New Mexicans use at least 330 million plastic bags every year, according to the state Environment Department and New Mexico Recycling Coalition.

But they don't always throw them away properly.

Rogue plastic bags blow in the wind to all corners of the state -- clogging waterways, littering the sides of roads and getting eaten by livestock -- representing one of the biggest sources of litter in New Mexico, according to supporters of a piece of legislation that would crack down on plastic waste.

House Bill 392, which would place a statewide ban on single-use plastic bags and implement a fee for disposable paper bags, has been touted as a measure to clean up New Mexico's public lands and waters.

HB 392, which was held last week to undergo tweaks in the House Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee, cleared the panel on a 7-4 party-line vote on Thursday, with Republicans voting against the bill.

"Single-use plastic bags are used for an average of 12 minutes, but can last for hundreds of years as they break apart in the environment, contributing to the ever-growing threat of microplastic pollution," said Rep. Tara Lujan, D-Santa Fe, one of the bill's sponsors, during the meeting last week.

The goal of the bill is not necessarily to replace plastic bags with paper ones, but instead to incentivize shoppers to bring their own, reusable bags, Lujan said. HB 392 would implement a minimum 10-cent fee on paper bags, at least 3 cents of which would go back to the store to help it pay for the bag and the rest of which would go to government litter reduction programs.

Retailers can still use plastic bags in certain circumstances, under the bill. For example, businesses can still hand out plastic bags to protect produce, meat or fish from cross-contaminating other groceries; takeout meals with a high risk of spilling, or even to protect newspapers from the rain.

Santa Fe has long had a prohibition on single-use plastic bags in place, passing an ordinance implementing that ban in 2015.

State Environment Department Solid Waste Bureau chief Shirlene Sitton acknowledged many New Mexicans make other uses of their plastic grocery bags, instead of just tossing them -- whether for lining small trash cans or for picking up their pet's poop.

But the Santa Fe resident said she personally has always been able to get enough plastic bags from allowable sources for that purpose, adding that "frankly, nobody has that many bins in their house or that many cats" to need the amount of plastic bags New Mexicans regularly use.

Republicans have pushed back against the bill, arguing it represents a unilateral mandate from Santa Fe for the entire state and fails to provide local governments with the ability to choose whether they want such bans.

Rep. Jonathan Henry, R-Artesia, said while plastic bag bans may be working in places like Santa Fe, "no one else has taken interest in it at the moment, so I want to make sure that we are not pulling away from those local folks who are actually listening to those local voters and forcing an implementation."

Lujan and other supporters of the bill, however, argued local governments have always been able to "opt in" to plastic bag bans, but that uptake has been very slow. In the meantime, local and state governments spend millions of dollars per year on cleanup efforts.

"This is such a growing -- exponentially growing -- problem," Lujan said. "... We need to move faster on this."

Rep. Rod Montoya, R-Farmington, also expressed concerns with the 10-cent paper bag fee in the bill, saying it is not the responsibility of consumers to foot the bill for litter prevention programs.

"Somebody has to stand up for the consumer, who is tired of having to pay for things that other people benefit from, and not them," he said.