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Plastic Bag Ban
Statewide plastic bag ban fails again
9/19/12
In the final day of the legislative session, the State Senate failed yet again to act on legislation to ban single-use plastic bags statewide.
Humboldt Waste Management Authority’s Programs Manager, Brent Whitener, said, "We are saddened to see Assembly Bill 298, the statewide ban on single-use bags, die in the Senate Appropriations Committee. It met its fate along with other pro-environmental legislation during eleventh hour bargaining, seemingly with the film plastic industry claiming job loss and other economic impacts."
Humboldt Waste Management Authority will continue working toward local bag bans. In June, the HWMA Board directed staff to conduct the required environmental review for local bag bans. The environmental review is expected to move forward this fall, after which local jurisdictions will be able to proceed by adopting bag ban ordinances.
In the past 2 years, over 50 cities and counties in the state have voted to ban single-use plastic bags. When all of these ordinances go into affect, almost one-third of Californians will live in bag-free communities.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors passed a plastic bag ban November 2010, marking the largest bag ban in California, covering more than 1 million residents. Other cities and counties have passed similar bans in California, and Humboldt County may be next on the growing list.
Several local grocers, including Ray’s McKinleyville and several Murphy’s Market locations, have chosen to eliminate plastic bags in the past few months.
The flimsy bags used at checkout counters are light and can be blown easily by the wind. They often find their way to the beach and ocean, where they are swallowed by sea turtles, birds, and other marine life.
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HWMA moves forward on single-use bag ban |
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Written by Jessica Cejnar, Times Standard
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Member agencies will now weigh in on model ordinance
6/18/12
The Humboldt Waste Management Authority's member agencies are one step closer to being able to weigh in on an ordinance that would ban single-use plastic and paper bags.
The joint powers authority board of directors last week reviewed and accepted the model ordinance and discussed ways to satisfy requirements set down by the California Environmental Quality Act, according to HWMA Programs Manager Brent Whitener.
HWMA is developing an initial study to see if a full environmental impact report is needed to satisfy CEQA requirements and protect the authority's member agencies from lawsuit, Whitener said. That process will take 90 to 100 days, he said.
”We want to be as thorough as we can,” he said.
Once the model ordinance is finished, the board members can take it back to their member agencies for review and a vote, Whitener said. The authority's member agencies, which include the cities of Arcata, Eureka, Blue Lake, Rio Dell and Ferndale and Humboldt County, can choose to adopt the model ordinance as it is written or modify it to suit their needs, Whitener said.
The model ordinance would implement a minimum charge of 5 cents for the purchase of a recycled paper bag, one that could be used for many trips, Whitener said. It would be up to each city and the county to decide if the ordinance should apply only to grocery stores or if it should also apply to large retailers and restaurants, he said.
The Board of Supervisors and city of Arcata asked the authority to develop an ordinance, recognizing that any work it did on an EIR or any other environmental documents could be used for any of the member agencies, said 3rd District Supervisor Mark Lovelace. Lovelace said he will let the Board of Supervisors know Tuesday that the authority board accepted the staff's ordinance.
Even though the HWMA board accepted the ordinance, it doesn't obligate any of its member agencies to pass a similar ordinance, Lovelace said.
”Plastic bag ordinances even five years ago may have been considered out there, but it's becoming very mainstream in jurisdictions like Los Angeles and San Jose,” he said.
Arcata City Councilman Shane Brinton said he was prepared to ask Arcata to move forward on an ordinance of its own but felt it would be better to have a regional approach to a potential ban on single-use plastic and paper bags. The reason, he said, is for HWMA staff to determine if a negative declaration of impacts or an environmental impact report would be necessary to comply with the CEQA requirements.
Brinton said he would be ready to bring the ordinance before the Arcata City Council for discussion and a vote once the CEQA study is finished.
”Because of lawsuits from the plastic bag industry, we thought it would be advisable to do some level of CEQA analysis,” Brinton said. “But we're ready to go whenever we have the environmental document completed.”
Rio Dell City Councilman Jack Thompson said he doesn't think the Rio Dell City Council will discuss an ordinance to ban single-use bags within its boundaries.
”The people of Rio Dell are being very considerate of plastic bags,” he said. “We will not be doing an ordinance, and if it becomes an issue, we would probably do a study session to educate the public.”
