Strict Double Ban on Plastic, Paper Bags in L.A. Could Happen This Month
While other cities have famously banned plastic bags from your favorite Ralphs, Trader Joe's and Whole Foods Markets, L.A. city leaders have, as usual, been sitting back, twiddling their thumbs, and considering the fine language "in committee."
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City Hall's motion to ban such bags has been sitting around since September of last year (PDF) just waiting for the City Council to ask it to dance.
Well, the time may have come. And when L.A. gets off its ass, it goes big:
Matthew King, spokesman for environmental group Heal the Bay, tells the Weekly that Los Angeles' ordinance will be "one of the most aggressive action against single-use bags in nation."
He calls it a "a double ban on plastic and paper."
And yesterday it passed the council's Energy and Environment Committee unanimously. And that means the council could vote on it within two weeks.
Even if it's passed, however, the law would have to undergo an environmental review process (!?) before it can be enacted.
The committee's spin on the ordinance proposed by Councilman Paul Koretz would ban plastic bags only for three months, then charge 10 cents for paper bags for another six months, then ban them both.
Heal the Bay says that arguments from the bag makers that jobs would be lost were debunked at yesterday's hearing.
The group states:
The progress made today is very gratifying for Heal the Bay, as we have been leading the charge in Southern California to rid our neighborhoods, rivers, beaches and ocean of plastic trash for over two decades.
[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]
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