The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday took a step toward banning single-use plastic bags in unincorporated areas, with the law set to take effect in 2016.
In a divided vote, the board’s majority agreed to move forward on a proposal that has been in works for more than two years. Supervisors Steve Lavagnino and Peter Adam voted against the ban.
“I’m glad that we’re finally at this point. I think it’s been two years in the making,” said Chairwoman Janet Wolf, who represents the Second District. “It’s time that we move forward.”
“This has a been a long journey,” First District Supervisor Salud Carbajal said, adding the proposal would address a very pervasive problem.
The ban on plastic bags will only affect businesses in unincorporated areas such as Orcutt, Vandenberg Village, Santa Ynez, Isla Vista and Montecito.
Once it takes effect next spring, the law would ban single-use plastic bags for grocery stores and require a 10-cent fee per paper bag to encourage shoppers to convert to reusable bags.
Lavagnino and Adam opposed any payment for paper bags.
“It’s really, I think, just a windfall for the stores,” Adam said.
However, county staff said the fee for paper bags is meant to encourage residents to use reusable bags.
Adam suggested the Fourth and Fifth Districts should be exempt from the ban, but county staff said that wouldn’t be legal.
“It’s not something that is important up here,” Adam said. “We don’t appreciate having these values inflicted on us up here in the north.”
In response, Third District Supervisor Doreen Farr said, “I think the opinions in North County at best are mixed.”
Lavagnino noted that years ago it was considered environmentally sensitive to use plastic bags, instead of paper bags at the grocery store.
“It all comes down, to me, to be individual responsibility,” he said. “If people were taking care of their plastic bags and paper bags and recycling them, then we wouldn’t be in this position in the first place.”
The county had paused efforts to enact a ban after the state legislature adopted a bill prohibiting plastic bags in California, with the new law set to go into effect July 1, 2015.
However, that bag ban is on hold as a group opposed to the law has launched efforts to get a statewide initiative on the Nov. 8, 2016 ballot.
Eight people spoke Tuesday on the proposal, most supporting the plastic bag ban.
Kathi King from the Community Environmental Council noted more than 100 jurisdictions have adopted laws banning single-use plastic bags.
“These bag laws are working to reduce litter,” King said. “Bags flow out of trash cans and vehicles unintentionally because they are so lightweight and these laws reduce the cost of beach maintenance along our coast.”
The city of Santa Barbara implemented a similar law last year. Carpinteria was the first city in Santa Barbara County to adopt the ban.
Armed with several reusable bags to prove it’s not difficult to carry them into stores, Santa Maria resident Jeanne Sparks showed up in the middle to the discussion to urge the board to approve the ban.
“It’s such an easy thing to do, why can’t we just give up plastic bags?” Sparks said. “We have alternatives.”
Andy Caldwell from the Coalition of Labor, Agriculture and Business urged the board to delay adopting a ban until after voters weigh in on a statewide measure.
“Is there an emergency that you can’t wait for we the people to vote?” he asked. “Or do you just not care what we the people have to say about this?”
That’s the route the Goleta City Council chose Tuesday. The Goleta leaders voted to delay a decision on a single-use plastic bag ban until the issue is resolved at the state level in November 2016. The council vote was 3-1, with Mayor Paula Perotte in favor of the ban and Mayor Pro Tem Jim Farr absent.
In October 2013, the county authorized an environmental impact report on the single-use bag proposal to examine air quality, greenhouse gas emissions, water resources and other impacts.
Santa Barbara County’s proposed law is modeled after the state’s, which would allow for a seamless transition if that one is implemented.
The county’s ban does not go as far as the prohibition in place in San Luis Obispo County where plastic bags are not used in supermarkets, clothing stores or retail businesses.
Santa Barbara County’s ban would impact full-time retail stores such as grocery stores, pharmacies, liquor stores and other retail stores selling a limited line of items including milk, bread, soda and snack foods.
The law would not ban produce bags or bags used by department stores, clothing stores, hardware stores or others that don’t sell food.
It also would not affect restaurants or wine and beer tasting rooms.
Officials estimate the law would affect 74 stores in the unincorporated area of Santa Barbara County.
This includes eight large retailers, qualified as those with more than 10,000 square feet with gross sales above $2 million. The new law takes effect for these businesses March 22, 2016.
Also affected will be 66 smaller retailers, which would be required to implement the ban a year after it’s in effect or by Sept. 24, 2016.
The bulk of the affected businesses are in the Third District which includes Santa Ynez Valley, Isla Vista and Goleta, and the Fourth District, which includes Orcutt, Lompoc and much of Los Alamos Valley.
The law takes effect a month after its final adoption, expected to be done at the board’s Aug. 25 meeting. However, the county plans a phased implementation that calls for education and outreach in the fall and winter before implementation in 2016.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.