Tuesday Night: City of Oakley Set to Discuss Idea of Plastic Bag Ban

During Tuesdays Oakley City Council Meeting, the Council will host a workshop to discuss the idea of a plastic bag ban in Oakley after Councilwoman Diane Burgis requested it be explored during the Sept. 10 meeting.

“I would like to put on the agenda exploring the plastic bag ban or ordinances. The last five or six years I’ve been overseeing these large cleanups and a large percentage of what we are picking up are plastic bags. So I would like to explore it with a very open main,” said Burgis.

While no decisions will be made on policy during the work session, it could be the start of a discussion which is currently taking place in Pittsburg while Brentwood may also soon take up the topic.

The Staff Report, which is 71-pages in length, outlines issues that other municipalities have addressed in regulating plastic bag usage by retail establishments. Absent from the City of Oakley report, however, was any actual data regarding plastic bags being a problem in Oakley. Instead, it appears other communities “problems” were used to make the argument for the ban in Oakley.

Here is some of what the Staff Report Includes:

Ordinances throughout California:

Presently in California, there are 60 ordinances prohibiting the use of plastic bags and these ordinances cover 81 cities and counties. In Contra Costa County, El Cerrito and Richmond have instituted plastic bag bans. The ordinances adopted in these cities prohibit the use of single-use plastic carryout bags and allow the sale of paper or reusable bags for a small charge. Both ordinances take effect January 1, 2014.

Potential Project Objectives:

Prior to initiating the drafting of an ordinance banning the distribution of plastic bags within the City of Oakley, the Council should consider the objectives it hopes to achieve by enacting such a ban. Listed are some common objectives:

• Reducing the number of single-use plastic carryout bags currently consumed in the City of Oakley each year;
• Reducing the adverse environmental impacts associated with single-use plastic carryout bags, including impacts to air quality, biological resources, water quality, and solid waste;
• Deterring the use of single-use paper carryout bags by retail customers in the City
• Promoting a shift toward the use of reusable carryout bags; and
• Reducing litter and the associated adverse impacts to stormwater systems and aesthetics.

The Staff Report also includes the plastic ban ordinance the following

• Richmond
• El Ceerrito
• Glendale
• San Francisco
• Pittsburg (proposed)

For a full list of the 71-page staff report, click here

Editors Note, here is a look at what Pittsburg has proposed which may be what Oakley models their potential ban after

According to the CEQA Study (A 35-page document), recycled paper or reusable bags would be required to be made available to customers at a minimum charge of 10 cents per bag for the first year, and 25 cents per bag for the third year and beyond.

The proposed ordinance would include a $250 fine to penalize merchants who don’t comply. The ban does not include plastic bags used by restaurants, plastic garment bags, or bags in grocery stores used for fruits and vegetables.

The ban appears to create an incentive for residents of Pittsburg to move from paper and plastic bags to reusable bags which is sweeping California over the past two years.