The state Department of Environmental Conservation has officially agreed to not enforce the coming ban on plastic bags until April 1, court documents filed on Friday show.

The bag ban is still set to formally take effect on Sunday. But the law is being challenged by the plastic industry as well as bodega owners in state court.

An agreement filed in the state Supreme Court on Friday stipulated the DEC had agreed "to take no enforcement action" until the April 1 date. So grocery stores can and likely will offer reusable bags, but will not face any penalties for offering single-use plastic bags in March.

DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos on Twitter wrote that officials had previously intended to allow what amount to a grace period for the measure to take affect. 

"Consistent with what I have been saying for a couple of months -- during the initial period of the law, we will be focusing on education, not enforcement," he said.

Affected business groups, meanwhile, hailed the development. 

“Today’s court hearing delivered a big win for New York retailers and shoppers, hitting the pause button on the pending bag ban that has caused unnecessary confusion and stress statewide," said Matt Seaholm, executive director of the American Recyclable Plastic Bag Alliance.“We are pleased that the DEC has finally admitted what we have long maintained: This ban is both unworkable and unenforceable. We have repeatedly asked the state to adopt a compromise that would the prevent chaos and inconvenience we are now seeing.”

Seaholm criticized the regulations, however, for what he said was going beyond what was laid out in the law, approved last year. 

“But DEC officials refused to heed the calls for a solution that is already in place in localities across New York, and instead went to the other extreme – exceeding their authority by issuing regulations that go much further than what the statute lays out," he said. "On this much, the industry and the environmental community agree."

Melissa DeRosa, a top aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, said this week a grace period was planned for the bag ban.

"But the idea there wasn't to be punitive, it's to transform how we're actually using the bags in shopping areas, in grocery stores, et cetera," DeRosa said. "So, they're allowing a grace period for people to ramp up. The idea isn't to run out on day one and start smacking people with fees. It's an education effort. We're trying to help people transition and do it responsibly."

Otc by Nick Reisman on Scribd