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Los Angeles City Council moves to ban plastic grocery bags |
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Written by Associated Press
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5/23/12
Los Angeles is becoming the nation's largest city to ban plastic bags at grocery stores in an increasingly widespread move to conserve the environment.
The City Council voted 13-1 Wednesday to approve a policy that would ban single-use plastic bags later this year after an environmental impact report is completed and an ordinance is adopted.
The program would be modeled after bag bans in 48 other California cities that aim to prod consumers into using reusable bags in order to prevent plastic litter that clogs waterways, swells landfills and clutters streets.
After the ordinance is adopted, the city will require large stores to phase out plastic bags over six months, then provide free paper bags for another six months. Small retailers would have a year to phase out plastic.
After a year, retailers would be allowed to charge 10 cents for paper bags. Residents receiving government assistance would be exempt from the bag fee.
Los Angeles, with nearly 4 million residents, will be the nation's largest city to ban carry-out plastic bags, said Enrique Zaldivar, director of the city's Bureau of Sanitation. The city uses 2.7 billion single-use bags a year.
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Ukiah Moves to Ban Plastic Bags |
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Written by Justine Frederiksen, Ukiah Daily Journal
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Ordinance will be formally adopted next month
4/20/12
The Ukiah City Council Wednesday unanimously approved introducing a ban on disposable plastic bags used by grocery stores and other businesses -- but restaurants will still be able to use them.
"It is clear the Save the Plastic Bag Coalition intends to sue any municipality that passes an ordinance including restaurants," said Mike Sweeney, manager of the Mendocino Solid Waste Management Authority, who prepared the draft Environmental Impact Report for the ban.
Cities such as San Francisco and Santa Cruz were sued over bans including restaurants by Stephen Joseph, who commented on the draft EIR for Ukiah's ordinance and argued that restaurants should be allowed to use plastic bags for carryout food because they are waterproof and greaseproof, can be tightly tied, and can contain spills, often of hot liquids.
"I am happy to report that the City of San Francisco is fighting that issue, and at the time when it is concluded (successfully), you can choose to pursue including restaurants," Sweeney said, adding that he just picked up a Taco Bell bag on the street that morning. "This is truly an issue that won't go away."
"I am thrilled we're at this point," said Mayor Mary Anne Landis, describing the effort to establish the ban as a "great collaboration with (Mendocino County) and Fort Bragg," and asking Sweeney if the City of Willits was also instituting a ban.
"Willits is thinking about it," he said.
"This is a great start in cleaning up our environment -- it really seems this is a non-controversial issue at this point," said Mendocino County Board of Supervisors chairman John McCowen, responding to one person who wrote the council to say there "isn't a plastic litter problem. That person isn't really looking. There are bits of plastic strung from every bush and tree (down by the creeks)."
"Plastic bags are getting into our rivers constantly," agreed resident Linda Sanders, explaining that local groups such as the Friends of Gibson Creek would "never be able to keep up" with the amount of litter created by discarded plastic bags.
"I hope we cheer for San Francisco, and as soon as it wins that case I hope we amend our ordinance to include restaurant bags," said Council member Phil Baldwin, who lobbied to include restaurants in the ordinance, which is now referred to as the "disposable bag reduction" ordinance.
The ordinance bans the use of disposable plastic bags by businesses -- excluding "public eating establishments that receive 90 percent or more of their revenue from the sale of prepared food and beverages, including alcoholic beverages" -- and requires them to charge at least 10 cents to customers for a large paper bag. Small paper bags would be exempt.
The council then voted unanimously to introduce the ordinance, and is expected to formally adopt it at its next meeting May 2.
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Ray’s McKinleyville – No more single-use plastic bags at checkout! |
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Written by MJ Mazurek, Surfrider
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4/13/12
Great news! Ray’s McKinleyville has stopped offering plastic bags at checkout! AWESOME! This voluntary change in bag policy, if successful, will be adopted at other stores. So far Ray’s McKinleyville shows a decrease in bag costs since consumers are bringing their own bags. Let’s all let Ray’s McKinleyville know we are stoked with this new policy. Call the store (839-4413) or stop by and give your thanks. Way to go Ray’s McKinleyville!
Original Post |
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Ban the Bag: Times Standard Editorial |
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3/10/12 It’s time for Humboldt County and its cities to ban the single-use plastic shopping bag. |
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Plastic Bag Ban
