Los Angeles Bag Ban Could be Challenged

Citing the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors’ potential violation of voter approved Proposition 26, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) has submitted a letter to the board requesting that it reconsider its actions to ban the use of plastic bags at retail stores.

In a release, the Washington, D.C.- based ACC says that California’s Proposition 26, passed in early November, expresses the view that many fees hit consumers more like taxes, and that they should be evaluated and voted upon – with the same attention and care that taxes are. If the proposed ban on plastic bags and fee on paper bags is a regulatory fee under Proposition 26, it cannot proceed on a routine Board vote – a two-thirds vote would be required.

“The voters have clearly spoken in California that they are tired of getting hit with what amounts to consumer taxes thinly disguised as fees,” says Tim Shestek, ACC’s senior director of State Affairs. “Given that Proposition 26 has just passed, it’s critical that the board carefully examine how Proposition 26 applies to the bag ordinance before attempting a vote.”

The proposed ordinance would prohibit grocery and other retail outlets from providing customers with plastic bags and require those same stores to charge customers $0.10 for each paper bag. In its letter, the ACC notes that the board may need to achieve a two-thirds vote in favor of the ban to be legal under Proposition 26. If passed, the ACC claims, the ordinance would raise grocery costs for county residents and hurt workers and small businesses.

In a step to resolve the issue, the ACC is supporting alternatives. “ACC and its members sponsored alternative legislation last legislative session that supported recycling and stormwater pollution prevention programs statewide,” Shestek notes. “We prefer an approach that involves all stakeholders in crafting a statewide solution that enhances recycling, protects consumer choice and doesn’t punish shoppers and manufacturers.”

“We believe there are more consumer and business friendly ways of reducing bag litter and waste that do not result in raising grocery costs for families, put at risk manufacturing jobs in the Los Angeles area, or require more government bureaucracy,” he adds.

To support its case for increasing the recycling of plastic bags, the ACC says that a recent report by Moore Recycling found that curbside recycling of plastic bags and wraps increased by 39 percent in Los Angeles County from 2007 to 2009. The recycling of plastic bags grew 62 percent during this period, suggesting that Los Angeles residents have become accustomed to putting their plastic bags into their curbside recycling bins.

Those wishing to read the ACC’s letter to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors can click here: http://americanchemistry.com/11478.