City Council to Consider Legislation Banning Plastic Bags

http://www.noozhawk.com/noozhawk/article/072610_assembly_bill_on_plastic_bags/

By Lara Cooper, Noozhawk Staff Writer

Santa Barbara officials may recommend a higher statewide fee on paper bags, and could vote to postpone a proposed voter survey about a city tax

The Santa Barbara City Council on Tuesday will discuss whether to support an Assembly bill that, if approved, would ban plastic bags in supermarkets and allow customers to pay for paper bags.

If the council approves the item, it would be authorizing the mayor to send a letter to state legislators in support of the bill. More importantly, it would be voting to postpone considering a voter survey about a locally enforced tax until September.

The Assembly bill, formally known as Assembly Bill 1998, would prohibit supermarkets from providing single-use plastic bags to customers, though paper bags could be purchased for no less than 5 cents each. Even the paper bags provided must have a minimum of 40 percent post-consumer recycled content.

If the bill is approved by the legislature, it would go into effect for supermarkets on Jan. 1, 2012, and in 2013 for convenience stores. Customers would avoid the tax by bringing reusable grocery bags.

The bill also would repeal the requirement that stores provide in-store plastic bag recycling programs, and it would pre-empt any local agency from coming up with its own restrictions on bags.

However, the Santa Barbara City Council is considering an even stronger stance.

“While we support AB 1998, we ask that you consider an increase to the fee for paper bags to at least 10 cents to more effectively deter their use and create more of an incentive to use reusable bags,” Mayor Helene Schneider wrote in her letter. “We also ask that you consider a level of post-consumer recycled content of 60 percent, or the greatest level that can be achieved without compromising necessary bag strength.”

Schneider’s letter also outlines the environmental impacts of the bags, saying local governments spend more than $300 million annually to clean littered streets and waterways.

The idea of cutting down on single-use bags has received backing from several organizations, including Santa Barbara Channelkeeper and the California Grocers Association, which partnered with the city during the “Where’s Your Bag?” campaign that had its kickoff event last August.

Several months later, city staff recommended that a survey be conducted to find out whether residents were willing to pay a tax on single-use bags, and if so, how much. The council directed city staff to explore the logistics and cost of conducting such a survey, which raised some eyebrows when it was announced that it could cost as much as $50,000.

The City Council decided against awarding the contract then, but agreed to reconsider it in July. San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles and Malibu have adopted ordinances prohibiting distribution of plastic bags, but a number have been sued by plastic-bag manufacturers on the basis that prohibitions were “projects” subject to the California Environmental Quality Act.

Another option mentioned in staff reports includes mandating the currently volunteer in-store educational programs to reduce bag usage.

“If AB 1998 does not pass,” according to staff reports, “a mandatory education program would be a valuable tool in reducing single-use bag use, either with or without a complementary local tax.”

— Noozhawk staff writer Lara Cooper can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

http://www.noozhawk.com/noozhawk/article/072610_assembly_bill_on_plastic_bags/