For the most part, complaints about a ban on plastic bags come from three constituencies: dog owners that don’t want to pay for puppy poo bags, grannies that reuse their CVS bags as garbage can liners and the American Chemistry Council, a.k.a. Big Plastic.
But as Santa Cruz County and all of its cities move forward with ordinances that would ban plastic and charge 10 cents for paper bags, officials in each jurisdiction are anticipating a call from attorney Stephen Joseph, who is suing cities and counties across the state that have banned single-use plastic bags.
According to his website, www.SaveThePlasticBag.com, Joseph is not getting any money from plastic bag manufacturers. In fact, he’s claiming the mantle of eco-warrior. According to his site, banning plastic bags “would result in a major increase in greenhouse gas emissions,” because “it would result in a switch to paper bags, which would be worse for the environment.”
Santa Cruz County, which in April decided to move forward on a proposed ban, is ready for him. “We included a fee for paper bag use to counter that argument,” responds Kasey Kolassa, Recycling and Solid Waste Services Manager for the county. “What we’re really trying to do is promote reusable bags.”
Kolassa says the county hasn’t received a legal threat from Joseph—yet. As public works staff reported to the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors at its Nov. 9 meeting, the case of Save the Plastic Bag Coalition v. City of Manhattan Beach is pending before the California Supreme Court. The primary issue in this case, however is not whether cities can ban plastic bags, but whether such a law requires environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and if so, whether a full Environmental Impact Report (EIR) is required.
To meet the CEQA requirements—and hopefully avoid any unnecessary lawsuits—the county’s version of the ordinance is currently undergoing environmental review. At the Nov. 9 board meeting, county staff told boardmembers that the initial study is almost finished and they anticipate a “negative declaration” will be issued, which means that a single-use bag ordinance would not have an adverse affect on the environment. Santa Cruz County Supervisors will most likely review the environmental findings in February, Kolassa says.
Meanwhile the cities, too, are moving forward with plastic bag bans. The city of Santa Cruz held a study session last night, Nov. 15, during which the Transportation and Public Works Commission voted to recommend that the council pass the ban; Capitola is holding one tonight. Watsonville and Scotts Valley are in the earlier phases.
Bob Nelson, the city of Santa Cruz’s superintendent of resource recovery, says the city’s plastic bag ban ordinance could see its first reading as early as the first council meeting of 2011. It will likely go into effect six months after the council approves it, which should give businesses enough time to get rid of their existing supply—and for customers to get used to the idea of bringing their own bags or paying 10 cents for each paper bag they use. (The 10-cent fee stays with the business; it doesn’t go to the county or cities that enforce the new law.)
Like the Styrofoam ban, the county and cities will primarily rely on citizen watchdogs for enforcement. “Mostly, it will be a complaint-based system,” Nelson says.
If the county and cities all adopt single-use bag ordinances, Santa Cruz will be the only county in the state with full compliance. “We need to make sure the others move forward,” Nelson says. “We want to remind people that it’s pretty easy to use a reusable bag. That’s really the key. It’s about time we did this and it’s not that hard.”
