Plastic Bag Ban Delayed After Lawsuit Threat
Save the Plastic Bag Coalition files late objections, saying the ban's environmental impacts must be studied. Supes will reconsider the ordinance on Jan. 25.
Faced with the threat of a lawsuit, the Marin County Board of Supervisors delayed its approval of a plastic bag ban at grocery store checkout counters Tuesday, directing its lawyers to study the objections. The board will reconsider the ban, which would impact grocers in unincorporated Marin but provide a blueprint for cities and towns to follow suit, on Jan. 25.
The delay was prompted by the Save the Plastic Bag Coalition, an organization supported by the plastic bag industry and founded by San Francisco attorney Stephen Joseph, a former Tiburon resident, in 2008.
"They keep saying that it's last minute, but they only introduced their draft ordinance on Dec. 14," said Joseph, who did not attend the supervisors' meeting.
The coalition argues that the county must conduct an environmental impact report (EIR) of the plastic bag ban, citing the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The group said the county needs to determine if the 5-cent fee imposed on each paper bag taken by customers who don't bring reusable bags would be sufficient to deter paper bag consumption.
The filing was based on the findings of an EIR conducted by Los Angeles County, which approved a plastic bag ban and a 10-cent paper bag fee last November. The document concluded that the "negative impacts of a paper bag include 3.3 times more greenhouse gas emissions than a plastic bag."
Supervisor Charles McGlashan called the coalition's claims "completely bunk," saying the filing was "merely to delay and obfuscate a hearing like this." He said that studies have shown that similar bans encourage the use of reusable bags but don't incite a dramatic increase in the consumption of paper bags.
He acknowledged, however, that each setback has made the ordinance stronger, and said he expected the county's study of the coalition's claims to yield the same results. The board did not consent to a potentially lengthy EIR process.
"I am sorry that it has been so hard," McGlashan said, "It is a legal jujitsu that we've been going through. But we are going to get it done."
The objections also focused on the durability of reusable bags, citing the Los Angeles EIR's finding that "polypropylene and cotton reusable bags must be used at least 104 times before delivering environmental benefits compared to plastic carryout bags."
Some residents were incensed at the delay.
"I cannot believe we're still standing here doing this," said Ross resident Janine Boneparth. "If Wangari Maathai was successful in getting Kenya to outlaw these bags…please let us have the same courage."
Joseph said he hoped that the county would "recognize that it has been misstating the environmental impacts of the plastic bag on the ocean, which we emphatically disagree about."
Supervisor Susan Adams, who was elected president of the board Tuesday, said the delay won't significantly alter than proposed ban, which wasn't set to go into effect until January 2012.
"We have time left," she said. "A delay of three weeks to enact this does nothing."
Nick Kies
12:16 pm on Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Right do an environmental report for plastic bags, it's not obvious that plastic detrimental to the environment? Hah, what crap, there is no such thing as a recyclable plastic bag. Recycle meant something that could be made into something then that item capable of decomposing in our lifetime and then regenerating into what it was previously. Plastic sits around landfills gradually floating away and running downstream into the big dump in the ocean till it kills plants and animals.
Scott
1:25 pm on Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Isn't it ironic that those that caused the dramatic increase in the use of plastic bags, the environmentalists seeking to displace paper bags, are now trying to reverse themselves? This constant, knee-jerk, reactionist, policy making based on emotions likely does more harm than good.
G Man
9:14 am on Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Right on, brother! See my comments on the other plastic bag article...
V-Anne Chernock
10:38 am on Thursday, January 6, 2011
My husband and I buy our groceries in Novato. It took us only about six tries to get into the habit of bringing our own canvas bags into the store after we purchased them (for a couple of dollars from the grocery store).
Now we use neither plastic or paper bags. We simply leave half a dozen reusables in the trunks of our cars (in a larger reusable bag of their own) and grab them on the way into the store.
If all of us could get into that habit, we wouldn't need the government to force us one way or the other. I challenge you all to try it!
G Man
9:11 am on Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Good on you, V-Anne. Finally, someone who seems to have a grasp on this topic. I appreciate the way you "encourage" me to use those flimsy green bags rather than wanting to "make" me use them. As mom used to say, "you'll catch more flies with honey than you will with vinegar."
Mike
11:27 am on Thursday, January 6, 2011
A trip back to Sydney (Australia) recently showed how easy this can be if there is will behind it. I estimate over 75% of people were bringing their own bags. Some non-profit managed to organize a consensus of the grocery stores (who have to pay for the throwaway bags so they had a vested interest) and other parties to promote bag re-use in a big way (including dropping the price of the reusable bags to $1 and standardizing their size to enable quicker packing at the supermarket). It had quickly become a socially negative thing /not/ to bring your own bag.
The funny thing was seeing those bags being used for all sorts of other things. They replaced gym bags, overnight bags, dragging stuff to a friend's house, snacks at soccer etc. Their distinctive green colour and shape made them very obvious!
Deborah Hughes
11:31 pm on Sunday, January 1, 2012
As an employee at a local grocery store, I see the use of plastic SINGLE use bags and how wasteful it is. A lot of customers want double plastic for two items, and some come in several times a day and want paper in plastic or a plastic bag for a single item like a sandwich or bagel. You know they are going to throw the bag away as soon as they consume said sandwich. The folks that use canvas, or some other reusable, are using the same bags for years. (I see it) I guess they probably do get used 104 times. The canvas bags biodegrade in a year or so, and don't leave any chemicals behind in the soil, air and water. I believe that single use containers of all kinds should not be used as it encourages a "disposable mentality". Unfortunately, there will always be the people who will opt for plastic or paper over the inconvenience of bringing their own bags. That is why regulation is necessary. (people and business have proven that voluntary compliance for the good of all is not often followed).