Tacoma City Council votes in favor of plastic bag ban ordinance

SPOKANE (Scrap Monster): The nine-member Tacoma City Council has approved Tuesday the ordinance banning use of plastic grocery bags. The ordinance was passed in an 8-1 vote with Councilman Joe Lonergan voting against the bill. The bill is aimed at reducing the use of single-use plastic bags which are feared to cause serious environmental impacts. The study conducted by the Environment Washington Research & Policy Center had found that nearly 2 billion disposable plastic bags are used in the state each year.

The ordinance prohibits the use of plastic bags with thickness less than 2.25 millimeters. However, traveling shows and events at the Tacoma Dome and Convention Center will be exempted from the ban. Food banks and other food assistance programs are also exempt from the ban. The bag restrictions would apply to retail stores within Tacoma, but not to non-profitable charitable organizations. Retail establishments are allowed to provide customers with recycled paper carryout bag or reusable carryout bag by charging a reasonable pass-through charge of not less than five cents.

The Director of the Environmental Services Department is entitled to exempt a retail establishment from the requirements of the ban for up to a one-year period upon proving that the conditions in the bill would cause undue hardship, especially in cases where there are no reasonable alternatives to single-use plastic carryout bag or a pass-through charge cannot be collected or if the requirements are found to deprive a person of a legally protected right. The Director is authorized to inspect the premises of any retail establishment to ensure compliance. Ant retail establishment found violating the provisions shall be guilty of civil violation and will be penalized. A penalty of $250 will be levied for each day of violation. Also, civil penalties will continue to accrue until the retail establishment comes into compliance.

The City administration had conducted a survey of almost 2,200 people on the proposed law. Only 48% of the survey respondents had supported the ban. In fact, 42% had opposed the proposal. The remaining 10% had indicated that they are yet to decide on the ban. Although the survey indicated no clear majority in support of the ban, the City Council had decided to move ahead with the proposal.

The survey had also shown that over 70% of the business owners are against the ban. Business owners had claimed that plastic bags are not that bad for the environment as trumpeted. According to them, plastic bags constitute only less than 1% of the total waste stream. Further, most businesses have absorbed the cost of about 2 cents per bag that are distributed to customers, they noted. Businesses had pointed out that the banning of plastic bags will impact the revenues of small businesses as they will be forced to switch to alternative bag options which are feared to cost nearly five times as much.

The passing of the ordinance was welcomed by various environmental groups and customer organizations. It must be noted that the Council had heard the first reading of the BYOB ordinance during the Council meeting on June 28^, 2016.

The approval of the ‘Bring Your Own Bag” (BYOB) ordinance makes Tacoma the latest city in the state to embrace ban on plastic bags. The bag ban will go into effect in one year.