bay,  has enacted a 5-cent tax on stores selling food and alcohol for each plastic bag they distribute to customers.

The idea of a “bag tax” is nothing new; Ireland enacted one recently. But Washington is one of a select few American cities to levy a tax on plastic bags, and it is among the toughest such measures in the country, according to The Washington Post.

Only certain establishments will be subjected to the tax after the expiration of a 30-day grace period.

The Post says that up to $10 million will be raised through the tax over the next four years, with the funds going to unspecified environmental initiatives.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Americans consume 380 million plastic bags per year and just under 5% of them are recycled or even recyclable. Bags do not decompose for hundreds of years and most of them find their way toward damage.

In the Chesapeake Bay watershed, plastic bags could find their way into rivers and streams which could take them into the bay itself. D.C. officials were particularly concerned, according to the Post, about reports showing plastic bags account for a significant amount of pollution in the Anacostia River.